Teenagers and students can work as a camp counselor, so they can perfectly show their readiness for work, independence, responsible and serious attitude. The average age of counselors is from 19 to 25 years. If you decide to become a counselor in a particular camp, then find out in advance how to do it correctly, because for this you need to fulfill a number of requirements.

First, before starting work, you will have to complete a counselor course or attend the appropriate school. This does not mean at all that you necessarily need to have an incomplete or completed socio-pedagogical education, the main thing is that you have a desire to have a different profile in education. Education in schools for counselors is usually free, but there is one condition for them - the newly-minted counselor, after graduating from the educational institution, is obliged to work for the employer for a certain time in return for the money he paid for training. In such schools, future counselors are introduced to the peculiarities of work, communication with children, and are taught how to successfully overcome ambiguous situations. After the courses or school are completed, all students receive official documents that confirm their right to be counselors in children's camps.

If you want to work as a counselor, then first determine whether you have such qualities as activity, love for children, a desire to help them, teach them and educate them, responsibility, compassion, a thirst for new things... Moreover, all this must be done with children on equal terms , without guidelines. A good counselor must have such qualities in order to get a job in any camp.

Also remember that for such work you must be an absolutely healthy person, this means that you should not have serious diseases, including infectious diseases. You won't be able to become a counselor if you have bad habits, such as drinking alcohol or smoking. In addition, he should have no contraindications to work with increased emotional and physical stress.

If you exactly meet all the requirements, have the opportunity, desire and free time to spend the summer in a camp with children, then go ahead, it’s very easy to implement such an idea.

Did you go to camps as a child? This is a wonderful time - so many new emotions, friends... And all this is created thanks to the counselors who sleep little, sometimes get angry, but become truly close to their squad during the shift. If you want to plunge into this atmosphere again, but from the side of a counselor, then continue reading.

I am often asked about counselors - how to become a counselor, how to get a job at a camp, and is it worth doing it at all... Therefore, when I was offered to write about it, I didn’t even have any doubts that this was a good idea.

So, let's start with the most important thing - do you need it? To do this, you need to understand what it means to be a counselor. First of all, it is responsibility.

No, you did not understand.

This is RESPONSIBILITY!

These are small (or not so small) children who are completely dependent on you during the shift. You are responsible for their health and safety. Up to and including criminal liability. Think twice about whether you are ready for this.

Have you decided? Then let's continue.

A counselor is a friend, mom/dad, mentor and everything else rolled into one. You need to be able to combine these qualities. The counselor should be an authority and a role model, and not a bully-ringleader who allows everything. However, do not forget that you are the one working, the children are just resting :) There is no need to ban everything!

Anything that could harm a child should be prohibited. For example, children should not be allowed to buy soda and chips. They could easily end up with an ulcer, and you would be to blame.

The work of a counselor requires enormous effort: be prepared for the fact that you will have 25 hours in a day, and of these 6-7 hours for sleep.

But at the same time, leadership gives a huge return. When you see the smiling faces of children who shout to you that you are the best counselor in the world, that they love you very much, when they hug you in a crowd - it’s worth working for! This is an endless charge of positive emotions, which we sometimes lack in everyday life.

It is worth knowing that counselors usually work in pairs. During the shift, partners should become the closest people to each other. It is important that you are suitable for each other, because with this person you will have to do everything together.

So, how to become a counselor?

If you want to go work as a counselor in the summer, you should think about it in March-April, or even earlier. But first things first.

First of all, if you have a desire to go to a specific camp (for example, you went there when you were a child), you should contact the camp management and find out how they recruit counselors. This is quite simple to do; almost every camp has a group on a social network (or its own website approx. editor), where the contacts are indicated. Your best bet is to contact the hiring manager immediately.

In fact, there are two possible systems: the camp can attract individual counselors or a teaching team.

In the second case, you need to contact the leadership of the peds squad and try to join it. Most likely they will not refuse you and will teach you everything that a novice counselor needs to know.

