AN HONESTLY FUN CAMP

AN HONESTLY FUN CAMP

Willy couldn’t wait for September when school would start. It was early August, and he was at the same summer camp he had been going to for the last five years. His dad went to the camp when he was a boy and loved it, so Willy didn’t want to disappoint his dad by telling him that he didn’t even like it.

By the middle of August, Willy had had more than enough. He had had enough of the horses, enough of the baseball games, enough of the canoeing and enough of the lousy camp food.

He wrote to his mom and asked her if she would pick him up early, but he didn’t want his mom to tell his dad. She responded in a letter which said, “I can’t do that. I am always honest with your dad. If you really want to leave, I will talk to him about it.”

Willy was still too worried about disappointing his dad, so he wrote back to his mom that he would stay for the last two weeks and try to make the best of it. He asked his mom if she would make his favorite meal when he got home.

During that last week, Willy was looking so forward to the meal his mom would be making that every time he ate a camp meal he imagined he was eating his mom’s cooking. All of a sudden, the food didn’t taste as bad.

Willy decided to be honest with his camp counselors. He told the head horseback counselor that he wasn’t comfortable with the horse he had been assigned. The counselor asked Willy which horse he might feel better riding. Willy was then assigned to Misty for the last week, and he started to like horseback riding.

Willy never liked playing baseball because he didn’t like playing 1st base. He told the baseball counselor, and the counselor switched him to play catcher. Willy started to actually like baseball.

As for canoeing, Willy always ended up sitting in the bow of the canoe. He told his counselor that he would like to try sitting in the stern. Once he was able to take on the role of the stern paddler, he started to enjoy canoeing because he liked steering the canoe.

When Willy’s parents came to pick him up from camp, he said to them in all honesty, “This was the best summer at camp ever.” He then added that he couldn’t wait for next year’s camp, and he might even want to stay for an extra week or two.

Answer below questions

 

1. Why would Willy’s dad want Willy to go to the same camp he went to as a young boy?

2. Why did Willy think his dad would be disappointed if he learned that Willy didn’t like the camp?

3. Why do you think the food started to taste better when Willy thought about his mom’s cooking?

4. Which horse did Willy think he would feel better riding?

5. Which end of a canoe is the stern, front or rear?

6. What was the turning point that helped Willy start to like camping?

7. What camp have you been to? Was it fun or else?

8. What do you think children can learn from camping?