How to become a counselor, what pitfalls will be encountered when becoming a difficult profession... or not so much. We’ll look at all this in the article and I’ll try to answer who a real counselor is and how to become one.

On this moment, May 2017 - going to the camp as a teacher (which is how the law qualifies him) is not particularly difficult. All you have to do is go through counselor school, get a certificate, and that’s it.

You are ready to go to the camp if there are no problems with health and law. And here, of course, we can end the article. But noooo.

This is very short and easy to write - go through some kind of school for counselors, which lasts at most six months 2-3 times a week, a medical examination - running around takes a day to hospitals and a certificate of good conduct. You can order it through government services in 2 mouse clicks.
But, as I wrote above, not everything is so easy and simple. As in Sergei Lukyanenko’s book “Draft,” we fall out of the real world and find ourselves in another. Fairy tale world fairy-tale creatures, magic and magic. And getting into this mysterious country called “camp” and staying there is not so easy.
To organize this fairy tale, you need to become a wizard. To create an atmosphere of comfort, an atmosphere of calm, you need an emotional mood in the camp - need to become a wizard. Become someone else, not who you are. Change in the other direction, do something you have never done.
In my five years of working in camps of all types, I have seen how people change. Alas, not at all best sides.
Many counselors (first-year students) came to the camp, frankly speaking, to hang out. Completely unaware that working with children completely refutes the so-called. “partying” and this..hmm.. “partying”, inattention and neglecting children can result in an article for negligence. Or worse.
Less often, I saw a desire to assert oneself at the expense of children and other teachers. Usually this manifests itself in those who work only second, and the crown sometimes sparkles so that the crowned one becomes blind in his actions and acts to the detriment of others.

Various reasons motivate people to become counselors. It may really be a desire to assert yourself and not feel lonely. This could really be an interest in children, a manifestation of maternal and paternal ambitions. Maybe just teaching practice from a pedagogical college or institute.

To become a counselor, you need to understand why you need to be a counselor? For what purpose?

If you can answer it, all doors will be open to you. There are many courses of counselor skills open on the territory of the Russian Federation. They are called RSHV (Republican School of Leaders) or SHVM (School of Leader Skills). Classes range from free to three hundred rubles for courses.
There are also sites dedicated to counselors and discussions of their activities.

It’s even rarer when you can go to a camp without any skills or education. Alas, I have seen this too. Alas, the result of such activity was completely disastrous and did not end well for anyone.

The opposite result occurs when they understand that they will be counselors. They will be teachers in the detachment for 21 days (already 18 in some regions, for example, Udmurtia) and they will have a very high responsibility for the life and health of 50 children. And the understanding that a counselor is not just a person who entertains children, organizes cool events, lights, meetings for them, and sometimes scolds them in the hall for their mistakes, but can also support them! No matter what they do, no matter what they do. Always come to the rescue and listen.

I hope for aspiring counselors who want to become counselors. Real counselors - they will think and become amazing teachers. I know it. I believe in it.

A counselor in a modern children's camp is a young, but already accomplished person who consciously prefers this type of recreation to all others. This fashion appeared mainly thanks to former Esquire editor-in-chief Philip Bakhtin and his Kamchatka camp in the Pskov region. This is, of course, the most famous, but far from the only example of a children's camp. new formation. The Village spoke with counselors from four of these camps about why they decided to work with children.

Creative camp "Kamchatka"

days shift lasts

children resting
in the camp

years- children's age

rubles it's worth a change

Throughout the twelve days of the shift, children stage plays and musicals, make films, and participate in clever games designed specifically for the camp.

Danil Perushev

co-founder
"Theories
and practitioner"

The first time I went to work as a counselor was last year at the invitation of my friend Philip Bakhtin to the camp he invented, in Kamchatka. I was just interested in trying a new activity. I didn’t know anything about children and didn’t understand how out of place I would be in the camp. That is, I didn’t think about any mission. I really love the forest and the tent lifestyle, so it seemed to me that I could take a risk: at the very least, I’d spend a couple of weeks in the fresh air.

