Autism Family Camp Information Package

Transcription

1 Autism Family Camp Information Package Thank-you for your interest in a Family Camp Program at the Kinark Outdoor Centre! We are looking forward to providing a successful, fun, and relaxing time at camp. Attached is some information about the facility and program to help you prepare and know what to expect when you get here. Please phone or the Centre with any questions you might have. We look forward to seeing you soon! 1766 Queens Line Rd. Box #730 Minden, ON K0M 2K info@koc.on.ca

2 Site Information Site Information The Kinark Outdoor Centre is located near the town of Minden, approximately 2 1/2 hours northeast of Toronto. The site is a wilderness based setting, located on a small, forested private lake. Amidst this beautiful setting, the centre boasts modern and comfortable facilities. There are roads and trails throughout the site so families may easily drive from their cabins to the various locations on the site. Accommodations Families stay in cabins located in the Lakeview Cabin Area. Each family is assigned one cabin. Each cabin contains 2 bunk beds and 1 single bed sleeping 5, larger families can be accommodated and playpens are available for children who require them. Please be prepared to bring your own bedding and towels. All cabins are equipped with a 2 pc. washroom (toilet and sink) with a shower house providing showers and additional toilets and sinks located close by. All cabins have heat, hydro and electrical outlets. Bedrooms do not have locking doors, valuables can be locked up in in a lock box or kept in a locked vehicle. Laundry facilities are located close by the Lakeview Cabin area and are available at no cost, please provide your own laundry soap. Parking is adjacent to the cabin.

3 Program Information Upon arrival at the Centre, your family will be met by the Kinark Outdoor Centre staff. They will show you to your cabin, making sure that you have everything that you need, and then give you a site tour en route to your first meal in the Dining Hall. You will receive important information during this tour related to safety on site. Over the course of your visit, we offer programming for your entire family as a unit to allow you to share in new activities together! Facilities and supports are in place to allow networking, sharing and social interaction among parents. The activities offered include: swimming, fishing, campfires, climbing wall, pontoon boat lake tours, sauna, arts and crafts, canoeing, paddle boats and nature hikes. Your family s participation in activities is always optional. All the activities are adapted to meet the needs and interests of family members and the whole site has been modified to acknowledge and meet the needs of families with special needs. Food Service Families eat meals in the Dining Hall. The Outdoor Centre provides all breakfasts, lunches, dinners and evening snacks during your visit. The Outdoor Centre staff will be available to support you at all meals. Food is served buffet style. With notice, we are happy to accommodate your family s dietary needs, including gluten and casein restrictive diets. Additionally, if you would like to bring up any of your own drinks or food items for your children, there is a refrigerator available for you to store such items. Please note we are a nut-free site and no alcohol is permitted on site.

4 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 7:15 Early bird fishing 7:15 Early bird yoga 8:00 Breakfast 8:00 Breakfast 8:00 Breakfast 9:00 Options: high ropes, sustainable living centre tour, hike 9:00 Options: high ropes, sustainable living centre tour, hike 9:00 Pack up Cabins 10:30 Open Waterfront 10:30 Options: archery, kayaking, climbing wall 10:30 Options: high ropes, canoeing, crafts 12:00 Lunch 11:00 Arrival, Settle into cabins, Site Tour 12:30 Lunch 1:30 Open Waterfront 4:30 Field Sports 5:00 Dinner 12:00 Lunch 1:00 Rest Hour 2:00 Options: high ropes, canoeing, crafts 3:15 Open Waterfront and pontoon boat tours 12:00 Lunch 1:00 Rest Hour 2:00 Options: climbing wall, kayaking, archery 3:15 Open Waterfront 5:00 Dinner 2:00 Depart 6:45 Welcome Campfire 8:30 Evening Snack 5:00 Dinner 6:15 Family fishing or soccer baseball 6:15 Family fishing or soccer baseball 7:00 Campfire Talent Show 7:15 Escape from the Zoo 8:30 Evening Snack 8:00 Evening Snack Activity Information Open Waterfront - All the activities lakeside are available and facilitated by KOC staff with some support from parents: swimming, fishing, paddleboats, canoeing, kayaking, sand castles, volleyball. Rest Hour - Provides an opportunity for down time for young children. There will be a movie in the conference room and the Eagles Nest is open. Meal Times - Provide opportunities to find out about the next scheduled activities, announcements and interaction with other families at the level that you are comfortable, there will be tables set up with games and crafts. There is a quieter back room for those that wish and families can also eat outside on the picnic tables. Campfire - There is a large group campfire site overlooking the lake adjacent to the dining hall with playground equipment beside it. Organized campfires are facilitated with songs, skits and games. Please note this is only a sample schedule, a specific schedule for your week will be given to you on Day 1.

5 Safety Orientation Our commitment to working with you and your Family Coming to the Kinark Outdoor Center presents opportunities to try new activities, to network with new friends, to relax, to have fun, to watch a child or peer explore and grow. This is a new experience that will be facilitated in the safest way and will offer opportunities of incredible value! There are risks inherent in stepping outside of a familiar environment. It is necessary that you understand that the risks in our environment can have greater implications than in a familiar and urban environment. Going out on the trails alone (despite clear markings to not do so) might mean becoming lost in the woods for hours or longer in rain, wind, or hot sun and mosquitoes, all of which could be uncomfortable and eventually dangerous to you or your child. The water, the remote and vast woods, and the weather can all be dangerous. With good communication, safety orientation, and facilitated experiences the staff at the Kinark Outdoor Center are able to keep you safe and allow you to take advantage of ALL the opportunities at the camp. We need your understanding and compliance in all respects of program and time spent at the KOC. Upon arrival you will be given a site tour. This tour will include specific rules at different program areas, emergency procedures, and discussion around what if scenarios while at camp. Our biggest hope is that you feel that you can share any information with us regarding care of your child and family while here and that you communicate any issues or concerns immediately. At all times you will be responsible for the care of your child/children. If your child has a medical condition or high risk behavior please talk this out with staff upon your arrival and during the site tour. Let s make a plan on how we can best support you during your visit. Often we can help you identify problematic program times or areas given our expert knowledge of the facility and the environment and we can help identify potential problems that you have yet to experience.

