Camp Addington at Kentwood
For ages 6-14.

Summer Camp combines a wide array of exciting activities and field trips with a positive nurturing environment where children and adolescents not only have a fun-filled summer but also learn and experience a variety of life and social skills including:

• Making friends
• Experiencing success
• Building positive relationships
• Learning the value of competition
  • How to win
  • How to loose
• Being part of a team
• Cooperation
• Organizational skills
• Taking turns
• Being supportive of others

That is why there is the need for
Camp Addington at Kentwood

Based on a system established 1965, Kentwood / Camp Addington is a therapeutic / psycho-social educational environment for children/adolescents having difficulties at home, school, or with their families.

• Our experience, expertise, and understanding of the fact that these difficulties affect the whole family
• Our focus on social skills, making friends, and keeping friends
• Our Cogmotics Program - designed specifically to teach plan­ning and organization and task management skills.

Offering a special experience for campers of all ages, our goal is to build confidence in our campers as they grow to organ­ize their world; to relate to peers, authority figures and their family in life situations to exercise sound judgment and to take responsibility for their actions.

Why is the camp different?

Camp Addington is a branch of Kentwood Preparatory School - which is internationally recognized as a leading center specializing in service for high functioning children/adolescents who are not being successful in the regular public and private school and camp systems. This means not only do we ensure a fun summer, but we understand the year round system the camper must adhere to. Therefore, the camper emerges from our program with life skills, and life man­agement techniques to integrate back into the home, family, and school.

The camp staff is comprised of the same multidisciplinary therapists, counselors, and special educators who service our full time program during the school year. These specialists have been trained by our administrative team in a holistic treatment approach and methodology. They are experienced and are masters at taking the much needed skills and systems expected during the regular school year, and transferring this same pro­gram into summer fun!

Children have many needs ... love, understanding, and a sense of belonging and of achievement. The parent's joy and approval, as well as the teacher's recognition of success, combine to establish the child's self confidence and trust in people and society.

Unfortunately, there are a number of boys and girls who do not experience this positive cycle and therefore cannot adjust to family, school, and society's demands. These children/adolescents (many of whom are diagnosed ADHD, Asperger's, Autism, OCD, or Anxious) march to a different drummer.

They:

• Do not listen and respond effectively
• Have difficulty relating appropriately with peers
• Cannot stay focused
• Jump from subject to subject
• May continually interrupt and blurt out inappropriate statements
• May come across as rude or oppositional
• Do or say without thought of end result or consequence
• Keep repeating the same behaviors
• Find the concept of time non-existent
• Cannot remember
• Need constant reminders
• Have difficulty with the organization of their rooms, work and life
• May have learning or studying difficulties
• May have writing or penmanship problems - messy work
• Cannot work independently
• Often talk excessively
• Can be restless and fidgety
• Have trouble buying into the family system
• Can be egocentric and need instant gratification
• Have many individual needs