But everything turned out to be much more interesting: two weeks at the camp became the most memorable time of the year. The work you do there is very interesting and the right thing- you communicate with children, and even in the company of strange and pleasant adult counselors. I'm not sure you can teach children anything in a couple of weeks. I'm just trying to give them a chance to have a great time. It’s hard to say what they will learn in the process. Of course, I would like them to be able to organize themselves, without adults, to solve problems: I think this is a useful skill. Therefore, as a counselor, I am not a manager, but rather a resource for children.

You need to be a decent person with a head on your shoulders
And good guy even if you are a girl

I think that our children have a good time because they are free - in the schedule, in self-expression, in communication with counselors. And the minimum rules that do exist, or daily creative tasks, are simply the foundation on which this freedom is built. I, like, apparently, all our counselors, do not have any special theoretical training for working with children, but in order to spend two weeks with them and moderate their activity (this is what the task boils down to), you do not need to be a teacher. You need to be a decent person with a head on your shoulders and a good guy, even if you are a girl. Bakhtin’s instinct is at work here; he calls his friends and buddies, whom he thinks are adequate, as counselors. So far, as far as I know, there have been no failures.

I don’t want to get anything from the camp - simply by the fact of my presence, I get the opportunity to live for several days in some kind of fictional, but at the same time very correct world, where you do really important things.

"School of Nature's Friends"

days shift lasts

children resting
in the camp

years- children's age

Price:

For free

The camp is located in national park"Meshchera". Only children participating in school events can enter it. environmental projects in Vladimir region. At the camp they are watching scientific research, every day is dedicated specific topic: the children are told about the ecological footprint of humans, about specially protected natural areas, ecotourism and so on.

Iva Lebedeva

General Director of the publishing house "Index Market"

I was invited to the camp by Elena Knizhnikova from the Zapovedniki eco-center, which was one of the organizers of the camp. I wasn’t even a counselor, but rather a volunteer - I participated in the development and implementation of events. This is not the first volunteer project for me; I am involved in environmental programs recent years 15. And when I heard that such a camp was being created, I asked to go there myself.

Beach holidays have never been interesting to me; it always seemed to me that it was better to spend time on something that had additional meaning. I have been observing what is happening in the country now for a long time; environmental problems are given almost the last place among other interests of the state. I don’t believe that anything can be changed in the consciousness of the generation that is now in power, that makes decisions. But there is a chance if we work with the new generation today. If children are now given the right guidelines regarding the protection environment, the role of ecology in our lives, then, perhaps, something will change in the future.

environmental problems are given almost the last place among other interests of the state

The camp has experienced teachers and psychologists, and volunteers make their contribution as much as possible; we, as specialists, work on a meaningful program: we come up with games, quizzes, and activities. I don’t set any big goals for myself, I just really enjoy communicating with the people who come there: teachers, counselors and, of course, children.

"Nikola-Lenivets"

days shift lasts

children resting
in the camp

years- children's age

rubles it's worth a change

The camp was created by a company that manages the territories of the village of Nikola-Lenivets in the Kaluga region and also holds the Archstoyanie festival there. This summer will be the first shift. The camp is based on the values ​​of “Nikola-Lenivets”: harmony with nature outside the city in the company creative people. The camp should show children how to escape the urban lifestyle and return to a world where people knew how to grow their own food, made things with their own hands and did without computers.

Linor Goralik

writer

This is my first time going to camp, but I have been working with children for a very long time. In Nikola-Lenivets I will be doing two rather different things. Firstly, I will probably help those children who are interested in writing texts. Not to teach them to write - under no circumstances - but to be a person with whom a child who writes poetry, or stories, or anything else can talk about it. And secondly, I hope to hold several master classes on the topic of refashioning - this is when you use old things different ways new ones are being made. I would really like to give children the opportunity to create for themselves exactly the clothes that they like, without any adult rules.

