Camp Grandma

May 1, 2019

Successful businesswoman Day almost titled this book "Please Don't Call Me a Babysitter," an apt option considering her work explores the valuable and wide-ranging roles grandparents play in a child's life: role model, teacher, historian, storyteller, to name a few. Day, who became a caretaker for her grandchildren five years into her retirement, recounts how on their first day together she handed each child a "Camp Grandma" shirt. Their outings soon evolved to become what she calls a "corporate retreat for kids," wherein the structure of their days included round-table discussion (planning and goal-setting guided by Grandma), presentations (show-and-tell to practice public speaking), learning time (topics encompass manners, candle making, family history), and activity hour (baking cookies, doing crafts, sports, etc.). VERDICT Full of ideas for readers wishing to institute a similar workshop-like approach, this is sure to appeal to the many grandparents who are active in their grandchildren's lives. An activity section in each chapter makes Day's ideas easy to implement.

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