The first case is a different story. In this case, selection occurs through an interview, where you must prove that you are ready to be a counselor. Moreover, you will most likely be asked to provide official proof of completion school counselor.

What is it and how to get there?

A counselor's school is a course of lectures, master classes, seminars and trainings, including the psychological aspects of children's behavior, the legal aspects of your work as a counselor, what a counselor can and cannot do when working with children, what should be forbidden to children, what can be done with them engage, etc. This is extremely useful for you in terms of experience and knowledge + greatly increases your chances of getting a job in a good camp.

For those who live in Moscow, I can recommend an excellent school for counselors. It’s called the Young Leader School, conducted by the Moscow Student Pedagogical Team. I completed it myself, received a certificate and went to work at sea in the summer.

Working with children is always fraught with certain difficulties, but overcoming them brings enormous pleasure. Children are wonderful people, pure, bright, sometimes naive, and sometimes not at all childishly wise. Their gifts - drawings, crafts - still occupy a place of honor on the shelf. After all, children always give something from the heart. And they smile too!

Instructions

If you are traveling for the first time, try to collect as much information as possible about it. How are the buildings, canteen, medical room, administration offices, counselors’ rooms and other strategically important points located? daily routine, official and unofficial traditions, the number of units and the approximate age of the children in them - all this will make your further work easier. Finding out all this is not so difficult - camp websites, official pages on social networks are for you. Also, some camps organize preliminary training sessions, where you can get to know your future place of work and residence “live.”

"Calm, just calm!" These words should become your main motto for this shift. This applies to communication not only with children, but also with the camp administration, partner (second), parents of children... By the way, about parents. In some cases, educators resolve all issues with parents, which means we don’t forget to clarify this point.

And so, the camp has been chosen, all the necessary information has been collected. What's next? And then you need to decide on the desired age of the children. How do you decide which squad to sign up for as a counselor? What age is best? There is no definite answer to this question, since each age has its own characteristics, difficulties and bonuses. Books on developmental psychology, as well as a great variety of thematic sites, will help you here.

Necessary clothing and documents Depending on the camp, both of these sets may differ, and sometimes significantly, but there are still some things that remain unchanged. Among the documents - this is a medical book, an extract about existing vaccinations. Clothes include a hat, pants (sports or jeans), light shoes, T-shirts and a couple of warm clothes. After all, even in the hottest countries there are cold days; let’s not forget about nightly bonfires with the squad and, of course, planning meetings, which often take place after lights out.

So, the preparation is complete. Or not? If there is such an opportunity, it is worth studying the grid plan for the upcoming shift before the start of the shift itself. This way you can roughly think through each of the activities and plan your work. If you have very little imagination and creativity, prepare in advance one or two versions of numbers for each of the performances. And then in the camp all that remains is to finalize these options together with the children and rehearse them properly. You can also think about the name of the squad, motto, and squad corner in advance. There is a high probability that you will see the grid plan for the first time only in the camp, at the beginning of the shift. In this case, do not despair, but try to find out about the events traditionally held at the camp. And then proceed according to the scheme outlined above.

A few words about the detachment corner. This is exactly what you should worry about in advance. Think over a rough sketch, design, arrangement of elements. Some preparations can be made at home and brought with you to camp. These can be all kinds of pictures for decoration, as well as various “birthday sheets”, “mood screens” and so on. In each camp, counselors are given stationery: paints, brushes, colored paper, scissors, but there is always a catastrophic shortage of them. This means that it is worth taking care of this “on the shore”. It is also worth taking care of the design of the common detachment room (corridor, veranda), because bare walls are so boring!

And now you are in the camp. The documents and clothes are in order, the office supplies are well stocked, the squad corner is beautifully decorated, the children have learned the name and motto of the squad and are ready for events. What's next? And then everything is simple. We look after the children, listen to their problems, help, organize all kinds of games in any free minute. By the way, it’s also worth taking care of games with children in advance. As well as about the music and costumes for the numbers. And most importantly, don't be afraid to ask for help! From other counselors, from the teacher, from the administration - from all members of the friendly camp team!