It is clear that for me, as a person interested in refashioning within the framework of costume theory, this is a unique experience, but what is more important is that working with children is the most rewarding thing in the world. It gives you the feeling that you offer people an idea, and they develop it before your eyes in a way that you, due to your closed-mindedness as an adult, would never be able to do. It's exciting. I try to do with children what interests me most acutely now (texts and working with costumes - good examples). And children always feel sincerely involved in the topic and willingly get involved.

It seems to me that any time a child is around a well-meaning adult who is willing to talk to him like a human being is good enough, and I usually manage to be an adult who is interested in talking to children.

City camp
"Museon" "Classics"

working days shift lasts

children resting
in the camp

years- children's age

rubles it's worth a change

The camp was created in Muzeon Park on Krymskaya Embankment with the participation of the project “Buns Don’t Grow on Trees,” where children are introduced to various adult professions. Every day, in addition to games, yoga and other entertainment, the children had two master classes with specialists from different professions who showed them the basics of their specialty.

Katya Malyutina

landscape designer

I learned about the project “Buns Don’t Grow on Trees” from a loved one who helped them at the creation stage, and watched with interest how it developed. I really liked their idea - to creatively teach children about different professions. At one of the classes where my beloved took his son, I met the project director Maria - that’s when the idea was born to supplement the “Architect” course with a lesson in landscape design. By the summer, the idea had grown into a separate course in landscape architecture at the summer camp at Muzeon.

I thought it would be difficult to get children to pick up a shovel,
and in the end they fought over shovels

The children and I did two projects. The first is a flowerbed in “Museon” in the form of a smiling face. I thought that it would be difficult to force the children to pick up a shovel, but on the contrary, they fought over the shovels. We did our second project as part of the “Bright People” festival in Gorky Park - “The Second Life of Old Shoes.” We collected old shoes from the whole world, and together with the children we painted them in bright colors and planted flowers in it to make a walking flowerbed.

It was nice that the children sincerely responded to all the ideas and really enjoyed digging, planting and watering something. It was communication with living nature, something that city children miss so much. Now we are thinking about creating a full-fledged course on landscape design as part of “Bulok”. I received great pleasure from this project and would happily continue working with the children.

Photos: Kamchatka-camp.ru, Nikola-lenivets.com, Alexandra Filippova for the “School of Nature Friends” camp

It is easiest for students of pedagogical faculties to master the role of a counselor. There, working in a children's camp is equated to educational practice. For those who don't have teacher education, but really wants to raise children, we can recommend:

• Look through job advertisements in newspapers, magazines, and on recruitment websites.
• Look at the websites of education departments and the websites of large children's camps.
• Join the teaching team at the university and take a counselor training course.
• Call the administration of children's camps and fill out an applicant form.

You can work as a counselor or teacher after 18 years of age. Minors will be offered the position of assistant teacher, asking for written permission from their parents.

It is easy to find a scattering of vacancies for a counselor position in the spring, but in the summer it is not so easy to find a job, since all the labor reserves have already been formed. Some camps begin looking for counselors and educators as early as January-February.

Documents required when applying for a job

• Completed job application.
• A personal medical record with a conclusion from a medical commission stating that the counselor does not have serious illnesses that interfere with his work. A referral for a medical examination is issued by the camp administration upon hiring.
• Copies of passport, TIN, pension insurance certificate.
• Certificates from drug and psychoneurological dispensaries stating that the applicant is not registered there.
• Certificate of no criminal record. You can get it from the internal affairs bodies.

After submission necessary documents they conclude with the future counselor employment contract. In this case, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with job responsibilities and rules internal regulations camps.

The final touch is the entry for employment in work book(at the request of the employee).

What does a counselor do?