6 Telephone and Internet There is contact for wireless (cell) phones. Phone access is available in our office in the event of an emergency. Wireless internet is also available in our main dining hall. Emergency Program staff are trained and certified in First Aid and CPR, and are familiar with safety procedures on site. Our staff will assume a leadership role in the event of an emergency. First Aid Kits are located at key locations on site. Our program staff also carry first aid kits on them. Kinark Outdoor Centre staff provide a wide variety of program experiences from 8:00 AM until the end of evening program at approximately 8:30 PM. After this time, there is an identified Kinark staff on-site each night to assist in the event of an emergency. Two hospital emergency departments are available within a thirty minute drive from the centre. The outdoor centre has developed comprehensive missing persons search procedures. Our staff are available via cell phone in the event of an emergency after 8 pm. Smoking Ontario smoking regulations apply to all staff, parents and children. Smoking is not permitted inside or near entranceways or while walking between locations. There are designated smoking areas that can be pointed out to you if needed. Alcohol and Nuts The Kinark Outdoor Centre does not permit alcohol on site. We are also designated as a nut free facility. Therefore, we stress that families do not bring peanuts, peanut based or nut based food products onto the property.

7 Suggestions Sleeping Bag or Sheets & Blankets * Pillow * Pyjamas Under Garments Bathing Suit T-Shirts Sweater Shorts Long Pants Socks Change of Footwear Jacket Hat/Bandana Rain Gear Towel/Washcloth Toiletry Items (soap, shampoo, toothbrush, etc.) Bug Repellent (no aerosol please) Sunscreen (15+SPF) Refillable Water Bottle Sturdy Footwear (hiking boots or running shoes) Flashlight * If unavailable, sleeping bags and pillows are available to rent for $15 (cleaning costs) Please consider Fan (cabins can get hot and are not air conditioned.) Portable DVD player (some families have found this a useful item at bedtime for their children)

8 Directions To Kinark... From the southeast : take Hwy 404 to Newmarket, turn right onto Davis Drive and continue to stoplights at Hwy 48. Proceed north on Hwy 48 until the stop light where Hwy 48 merges with Hwy 12. Take Hwy 12 north (left) for approximately 15 kms. Then Hwy 48 veers off to the right and continues on its own again. Continue on Hwy 48 until it stops at Hwy 35 in Coboconk. Drive north on Hwy 35, past the town of Minden to the town of Carnarvon (approx. 13 kms) where Hwy 35 intersects with Hwy 118 (stop lights). Turn west onto Hwy 118 and proceed 7 kms to the Queens Line. Turn south on the Queens Line and proceed 1.5 kms to the entrance for the Centre (first opening on your left). From the southwest : take Hwy 401 to Hwy 400 driving north. Between Barrie and Orillia Hwy 400 forks and you take the left fork Hwy 11 to North Bay. Continue driving north where the road forks again and you want to take the right fork North Bay. Proceed until you see the the Bracebridge-Vankounet- Haliburton exit. Go east on Hwy 118 for 55 kms (approx 45 min.) to the Queens Line. [you ll know you are getting close when you pass the Bobcaygeon Road on your right] (if you find yourself at the stop lights in Carnarvon you ve gone too far east) Turn south on Queens Line and proceed 1.5 kms to the entrance for the Centre (first opening on your left). From Ottawa : drive north on Hwy 17 to Renfrew. Turn left on Hwy 132 it turns into Hwy 41. At Denbigh, turn right on Hwy 28. Go to Bancroft, straight through lights and continue on Hwy 28. Turn right on 118/121 (signage will say Haliburton). At Tory Hill, again turn right on 118/121 and proceed to Haliburton. At stoplights, proceed straight on Hwy 118 and follow to stoplights at Carnarvon (intersects with Hwy 35). Continue straight for approx. 6 km. To Queens Line. Turn south on Queens line and proceed 1.5 kms to the entrance for the Centre (first opening on your left).

9 KINARK OUTDOOR CENTRE Autism Family Camp ~ Registration Form Please select preferred 4-day camp: August 11th-14th, 2015 August 18th-21st, 2015 Selection Process Family camps are available on a fee for service basis. There is space for fifteen families each weekend and they are allocated on a first come first serve basis. After applying, families are asked to complete a brief questionnaire over the phone or by internet to ensure that we are able to support your needs. The fee for the all inclusive family camp is $715 per family. A $70 deposit is due upon notice of acceptance, with the balance due upon arrival. In the event you should cancel and we are unable to fill the spot, a $70 administrative fee will be retained. Address (with postal code): Family Name: Home Telephone: Work Telephone: Mobile Telephone: Adult Names Children s Names (Age) Any Special Needs ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Have you ever been to the Kinark Outdoor Centre before? If yes, when? Yes ( ) No ( ) Please feel free to provide us with any other information we should know about your family. Please note, once you have been accepted to the program, we will follow-up with a questionnaire to learn specific information on how to serve your family Please mail or to: Kinark Outdoor Centre PO Box 730 Minden On K0M 2K0 Tel: (705) Fax: (705) info@koc.on.ca Alternatively to complete an application online please visit our website at