Helpful advice

There are a considerable number of counselor sites on the Internet where you can find a lot of useful information, tips and other things. Simply enter “sites for counselors” in the search bar and add to your wealth of experience and knowledge.

Sources:

• Forum for counselors "Planerochka"
• Leader virtual club "Vozhatiki"
• Leader Wikipedia "Summer Camp"

A counselor is a person who spends time with children at a children's camp, organizes their leisure time, and monitors safety. For the summer, many camps begin recruiting for a similar position, and you can get into a cozy place and also earn a little money.

Instructions

Many people think that a position is easy and fun work. In fact, everything is not quite like that. The working day is always not standardized; you need to get up before the children, put them to bed in the evening and then run to the night planning meeting. A huge number of responsibilities do not allow me to sit down for a minute during the day. And there is also a huge responsibility for the condition of the children, for their organization.

There are special requirements for counselors: you need to have a pedagogical education, possibly incomplete; age must be over 18 years; you need to be able to organize people, come up with various events. At the same time, it is forbidden to leave the camp territory during the day, you cannot smoke or drink alcohol in front of children, it is forbidden to use obscene language or be rude to anyone. At the same time, the salary will be minimal; in rare camps it exceeds the subsistence level.

Large camps usually have teaching teams. They are formed on the basis of large universities, and then centrally enter the territory of work. The pedagogical brigade is not just a way to get a job, it is an opportunity to learn how to raise and work with children. Typically, classes are held for several months in which they teach how to perform duties, how to interact with kids and behave in different situations. You need to sign up for the group in winter. You can find out about the existence of such an organization at the pedagogical institute in your city.

You can work without a group. To do this, you need to contact the HR department and find out about the availability of vacancies. This should be done 2-3 months before the planned trip. Usually there is a great demand for counselors for the month of June, since at this time students are still taking the exam, and schoolchildren are already coming to rest. Camp contacts can be found on the Internet. Look for options not only in your city, but also in other regions. For many people, this is an opportunity to relax at sea without major expenses.

Sometimes vacancies for counselors are posted on websites with job offers. Create a resume in advance, and browse great resources. You can also find special forums that post proposals for cooperation with different camps. Their addresses change every year; there is no single meeting place. But any search engine will return 2-3 options.

When applying for a job as a counselor, be prepared for difficult living conditions. The camp provides housing and food for employees. But it may not be as comfortable as for resting children. Sometimes 16 people live in a counselors’ room. The shower can be one per floor or located outside. The quality of food can be controversial. Try to get a job where someone you know has already been. Find out reviews not only from children, but also from staff who have already lived in a particular area and are familiar with the traditions of the camp.

Counselors in children's summer health camps are those employees who work directly with children. Prosperous interpersonal relationships in the squad, as well as the quality of children’s rest, depend on them.

Becoming a counselor is an interesting childhood adventure when you are not a child. How to become a counselor and mentor to children and get a lot of positive emotions. Being a counselor means free trips to the sea, food, and accommodation. Free entertainment and meeting the most active people.

A few more months and summer will come, during which thousands of boys and girls will go to their camp shifts. And along with them, counselors, educators, animators, group leaders (the variety and delegation of responsibilities is growing every year). Experienced counselor Gulnara Khakimova shared her knowledge with us.

Thirteen years in this field of activity (as a child, and then a counselor) and now my children from the past ask me, as I once asked my own: How can counselors go to camp? What is needed for this? Where to look?

These “children” are lucky. In the modern world there is such fierce competition that it is the counselor himself who chooses to a large extent. And the search is carried out in a couple of mouse clicks. But I’ll make a reservation, in order to choose, you need to represent something of yourself, meaning, in order to choose from the worthy.