• On the day the children arrive, the counselor registers each child from his squad.
• The counselor receives sports equipment and bedding for the squad.
• The safety of the area around the building in which the children will be accommodated is checked by a counselor.
• The counselor undergoes instructions on child safety and signs in the camp journal in the column “familiar with the rules.”
• The counselor can use educational materials brought to the camp: CDs with recordings of children's songs, books and magazines, teaching aids.
• The counselor must remember rule of three days. It lies in the fact that during three days You can form a cohesive squad. In the future, it will be difficult to instill in children the principles of friendship and mutual assistance.
• The counselor's responsibilities are to prevent conflicts and controversial situations between the guys.
• The counselor controls the movement of children around the camp and beyond during the entire shift.
• The counselor is responsible for the leisure time of children in the camp.
• After lights out, the counselor checks the serviceability of the emergency lights in the corridors and lobby of the building in which the children are located.
• At night, the counselor closes the doors of the building.
• Cigarettes, matches, knives, flammable substances - the counselor must remove all these items from the child and give them to the parents or write a receipt stating that “items that pose a threat to the health of children have been received for storage and must be returned to parents at the end of the shift.”
• The counselor is responsible for the well-being of the children entrusted to him. If a child feels unwell, the counselor sends the sick person to the first aid station.
• The counselor explains the rules of conduct in the dining room or at events to children.
• A child can leave the camp only if the counselor receives a written statement from the parents.
• The counselor should not take custody of the child’s valuables and is not responsible for preserving the children’s property.
• The counselor holds a daily morning team meeting, at which he reports on the plans for activities.
• If a child runs away from camp, the counselor reports the incident to the camp inspector or director.
• A child can be expelled from the squad only if he has repeatedly violated discipline.

Legal responsibility of the counselor

Many people consider childcare in a preschool educational institution as an easy summer job. However, it is not. A counselor is a full-fledged employee educational institution, who bears legal responsibility for each child entrusted to him. The rights and responsibilities of a counselor are specified in a special annex to the employment contract.

It is important to remember that any (physical or moral) harm to a child imposes responsibility on the counselor. Beatings, insults, acts of a sexual nature - these incidents are investigated by social security authorities, the prosecutor's office, and trade unions in which the victim's parents belong.

Criminal actions against a child:

• Causing death by negligence (Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Beatings (Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Torture (Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Insult (Article 130, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Rape (Article 131, paragraph 1, 2 d, 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Sexual intercourse and other actions of a sexual nature with a person under sixteen years of age (Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Depraved acts (Article 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Failure to fulfill obligations to raise a minor (Article 156 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Exceeding official powers (Article 286, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

According to Russian legislation, a counselor or teacher bears criminal liability not only for intentional crimes, but also for careless actions committed through frivolity or negligence and resulting in danger to the child.

Criminal liability is imposed for:

• Crime committed through negligence (Article 26 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Leaving in danger (Article 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
• Negligence (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

To initiate a criminal case, a statement from the child or his parents is sufficient. Such criminal cases are not closed as a result of reconciliation of the parties, but are brought to trial.

Another significant point: minors aged 6 to 14 years have the right to independently make transactions to manage funds provided by legal representatives, that is, parents (clause 3, clause 2, article 28 Civil Code RF). At the same time, the counselor may invalidate a child’s financial transaction if it was made fraudulently, using violence or threats.

So, the counselor has a huge responsibility for the life and health of the children from his squad. If you doubt the correctness of a decision you are about to make, consult with a more experienced teacher, social worker or camp director. Do not conflict with the child and his parents, try to resolve problems peacefully. And don’t forget that the counselor is business card camps, do not commit actions that will harm the reputation of the preschool educational institution.

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For a counselor, working with children is a complex and responsible task that requires serious preparation. And, at the same time, great joy. Our job is to create a space in which it is fun and important to think, discuss, make decisions, take responsibility, learn and experience, overcome challenges, explore and make your own discoveries.

We are interested the world. The society in which we live is interesting, the people who surround us are interesting. We go to theaters and cinema, to exhibitions and to the skating rink, play sports, are interested in painting and music, physics and sociology and much more. It is important for us to convey this interest to children, to open up a world of opportunities and free choice to them.

You will need to learn to sense the dynamics of group development, manage motivation and emotional state groups, learn to conduct reflection and, together with the group, extract experience from past events, learn to conduct meaningful discussions and develop children's ability to understand, master methods of problematization and methods of creating space for the group to make a discovery.

