Building the Next Generation: Full STEAM Ahead When Kameron walked in to school last August, he was ready. He spent his summer exploring the continents, performing experiments, journaling and playing games from around the world. He learned about water scarcity and took part in service learning to help make a difference in his community and beyond. In fact, he was so prepared, he was the only one who ACED the first history and geography exam in his class. Kameron didn’t need to step foot into a classroom or spend time being tested on maps and facts. No, Kameron was ready for school because he never really stopped learning. He was prepared thanks to a rich summer learning experience at Camp Fire Day Camp.
Preventing Summer Slide Supports Our Community Growing evidence shows an idle summer leads to academic deficits in youth. In just a two-month time span – commonly referred to as “summer slide” – students face a significant learning loss. This loss is magnified for lower income students. Reports show a child or young person being idle during the summer months results in:
• Spending at least five to six weeks re-teaching material from the previous year, • Regressing in math skills, • Falling one month behind documented spring academic achievement, and • Putting on extra weight, equal to half their yearly weight gain.
Summer learning loss is a concern for schools, policy makers, parents and communities. “Summer is quickly approaching and parents are wondering how to plan their children’s out of school time. While I remember carefree summers riding bikes in the neighborhood, frequenting a nearby park for sandlot baseball games and borrowing books from the Bookmobile, today’s kids don’t have those options,” Cathy Halliday, vice president of youth development at Camp Fire First Texas said. “Thoughtful summer programs find a way to combine learning and play to create a new nostalgia for youth – regardless of income or location.” Thoughtful enrichment programs are key to both
preserving a “traditional” summer experience, while preventing summer slide. It’s not a mimic of the school day with inside lessons, tests and instructor-led activities. Instead, look for programs that: • Create opportunities for STEAM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) that don’t rely on drilling and worksheets, but engages a child’s natural curiosity. • Schedule time for outdoor physical activity that provides equal parts free, unstructured play along with organized activities and sports. • Plan educational field trips to places in and around the community to help expand a child’s horizons and
Camp Fire First Texas programs are for boys, girls and adults and include camping, after school programs, teen services, environmental education, early childhood education and school readiness. We change young lives for the better in our community. Inside and out. CampFireFW.org | 817.831.2111
give them a better sense of where they live. • Is structured, but flexible enough to allow for the children to explore and grow. Truly enriching programs should provide interesting, project-based learning driven by the children’s individual interests, a lot of interactivity, and opportunities that introduce life lessons to stimulate socialemotional growth and independence. As a community, when we have youth who are given opportunities to think freely and apply the knowledge they have acquired in school to life, and vice-versa, they become life-long problem solvers and engaged learners - just like Kameron!
Tinkering and Builder Space: Laying the Groundwork for Engineering Walking in to see a tinker or builder space for the first time and many adults think, “Look at all this junk.” But a child walks in and thinks, “Look at all this JUNK!” Open-ended play and loose parts are incorporated into Camp Fire’s Summer Day Camps in multiple ways to enhance youth’s creativity, curiosity and problem-solving skills using STEAM concepts – it’s called The Creation Station. The Creation Station is filled with materials such as various types, colors, and sizes of paper, beads, feathers, yarn, clay, sequins, felt, pens, pencils, markers, paint, buttons, cards, magazines and more for youth to create artwork of their own design throughout the day. This station is expanding to
include woodworking areas and establish a Tinker Station with items to disassemble and repurpose or rebuild. The new, expanded Science Station will have items from nature to examine and opportunities to experiment with simple tools. There are similar projects in public parks in the U.S. where communities have donated scrap materials and loose parts and placed them in green spaces. Fort Worth has its own pop up park on the Southside created solely with donated materials. Creativity whether in art or science, comes naturally to children. It is our responsibility as adults to foster and inspire creative exploration by designing environments that support it, and Camp Fire programs do just that.
Where can YOU find a program that applies these concepts? Camp Fire Summer Camps offer this level of enrichment and growth. Diamond Hill Station Summer Day Camp
El Tesoro Day & Overnight Camp
Parker County Summer Day Camp
Camp Fire Child Development Center
2001 E. Loraine St Fort Worth, TX 76106
McAnally Intermediate School 151 FM 5, Aledo, TX 76008
Westcliff Summer Day Camp 4300 Clay Ave Fort Worth, TX 76109
7710 Fall Creek Highway Granbury, TX 76049
2700 Meacham Blvd Fort Worth, TX 76137 Learn more at CampFireFW.org