To write an article for counselors: First of all, you need to go through counselor school.

Even if you have excellent contact with children, you adore them, and they adore you, school is needed. I heard one very wise phrase when I was just starting to work: “You can love children and take care of them and be a bad counselor, you can not love them, but be the best”. Then my heart rebelled against this statement. How can you be the best without loving children? Now I realize it. This does not mean that you can not love kinders, no, this is not so. Children are very sensitive and pick up on everything immediately. But without knowledge of how to work with them, methods and techniques, you will not go far; school and the knowledge gained in it are your foundation.

I quote below links to counselor schools, which in my opinion are the best in Moscow, quite promising, outstanding (!! it is important that this is not a retelling of Makarenko’s textbook), with subsequent employment (if the course is successfully completed). Full training free(that's how it should be). I emphasize this fact because... There are still agencies that offer these courses for a fee.

1. Formerly the Moscow Center for Children's Family Recreation (GAU MCDSO), now “Mosgortur”.
   The best specialists, high requirements and standards. I worked with them, only positive impressions.

1. School of Moscow Children's Movement counselors(DDM). Serious preparation.

1. School of camp counselors “Big Adventure”.
   I have not personally worked with this company, but the programs presented are worthwhile (in my critical opinion).

1. Young counselor school(ShMV - 2015 is already recruiting). School of the Moscow Student Pedagogical Team

Camp selection

I'll divide it very roughly camps for several subgroups and then I will describe the features of work in each of them:

1. State camp

A) with good funding, strict penalties in case of violation of discipline (for example: smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, systematic violation of the daily routine), excellent salary (15-17 thousand rubles), fresh food (i.e. hair/cockroach in you won’t find soup), new infrastructure. Examples include camps from large companies, federal-level camps, camps with a big name and a long-standing reputation.

b) with poor financing or a very greedy director. A striking example can be most of the camps in the Krasnodar Territory in Anapa. Salaries of 2000-4000 thousand, crumbling buildings, lack of props and office, the feeling that SANPiN has not looked there since the times of the USSR.

1. Camp private

A) expensive, often with language learning, an interesting program; in a squad of up to 15 people, often even less, individual approach, take place in boarding houses outside the city or abroad (popular destinations: Finland and Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, less often - France and Italy.

b) represented by a dozen travel companies, for families with average/high income, good infrastructure, food, living conditions, lack of strict rules and their compliance (popular destinations: Bulgaria, Malta)

Decide for yourself right away what are the goals from this work you are pursuing (one of the main ones):

1. Gain professional experience;
2. Just get experience working with children (that is, the conditions/salary/location are not important);
3. Desire to work abroad.

If the first one, I am for MOSGORTUR. Their most famous camp SOK “Raduga”, Kamchia In Bulgaria.

And not because I’m a big patriot of state camps, but, I repeat, they have the most qualified staff and work standards. Sometimes you will not even work, but work hard, but the return will be colossal. Only in such camps can you become immersed in the culture and spirit of a children’s camp, learn about traditions, legends, the counselor’s code of honor, what support from the heart is, and how a song with a guitar around a common fire warms you up. It’s a nice bonus that work is valued and you can go on vacation with your salary. Not only MOSGORTUR can be classified as such camps; “ Eaglet“, “Artek“, “Ocean“, Moscow Government camps, companies “ Gazprom“, “Uralneft” and many others.

If the desire to work as a counselor is marked in your head, you want to try what it is, you have the ability and you don’t want to sit at home, then you can go to any camp that invites you to work - the Moscow region, the Krasnodar Territory, camps in the regions of Russia. Please understand correctly, I am not writing that all the camps located in these places are bad, and the attitude towards the workers is at least bestial; the directors drive expensive cars from the funds allocated for the improvement of this very camp. Somewhere worse, somewhere better. Somewhere you will sleep in a tent on a football field without a mat, somewhere there will be a hot shower, somewhere there will be a shift plan with events, somewhere there will only be a couple of discos, somewhere there won’t even be colors to set up a squad corner, somewhere else they will yell at you for not bringing all the office supplies from home yourself. You can only predict by talking with counselors from previous shifts. There are wonderful camps

You may be asking how “bad” camps still exist? The answer is simple - all teachers in our vast country need to do an internship somewhere.

