Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

If you've never attended an NVC Family Camp before (or even if you have!), you probably have lots of questions.

In order to give you easy access to the information you want, and in order to save us time answer the same quesitions over and over, we are compiling this list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  

If you have a question, please check to see if it is answered here first.  If not, please email us at grassvalleyfamilycamp@gmail.com with your question, and if it's one that will help others as well, we will probably quickly add it to our list of FAQs to help the next person who wants to know.  

What is the Children’s Program Like?

The Children's Program is a multi-age program with a ratio of 3 young people to each staff member. The program is led by Maren Metke, who has years of experience working with children in Family Camps and independent school settings.

After breakfast each morning there is a "slide show" presenting kids with the offerings for the day.  These offerings arise out of the interest of the kids, as well as the enthusiasm and energy levels of the staff.  The choices change daily and may include arts and crafts, sports, rocket building, bubbles, theatre, story telling, face painting, music, scavenger hunts, cooperative games, walks, and more.   If you or your child have any ideas or activities you would like to see included in the offerings for the week please bring supplies to share or just tell us about them when you get here!

While children may choose to engage in activities that introduce them to some NVC concepts, there is no explicit teaching of NVC.  Rather, children are immersed in the care, consideration, and language of the NVC consciousness.  Our intention is that your child will understand, through their own personal experience, the relief of receiving empathy from a caring adult when they are feeling upset.  That they will observe different ways of discussing interacting in groups.  That they will

Yes, But Will My Kids Learn NVC?

If you’ve ever had the feeling that your kids think you’re an alien from another planet when you try speaking NVC with them, Family Camp might help.  Giving your kids the opportunity to see, hear, and experience the NVC consciousness from adults other than yourself, may be a missing piece to the puzzle, so to speak.

The feedback we’ve gotten from parents in the past is that, after attending Family Camp, their kids could better recognize them (the parents) as individuals, with their own feelings and needs.  They said that speaking the language of NVC wasn’t such a “foreign language” in the household as it seemed to be before Family Camp.  

That said, we ask you to consider what needs of yours you hope will be met by your kids learning NVC.  Ease? Connection? Fun? Understanding… ?

And we ask you to consider whether the strategy of having your kids explicitly “taught” the NVC model is necessarily the best strategy to meet those needs (especially if they are not excited about it).

We propose that you consider letting go of the attachment to the strategy of “teaching your kids NVC” and connect to the many ways that both you and your kids can experience Ease, Connection, Fun and Understanding--both during Family Camp and afterwards.

Is There a Teen Program?

The youth program is geared to kids ages 3-13 year olds. However, if several teens sign up, then a tailored program could be worked out.  

If you and your teen(s) are wanting a program more specifically catering to teens, we encourage you to consider the NVC Family Camp on Vashon Island, near Seattle, Washington in Early August.  This will be the third year running that the Vashon Family Camp has had a program exclusively for Teens and it has been extremely successful by measures of delighted teens and parents who are all eager to come back next year.

What is the Adult Program Like?

The Adult Program is lead by Loren Swift and Jared Finkelstein, both highly experienced in applying the NVC consciousness to families.  The Adult program is customized to the needs and desires of the adults in attendance.  The responses to the registration form and discussions on the first day of camp will give us an idea of what the NVC knowledge/skills are of the participants, as well as what they (you) hope to get out of the time at family camp, as well as what specific issues they would like support in dealing with in their families.  These will create the foundations and building blocks of this year’s Adult Program.

Will I Get Support Outside of the Classroom for The Issues I’m Facing in My Family?

One of the beautiful things about family camp is that it’s an experience of living in a community with the shared values of an NVC consciousness.  We have the intention of offering presence and support as needed according to the energy levels and willingness of the staff and community members.  We encourage you to make requests for support as needed, to trust into the web of community that surrounds you, and invite you to recognize that we are each--staff, parents, and kids--individuals doing our best to stay connected to our own feelings and needs in each moment.  

What is the Typical Daily/Weekly Schedule?

The schedule is still being worked on for the week, but here’s an example of how a typical day might look...

• Breakfast
• Adult Sessions and Children's Program Time
• Lunch
• Empathy Groups for Adults (while kids are with the Children's Program)
• Free Time (a few hours in the middle of the day to swim, walk, rest....spending time with your children)
• (Occasionally there are additional offerings at these times)
• Dinner
• Community Time (There are often structured evening offerings where all the group is together.)

 

What Kind of Food is Served?

In the past, food has typically been primarily vegetarian with offerings for meat-eaters and vegans as well.

Food is a very important element at camp and we care about what YOU want! We want to serve food that you LOVE to eat, and that is healthy, organic, fresh, and grown as close to our kitchen as possible. While we plan to exceed your culinary expectations, we may not be able to accommodate every food preference, but we'll try! To help us plan meals that will nourish and delight you, please make sure to fill out our Food Preference survey.

If you or your child has food allergies/sensitivities please make sure to include that information in the survey so we can take it into account during our planning phases.