For the average healthy child the process of education among peers is more effective individual work. Our first task is to form a children's team (group) in such a way that its internal structure, its structure, and atmosphere give each child a powerful incentive for personal development, open up new perspectives and a new view of the world. Further, through overcoming challenges as a team, agreeing on values, joint decision-making, creativity, discussions and much more, we create the prerequisites for children to form a worldview and their own position.

Therefore, programs should be aimed at developing in children the ability to understand and comprehend the world, the ability to search for truth and chart their own path in life, and the formation of a conscious position and worldview. This is a most difficult pedagogical task, requiring from the teacher not only skills, but also his own maturity.

It is also necessary to be able to build, together with children, their attitude towards various phenomena, facts, events, actions and ways of life, so that children develop their own holistic picture of the world. It is necessary to create for the child a space of his own choice and responsibility.

All this requires not only feelings, but also intelligence, the ability to design one’s activities and anticipate consequences.

The counselor needs:

• Ability to collaborate with other people– the most important skill in the modern world. To cooperate means to be able to hear and understand another person, to be able to formulate one’s position, to be able to make decisions together, to be able to do things together with other people.
• Ability to think– a step towards independence and responsibility. Modern world full of manipulation. Independent thinking is in demand now more than ever. It presupposes the ability to hold the subject of reflection, the ability to introduce and distinguish concepts, the ability to understand the basis of different points of view, the ability to identify hidden contradictions and problems. In our programs, special attention should be paid to the culture of thinking.
• Active life position– this is the desire to develop and develop society, to make the world around us kinder, fairer, better. Our task is to help the child learn the value of development and put it at the foundation of his life.
• Morality, responsibility, honesty inherent in a developed person. Morality is not a restriction of freedom, but a free choice. It is impossible to be such a person “under pressure.” Our task is to help children make their own moral choices.
• cognize the structure of the world and the truth is everyone’s calling. Our task is to awaken the child’s interest in this. In the modern pluralistic world, it is generally accepted that every person has the right to believe what he wants, to live as he wants, to consider whatever he wants to be true. Thus, each person has his own truth, to which he has every right. We have no right to encroach on this convenient concept. However, we ourselves are confident that the truth is objective and there is only one. And people are called to discover and cognize it, and build their lives in accordance with it.
• Human values are valuable only when they are embodied in real life. We are opponents of empty declarations and lofty words. Our task is to help children so that universal human values ​​become the basis for real actions (but for this we ourselves have to translate our values ​​into real actions, no matter how difficult it may seem).
• We we are working not individually, but with the group. Effective education is through norms accepted in the team. Boring lectures on how to behave are not effective method education. Education is effective when a child finds himself in a group of peers in which it is customary to respect each other, be attentive, avoid insults, trust, and do not hesitate to express their best qualities. The task of an adult is to create such a team together with children. All our technologies are technologies for creating and maintaining a group in which each participant has space for development.

Basic principles of a counselor:

• The health and safety of children is most important. That is, regardless of the circumstances, each child in the squad must be dressed for the weather, must wear dry shoes, and must not freeze. Everyone should have the opportunity to fully rest from bed to wake-up and during quiet times, and should be fed on time. Every child should be protected from potential dangerous situations threatening his life and health.
• A child is a free person. That is, he cannot be forced to do what he does not want (except in cases of danger to life and health). Therefore, the task of the counselor, as an educator, is to interest every child.
• Children should always be busy something important and interesting. The less free time children have, the less likely there are conflicts and injuries. Therefore, the counselor always finds something to do with his squad so that the children are included in constructive interesting activity: games, creativity, discussion.
• The counselor is always with his children. If you leave the children's group to its own devices, then, most likely, something unpleasant will happen: either one of the children will be offended, or, after playing too much, someone will get injured. Therefore, the task of the counselor is to always be with his squad and set new goals for the children. interesting tasks allowing them to spend their energy constructively.
• Effective education - through norms accepted in the team. Boring lectures on how to behave are an ineffective way of parenting. If it is customary in a group of children to respect each other, be attentive, avoid insults, trust, and do not hesitate to show their best qualities, then this is an effective way of education. The task of the counselor, as an educator, is to create such a team together with the children.