If you have no experience, but want to

From observations - if you have no experience, but you are determined to work in a camp this coming summer, I advise you to start looking already. Vacancies are posted here:

• www.forum.planerochka.org/index.php?showforum=24

Concerning private camps-salary about 100 euros for two/three weeks. The main criterion when choosing is whether you care about children (precisely in this wording). Visa, flights, accommodation, food - naturally the company pays for it. A priori, the main task of a private camp is to earn money, you will have to come to terms with this, or go to the state ones, where the main tasks are different.

If you want to go abroad but don’t care about the kids, a lot of travel companies send them to Bulgaria and Turkey. Young people go to frolic away from their parents, the latter paying for a new trip for several years in a row because it is “cool” there. For some reason, the question of what exactly does not arise among older representatives of the human race. And there’s a lot of cool stuff – tequila with Germans in the bars that the camp authorities take you to, the lack of regime and rules in practice. All with only one goal - next year the child must again persuade his parents to buy him a ticket to this camp. Whatever the child amuses himself with, as long as... (c) At the same time, responsibility for the lives of children remains with the counselors.

Does your conscience prevent you from calmly looking at the above?

There is another option - interesting programs, expensive trips, horse riding and foreign language classes, master classes, bonus - excursions, trips. The downside, if you can call it that, is a large number of spoiled children, many of whose parents do not care about them. On the one hand, this is the delicate work of a psychologist. On the other hand, with the light hand of the boss, indulgence and isolation from others quickly turns into permissiveness. And full-fledged work as a psychologist and teacher is practically impossible. Don't forget - the children must return. Experience, skills, desire - you must shine with this if you want to work in a good private camp.

Links that answer the question of how to become a counselor and I would like to recommend them:

1. www.albatross.lv – camp “Albatross” in Latvia
2. www.soyuz.sk/kontakty/nabor-i-podgotovka-personala/
3. www.vk.com/club312530 – Soyuz camp in Slovakia
4. www.kid.travel – Kidclub camps
5. www.camps.ru - children's camps in Russia, by name we look for the website of the camp we like, in contacts - email, send your resume
6. www.compasscamp.com – children’s camps in Europe, multi-thematic programs
7. www.vk.com/club67435495
8. www.ostwest.ru/news/17630/ – school for counselors and work in camps with groups from the travel agency Ost-west. On the one hand, I didn’t attend the lectures of this company, on the other hand, working with them was clear, without failures, with round-the-clock support. Ost-West is not the first year on the market, you can trust them.

By the way, it’s also very convenient to look for a camp and a job for the summer through social networks. For example, via

The day before arrival

Today you arrived at the camp. If this is your first shift, then expect this day to be very busy.

The minimum you have to do

Apply for a job;

Find out as much as possible about the camp (after all, tomorrow you will be conducting a tour for your squad);

Specify the location of the first aid station, canteen, security guard, etc.;

Get information about which squad you will work with (age of children);

Get to know your partner(s);

Find out which building you will live in, get bed linen and sports equipment;

Clean around the building with your partner;

Finally, at the general meeting of counselors, carefully listen to the safety briefing and sign the log, which clearly states that you are responsible for the life and health of the children who will join your squad tomorrow. All this will take you most of the day.

The time has come to get a second wind, because now you have to do everything so that the boys and girls you will meet in the squad tomorrow feel the desire to stay in the camp. And the first thing they will notice is how you prepared for their arrival.

What is needed for this

Decorate the room in which your squad will live (facade of the building, hall, corridors);

Hang up posters with the inscriptions “We have been waiting for you!”, “Oh, how great it is that you have arrived!”, “Welcome home!

