What to Look for in a Virtual Summer Camp

Covid has dramatically changed the summer of 2020. Camps that parents painstakingly identified are cancelled outright or transitioning to a virtual model. How can we, as parents, ensure that our kids have an engaging and fun summer amid the constraints of distance learning?

The key to effective distance learning is to make sure it will be truly engaging for students. Below are five attributes that parents should seek in online learning programs.

1TOPICS THAT AUTHENTICALLY

INTEREST YOUR CHILD

First and foremost, give your child a voice in picking the program. All of us concentrate better when we are engaged in a topic we chose and find meaningful! It is best to not “sign your child up” for a class thinking that it will go well without consulting them. Especially with the summer mindset, signing them up for a class they don’t want to do could cause kids’ resentment rather than a successful way to engage students in summer learning and projects.

2THE OPPORTUNITY

TO DEVELOP A REAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TEACHER

We all want to be seen and heard. Live virtual “classrooms” are essential for forming new teacher/ student relationships. While watching a video, executing an assignment or project, and then sending it back in to a teacher may be a common distance learning practice, it is not one which honors or satiates students’ craving for real connection with teachers. Instead, look for camps that provide “synchronous” Zoom/

video call time when students and

By Courtney Dickinson

the teacher are on a video call

together as an anchor component of any remote learning experience. In a week long experience, this synchronous student and teacher connection time should happen every day.

3PROGRAMS THAT GIVE

STUDENTS THE CHANCE TO CREATE SOMETHING REAL

Great learning catalyzes student curiosity and creativity by engaging them to make, persuade, and instigate. When a student’s role is to sit, listen, and watch a teacher perform or lecture, they are in a passive role, waiting. Alternatively, when a teacher functions as a facilitator of students’ experiences, they are catalyzing students to do, imagine, and make. Examples include a camp in which students create their own terrariums, a game design class that shows students how to build their own arcade game with cardboard, tape, and principles from Rube Goldberg machines, or a science class in which students turn their kitchen into a space for hands-on labs. Such camps scaffold students’ skills and knowledge to be able to do these things themselves, and the project is done by the student. Ideally, great courses also make sure that these projects are meaningful and relevant to students’ concerns and lives.

4INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES

Programs that put students in the driver’s seat of their experiences are ones in which kids will invest in, engage with and care about in a fundamentally different way than a lecture/listen format. In a virtual art camp, for example, kids can share their work with fellow classmates and engage in live group feedback sessions. Ideally, camps will also feature a “culminating event” during which kids can hold a teacher-facilitated virtual exhibit showcasing all of the students’ creations. These are readily feasible in the arts, but they also can come alive in the sciences and social sciences and in so many ways that defy what we thought possible!

5SKILL-BUILDING, PROJECT

BASED LEARNING EXPERIENCES – YES, THEY CAN OCCUR VIRTUALLY!

Look for courses that weave skill development into project-based learning. One example is a virtual filmmaking camp that teaches basic video editing skills and inspires kids to complete their own film by the end of the program. Some of the camp’s “work times” may occur either in “breakout groups” in Zoom, or when the video feed is off, but students know they are to share their work back at the end of a timeslot framed by the teacher. This expectation to share a project result with peers and teacher(s) makes an otherwise impersonal assignment real. Project based learning – which comes in a wide array of forms – enables students to internalize, process, analyze, relate topics across disciplines, and create something new out of the material. This process of internalization and application to something meaningful - which is what project-based learning is all about - is what ultimately enables the learning to “stick.”

Conventional wisdom tells us that remote learning will be abysmal. But when it is well-designed and led by teachers who focus on facilitating students’ dialogue and growth in thinking and creativity, students engage and discover what they are capable of – and that’s when remote learning can be highly successful. ² Courtney Dickinson is Founder and Director of Acera: The Massachusetts School of Science, Creativity, and Leadership. Acera is offering remote summer camp learning opportunities for kids ages 4 through high school.

&DESIGN WORKSHOPS ENGINEERING GRADE S 1-12 Tufts engineering workshops are designed by engineers, educators, and researchers to foster creativity, curiosity, problem solving, teamwork, and STEM skills for your child. outreach.tuftsceeo.org LEGO Robotics with new SPIKE Prime Engineering for Middle and High School Girls Week Pet HelpersCircus Engineering

Environmental Engineering Solutions for Book Characters Engineering for WizardsArt and Robots

SLEEPAWAY WATERSPORTS SUMMER CAMP FOR BOYS AND GIRLS AGES 10 - 17

LAKES REGION, NH | 617-855-WAKE (9253) | WATERMONKEYCAMP.COM ONE-WEEK CAMP SESSIONS ALL SUMMER OR PRIVATE LESSONS BY THE HOUR/DAY CALL TODAY TO LEARN MORE OR SIGN UP!

NIGHT EAGLE WILDERNESS ADVENTURES (WALLINGFORD, VT) (802) 446-6100 Age or Grade Range: Ages 10-14 Located in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains, Night Eagle Wilderness Adventures is a unique primitive summer camp where boys live in tipis and do things that boys did hundreds of years ago.

http://www.nighteaglewilderness.com

PENGUIN CODING SUMMER SESSION (LEXINGTON) 781-277-2755 Age or Grade Range: Ages 5-18 Penguin Coding believes in the joy of creation as the motivation for learning. Students build games and animation in Scratch for 2-4th graders, website/ games using HTML/CSS/Javascript for 4-8th graders, and apps with Java/ Python for 6-12th graders.