Anyone who has been to a children's health camp at least once in their life (as a child or a counselor) or sent their own child there for the summer knows how important it is for a good counselor to work on the unit. Probably, in the work of everyone, even the most wonderful counselor, you can find some mistakes, disadvantages, shortcomings or shortcomings. It is impossible to embrace the immensity: something will definitely fall out of sight. So sometimes children, parents and camp administration complain: “Where can we get an ideal counselor, someone who can do everything, can do everything?”

Let's try to figure out together who the ideal counselor is, what he can do, what character qualities he has, what special knowledge he has. After all, he lives with the guys, providing them (materially and spiritually) with everything they need all the days of their shift...

First of all, the ideal counselor is interested in the children themselves. Without this, you don’t even have to go to camp.

The ideal counselor is usually young. After all, you see, a young girl or young guy much more enthusiasm, activity and energy than an experienced but older person. But a child, and even a teenager, is not interested in simply following a daily routine. He wants to play, participate in camp concerts and competitions, and constantly be busy with something.

An ideal counselor needs to understand modern music, know films (new and old, but good), computer games, keep abreast of world news and sporting events to talk to the child about what interests him, to tell him something new and exciting. But at the same time, of course, he remains a mentor, passing all information through an internal filter. Of course, he must be able to quickly find an answer to any question asked by the child.

The ideal counselor knows psychology well and is observant in order to prevent conflicts between children and help each child feel like a member of the squad. He knows how to position himself in such a way that with any question or problem, children come to him for help and support.

The ideal counselor is demanding (the children themselves say this!), but always fair. When children clearly know what they want and what the consequences will be for breaking the rules, it is easier for them to fulfill these rules and requirements. The counselor has a fairly loud voice, which he should never raise to children.

And of course he doesn't have bad habits. Because personal example means a lot to children. In addition, the ideal counselor loves the stage and knows how to be on stage: sing, dance, participate in skits or play games with the audience. Children love when their counselor is the center of attention.

And finally: the ideal counselor remains an optimist in any situation.

In general, the profession of a counselor presupposes that you are at the same time a teacher, a psychologist, a doctor, a tailor, a dancer, a singer, an artist, an athlete (and all kinds of sports at the same time), and many more... So if you want to become ideal counselor - remember everything you hear, learn everything you don’t know yet, and constantly come up with something new for the children!

“(a quatrain from a song that touched me so deeply on my first ever counselor shift at the Haglar children’s camp:)

And every hour, and every minute, someone’s destinies are an eternal concern. Giving a piece of your heart to someone - This, brother, is the job you and I have.

Who are they - these perky, cheerful, caring, sometimes strict guys, with the same sparkling eyes as the children around them - you ask? And you will read the answer in the faces of the boys and girls, sparkling with smiles of genuine happiness: these are our favorite children's camp counselors!

A children's camp counselor is a profession that is unlikely to be taught in universities in our country, which is not even a teaching profession; rather, it is a kind of calling, a state. Successful work The leader, of course, depends on individual traits determined by age, work experience, his personal characteristics, value system and level of mastery of pedagogical technologies. The choice of methods and techniques of pedagogical influence on children in a children's camp also depends on the personality of the counselor. The children's camp counselor takes a special position in relation to the child - the distance between them is much shorter than that of the teachers. A counselor is not an overseer; a counselor in a children's camp should be a friend or girlfriend, sister or brother for those who need to come with their childhood problems, with whom they can have an interesting time, learn something new. A counselor is an artist and an athlete, a writer and a historian, a psychologist and a bit of a child, a dreamer and good wizard. A counselor is a person who is always close to the children, but at the same time a little ahead.