Your second mom and dad”, “The funniest boys and girls live here!”;

Bright funny pictures, funny faces, balloons, New Year's tinsel, etc.

In general, everything that can put the guys in a good mood should be prepared and brought to the camp by you.

I hope you did not forget to take from home everything that is useful for working as a counselor: methodological developments, scripts, collections of poems and songs, CDs for musical accompaniment of events, a flashlight, candles, a ruler, sheets of whatman paper, colored pencils, paper, pens, needles, threads, scissors, paper clips, buttons, tape, glue, whistle, mosquito repellent, paints, fancy dress costumes, tape recorder, packaging of A4 sheets.

Some counselors they are too lazy to make the beds in the children’s rooms before they move in, especially if they are older units; they think we’ll give the children bed linen and they can handle it themselves. But this cannot be done, firstly, the child will immediately feel that the counselor was too lazy to do this work, and secondly, the children may not know how the bed should be made. And only after you have made the beds, with peace of mind throughout the entire shift, demand that they look the same as on the day of arrival.

Children will be very happy when, upon arriving at camp, they find surprises under their pillows in their room. These could be paper stars, suns, toys, or something amazing that the counselor drew and cut out with his partner until four o’clock in the morning. One of my friends collected cones, painted them yellow, varnished them, tied threads and placed these surprises in the children’s rooms on pillows. When his squad went to the cafeteria for the first time, I saw that each child had this yellow bump hanging on his chest. This suggests that the counselor showed creativity and gave the children a piece of his warmth. Many of the guys kept them and took them home as souvenirs. On the surprises, you can draw funny pictures or write any greetings, wishes, preferably in verse.

So, the building is decorated, the beds are made, there are surprises under the pillows. Don't forget the documents and signs you'll need to register your children. Everything seems to be ready. Yes, pay special attention to the culture of your appearance, try to dress in such a way as to please the children and their parents. (If the counselors have a uniform uniform or elements of clothing, then this is a very big plus for the camp administration.) So, there are some three to four hours left before you get up, which you need to spend on sleep. Dreams in the camp are special: if you give 100%, and even more, then you have good dreams, and if you work carelessly, then the spirit of the very first counselor will come to you at night and ask: “Where is Sidorov, where is Sidorov?” This is a joke, but I would like you to expect an average of five hours of sleep.

Rules for counselors that should not be forgotten

The counselor is responsible for the life and health of the children.

The counselor must make clear, precise and decisive demands.

Anticipate and prevent conflicts in the squad.

If in the first three days you do not form and rally a detachment, then later it will be almost impossible to do so.

Counselors should know where their children are, just as children should know where counselors are.

After lights out, check that there are emergency lights in the corridors and lobby. The door to the building should be closed at night, the key should be with the counselor who lives closest to the exit.

Before lights out, do not forget to ask about the well-being of the children, take care of the health of the children.

Explain to the children the rules of behavior in the cafeteria, in the building, and at events. Covered clothing is required when visiting the dining room.

Plan activities with your partner. Learn to share responsibility.

Never sort things out with your partner in the presence of the guys.

Try not to allow children to move from room to room (only if absolutely necessary).

You can release a child from the detachment with his parents only after they write an application addressed to the camp director.

Don’t look for those to blame for the conflict, look for a way out.

If you have problems with your child, contact the senior counselor, then the camp director.

If necessary, the time of day to go to the first aid station does not matter.

The counselor must have a clear work plan for the day.

Be sure to hold a morning squad meeting, where you will tell the guys what awaits them today. If possible, hold squad candles every day.

The detachment should only move to the dining room, from the dining room, to events, outside the camp territory in a column of two people.

If a child runs away from the camp, immediately notify the inspector or the camp director.

Do not do your personal business during working hours.

Don't yell at your child; an appropriate joke directed at the culprit is much stronger than yelling.

Before punishing a child, think about what his parents will say about it.