“To succeed in school and life, chil- dren and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essen- tial skills. This is especially true during the summer months,” said Kosch. “Summer camp can help stem summer learning loss and assure that children have productive things to do.” About the American Camp Association: The American Camp Association® (ACA) works to preserve, promote, and enhance the camp experience for children and adults. ACA-Accredited® camp pro- grams ensure that children are provided with a diversity of educational and devel- opmentally challenging learning opportu- nities. There are over 2,400 ACA-accredit- ed camps that meet up to 300 health and safety standards. For more information, visit www.ACAcamps.org.
education is not a new concept. Early camp pioneers were mainly educators who recognized a need to continue learn- ing throughout the summer in an environ- ment that also allowed children to be chil- dren. In a 1928 Red Book Magazine editor- ial, camp advocate Frederick Guggenheimer stated that: “The school and the camp are complementary to each other — the one begins where the other leaves off.” Why is camp so effective as an educa- tional tool? Camp allows children to relax and just be kids. They can run, play, and get dirty. They develop friendships, have adventures, and sit on the grass and look at the stars. At the same time, they are learning hands-on lessons in math, writ- ing, problem-solving, teamwork, and independence. For those reasons, camps do an excel- lent job of extending a traditional educa- tion. Camps often fill in the blanks left by declining school budgets, providing art and music programming. Or camp is an opportunity to learn new skills, such as languages, sports or computers. Because of the hands-on nature of camp, even chil- dren who struggle in traditional educa- tional settings often excel.
camps said they partner with schools either directly or indirectly. • About 43 percent of responding camps said that they partnered with schools primarily to keep children engaged throughout the year. • Targeted programs include team- work, social skills, and problem solving. The results are promising: • 75 percent of campers report learning something new at camp (Directions – Youth Development Outcomes of the Camp Experience. American Camp Association. 2005). • Studies showed a statistically signifi- cant growth in thinking skills in children attending camp (Directions – Youth Development Outcomes of the Camp Experience. American Camp Association. 2005). • Summer camps can motivate students to plan and prepare to enter postsecondary education upon graduation from high school (Beer, Le Blanc, & Miller, 2008). • Summertime educational programs have shown increases in literacy (Borman, Goetz, & Dowling, 2009), reading compre- hension (Schacter & Jo, 2005), and lan- guage learning (Feuer, 2009). Camp as an extension of a traditional
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Summer Camp Special 2016
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