So who is a counselor? A person who takes on the responsibility of being a counselor at a children's camp must know and be able to do a lot. And even if he doesn’t know how to do this and doesn’t know much, he is obliged to learn it. And he learns quickly. The counselor is mom and dad for all his children in the squad. And children always have some problems: either they lose something, then they fight with someone, quarrel, then they want to go home, or suddenly they fall in love, are embarrassed, and do not know how to behave... And since you are a counselor, you must calm the child down and sort out his problems. And it doesn’t matter what time of day this happens. The counselor is a nanny. Before going to bed, you need to make sure that your child washes himself and brushes his teeth, then put him to bed after lights out and make sure that your children do not jump around in bed, unable to calm down after a busy day. vivid impressions day. Get them up with persuasion in the morning to do exercises, which they really don’t like. Or, staying as late as possible, lead the heated dancers away from camp discos, when the counselor himself still has enough dancing agility for the whole night... But children really love to smear their neighbors with toothpaste. And the victims in the morning, naturally, go to complain to the counselor - they overlooked it... The counselor is the director. Participation in the events of your squad and a worthy performance is 80% of the work of a children's camp counselor. Often children are cunning, and it is not always possible to persuade one of them to perform on the stage of a children's camp. It’s good if there are talented and active ones. But even in this case, the child needs to come up with and choreograph a dance, model a costume and figure out what kind of hairstyle he will have. This is where all your imagination comes into play (even if you didn’t even suspect it).

You can simply forget about the word “get enough sleep” during a counselor’s shift at a children’s camp. And it’s impossible to take a nap during the day, even if there is someone to replace you - in five minutes they will wake you up for some need. But, it turns out, you can get used to this if you are a real counselor!

Working with children literally charges you with energy, gives you the opportunity to see the world through the pure eyes of teenagers, and the task of the counselor is to teach children an understanding of life and the ability to take their rightful place in it.

There are no random people in the counselor corps of the children's camp. Only those who truly love children, who are passionate about their work and know how to lead themselves can work with the younger generation in a children's camp. In order to take a shift at a children's camp, they are ready to take exams ahead of schedule and give up on vacations and rest. And all for the sake of, as it may seem, listening to the round-the-clock din of naughty children... But, as experience shows, they will not be able to part with this work very soon.

By the end of a shift at a children's camp, even the loudest counselors' voices become low, with a characteristic hoarseness. The ligaments cannot withstand the daily (!) load - classes, games, constant training camps, sports, various competitions and relay races... A counselor at a children's camp can rest his soul and body only after... a party! Not at all, as you might think. When the children have calmed down, the teaching staff of the children's camp gathers to discuss the past day, summing up its results and the mandatory planning for the coming day. And all counselors, without exception, come to this necessary event. Falling off our feet, but with an unquenchable spark in our tired eyes and invigorated by the remnants of our strength, we can, even until the morning, if necessary, prepare a new day for our children - a new fairy tale...

A children's camp counselor is not a profession, but a state of mind! A profession is something that can be learned. But not everyone can be a leader, an older brother, a sister to young warm hearts... Children's camp counselors become not out of necessity, but rather out of conviction, out of love for children. Those who do not want to leave childhood become counselors.

This is who he is, always sleep-deprived, hungry, tired, but a kind counselor. And to be honest, the tears and words of the children leaving home about how much they loved us, that they will write and call, and the request to come to their favorite children’s camp to work more are worth a lot.

Every boy and every girl who proudly bears the title of children’s camp counselor carries a “torch of the soul” through life, having a pure heart and unshakable faith in the importance of their work, in the significance of being an educator, mentor, teacher, and most importantly, a friend of any child who comes to to replace him in a children's camp. And only after being a counselor can you understand how wonderful it is, bringing back from your shifts the incorruptible gold of childish smiles, the silver of your own tears at parting and the bronze of freckled profiles forever etched in your memory.

It seems to me that at all times, a children's camp counselor will be a bird's profession, he will always be a little over eighteen, he will be for the guys best friend who know 463 legends and 237 songs by heart, who fly in their dreams and understand what doves argue about in a spring puddle.

Author: Lyuba Obraztsova, Haglar program intern