http://www.penguincodingschool.com/

REVELS SUMMER VAUDEVILLE WORKSHOP (WATERTOWN, MA) 617-972-8300 Age or Grade Range: Age: 7 - 14 A Revels Summer Theater Workshop is a complete theater experience. In the mornings young people will participate in theater games, acting, singing and traditional dance. In the afternoons we will be participating in “Production Time;” making the printed program; designing and building sets, costumes, props; and creating a slide show. Along with creating the show, we will have electives, where young people can choose areas to learn more about theater including; play and song writing, creating a mummers’ play, audition techniques, writing and performing a monologue, clowning, and the art of improv. Everyone will have a part and auditions for the parts are held on the first day of the workshop. There will be a performance at the end of the workshop.

www.revels.org/summer

SUMMER AT TOBIN (NATICK) 508-650-1561 Age or Grade Range: Ages 4-10 Our summer program is designed for families looking for a reliable, nurturing place for their kids to spend time in the summer – with a lot of fun field trips and activities!

http://www.tobinafterschool.org/learning/ summer-at-tobin/

SUMMER AT TOBIN BEAUDET (NEEDHAM) 781-444-5444 Age or Grade Range: Ages 2.9 - 8th Grade We are busy planning another amazing summer for your children at Tobin Beaudet! Choose Your Days, Choose Your Weeks! Open 7am – 6:30pm Programming available the day after Needham Public Schools closes through the day before school begins

http://tobinbeaudet.com/programs/summer/

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Register online today for:

CAMPISINSESSION REGISTRATION

NOW OPEN!

•Weekly Day Camp field trips •Kiddie Kamp onsite adventures •Expanded enrichment opportunities •Sailing,Theater, Sports & Film camp options •Weekly themes •Extended day options for Day Campers •Expanded LIT program for 13-15 year olds Our camps feature:

Math • Science • English • SAT Test Prep • Art • Baseball • Basketball • Field Hockey • Flag Football • Lacrosse • Multi-Sports • Soccer • Strength & Conditioning www.belmonthill.org/summer-programs

Summer fun for campers 3 to 15 years old

• Traditional Camp and Sports Option Available • Half-Day & Full-Day

Programs • LIT and CIT Programs

www.dedhamcountryday.org/camp

ACT UP Where KIDS can

ACT UP all summer long! creative summer programs for ages 4-14 single days - mornings - full day weeks

June 15 - August 28

KIDSTOCK! CREATIVE THEATER

kidstocktheater.com

Exxcel would like to thank all the brave medical and military personnel, police ocers, reghters, rst responders and people who work in disaster and emergency response for putting their lives on the line on a daily basis to protect, help and rescue the rest of us. Thank you for all you do to keep us safe!

Where kids matter most!

TM

WINNER

2019

88 Wells Avenue• Newton 617-244-3300 • www.exxcel.net

STEM PROGRAMS

1 . R e c e i v e a s a n i t i z e d L E G O b r i c k b u i l d i n g k i t 2 . J o i n o u r Z o o m s e s s i o n M o n d a y m o r n i n g 3 . E a c h d a y i n s t r u c t o r s w i l l l e a d L E G O b r i c k b u i l d s & l e s s o n s w i t h s t u d e n t s 4 . R e t u r n L E G O b r i c k b u i l d i n g k i t w i t h t h e p r o v i d e d p r e - p a i d p a c k a g e ! ( M i n e c r a f t P r o g r a m s a v a i l a b l e )

www.LetGoYourMind.com Mondaythrough Friday9am-12pm

DAY CAMP Wellesley, MA

3 - 12 Yr Olds When we can, we will be here for you and your children. TENACRECDS.ORG/SUMMER

SUMMER IN FRENCH AT THE FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER/ ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE OF BOSTON (BOSTON, MA) 617-912-0400 Age or Grade Range: Age: 3 - 17 Language Studies

www.frenchculturalcenter.org

THE ULTIMATE DAY CAMP AT DEDHAM HEALTH & ATHLETIC (DEDHAM) 781-326-2900 At the Ultimate Day Camp we aim to make each day the “BEST DAY EVER”. We pack all that DHAC has to offer into every week! Campers love the water park.

http://www.dedhamhealthsummer.com/camp/

TUFTS UNIVERSITY DESIGN AND ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS (MEDFORD, MA) Age or Grade Range: Age: 4 - 18 Join us as we explore robotics and engineering in fun week-long summer workshops! Kids will learn about the Engineering Design Process through hands-on activities. Grades: K - 12. Learn more and register at

http://outreach.tuftsceeo.org/

WALNUT HILL SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS SUMMER PROGRAMS (VIRTUAL) 508-650-5020 Age or Grade Range: Ages 10-17 Walnut Hill School for the Arts offers dynamic summer programs for creative middle and high school students passionate about music, theater, dance, visual arts and film making. Each summer, we welcome hundreds of talented students from across the country and around the world to our Natick, Massachusetts, campus. Students enhance their skills and work with expert faculty and peers who share their exceptional abilities and love for the arts.

https://www.walnuthillarts.org/ communityacademy

WELLESLEY THEATRE PROJECT SUMMER CAMP (WELLESLEY) 781-235-1550 Age or Grade Range: Ages 4 - Grade 12 Wellesley Theatre Project offers a variety of Summer camps including full scale production camps and weekly camps for students 4 years old through 12th grade. Sessions include three production camps geared for students between 2nd and 12th grade in addition to one week Theatre Arts camps for Pre K- 12th grade. The production camps are: Annie, KIDS! (Grades 2-8), Newsies (Grades 2-12), and Footloose (Grades 8-12).

https://www.wellesleytheatreproject.org/

summer-camps ²

SUMMER

PROGRAMS FOR GIRLS & BOYS GRADES 5-12

Specialty Programs

GRADES 5–8

Sports Clinics

GRADES 6–12

Academic Courses

GRADES 6–12 ✺ ✺ ✺