Summer Camp

The centerpiece of The Institute of Child Development has been a therapeutic summer camp for adopted children with special socio-emotional needs. Camp Hope has been offered each summer during the month of June from 1999 to 2003. In its current version, Camp Hope lasts for five weeks, with campers attending four days per week, from 9am to 4pm. Camp Hope is held on campus at TCU's Starpoint School (corner of Stadium and Cantey, across the street from the Alumnae Center).

The children who attend Camp Hope are all adopted, and most have special socio-emotional needs. Approximately three-fourths of the children attending Camp Hope have been adopted from orphanages overseas, mostly from Russia. The remaining one-fourth of the campers have been adopted domestically. Camp Hope enrolls twelve campers each summer, in the age range five to twelve years. Each camper is paired with a "Buddy" for the duration of the summer camp. The buddies are TCU undergraduate students, most of whom major in Psychology or Speech-Language Pathology. Buddies are required to take our Vulnerable Child II: Practice Course in the semester before they complete their summer internship at The Hope Connection. Most of the buddies pursue graduate study fields related to children's mental health.

Sensory Integration experiences, administered by Occupational Therapists, are a key element of Camp Hope. Children are put on a "sensory diet" that includes programs such as "Crash-n-Bump" and "How Does Your Engine Run." In addition, campers participate in a variety of movement-oriented activities, including dance, sports, and swimming.

Regular group activities include Nurture Group (based on Theraplay principles), Process Group (based on the Warm Place Grief/Loss programs for children), Therapeutic Dance and Music, Team Building (Low and High Ropes) and Speech/Language Group (focusing on pragmatics and building of social skills). Whereas group activities are emphasized in the mornings before lunch, recreational activities such as swimming are emphasized in the afternoon. Throughout the day campers are paired with their buddies, while group activities are led by trained professionals. We teach that the "intervention is in the interaction," and the core Connecting and Correcting Principles are employed continuously throughout the camp day.

If you would like to be on the wait list for upcoming camps please email us at child@tcu.edu

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