Why Send Your Child to an Academic Summer Camp

Sending a child to an academic summer camp is a challenging decision for any parent. While it can have some disadvantages, parents need to consider the possible benefits that come when children attend a camp. An educated decision is the key to getting the most out of available academic camps.

Getting Ahead in School:
An academic summer camp is not only about enjoying outdoor activities, crafts and the theme of the camp. It is also about learning new academic skills and making the most of a child’s natural curiosity. In many cases, a summer camp geared around some element of academia can result in getting ahead in school after summer.

Making Friends:
Summer camp is an opportunity for children to make new friends and learn better social skills. Growing up together in school from kindergarten until the end of high school can limit a child’s social growth and result in shyness as an adult. Summer camp can help children learn to work around shyness and ensure that it is easier to make friends after high school.

Trying New Activities:
Camp gives children an opportunity to try activities they otherwise might ignore or feel uncomfortable trying while staying at home. Children can learn a wide range of new skills and enjoy new activities that encourage curiosity and exploration. The particular activities will vary based on the type of summer camp.

Learning About Different People:
Children at summer camp come from a wide range of backgrounds, races and sometimes even countries. As a result, children have the opportunity to learn about diversity. The more children learn to accept and understand different individuals as they are, the better they are prepared for the future. Summer camp is an opportunity for children to explore, learn and enjoy something new. While an academic summer camp will not necessarily provide the same level of physical activity that sports camps issue, it does tap into a child's curiosity and still has exploration as part of the final outcome. Camp has many positives that help children learn, grow and gain a sense of confidence that carries forward into adulthood.

Challenging students to New Year’s resolutions

Do you remember celebrating New Year’s Eve when you were still a child? Perhaps you have faint memories of staying up until midnight and sharing your excitement with friends, snacks and the T.V. But even that excitement never compared to the REAL New Years when you were younger…the last day of school. This is the time when the excitement really hits grade school students. Another year down – this means they are officially another grade older and let’s face it, grade school seniority is awfully important. The last day of school means months of sunny days without a class on the horizon. Without doubt, the school year is the calendar students live by and unfortunately that may mean that they consider the real New Year’s celebration as less important.

One way to get students excited about the New Year (the one in January that is) is challenging them to make a New Year’s resolution. This is a great way to hone in on a particular subject in school that a student is struggling with. For example, a New Year’s resolution could be to improve his/her math grade by an entire letter. Children love a good challenge and the excitement and determination of sticking to a New Year’s resolution could motivate them to seek out a tutoring service or even academic coaches to help them stick with their resolution.

Another option for a good New Year’s resolution is to challenge students on their reading capacity. Set a number of books that he or she must read before the end of the year or perhaps challenge them to read a certain number of books outside of their normal reading materials (newspapers, magazines, novels, etc.).

New Year resolutions are not for adults only. By celebrating the New Year with children, you can help them appreciate the holiday at a deeper level as well as challenge them to their own resolution. While it may not be as exciting as the last day of school, it is still fun and a great way to enhance their studying skills.

Merry Christmas

The tutors at Swan Learning Center would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas this holiday season!

Ways To Improve Your Kids Reading Comprehension

Books are Special Time
Turn books and reading into something special by taking your kids to the library, helping them get their own library card, reading with them, and buying them books as gifts. Have a favorite place for books in your home, or even better, put books everywhere.

Use the Dictionary
Let your child see you using a dictionary and encourage them to use it also. If they want to know what a word means, tell them to look it up in the dictionary.


Mind Tricks
You can give your child tips for figuring out the meaning of what he or she reads. Show your child how to summarize a story in a few sentences, for example, or how to make predictions about what might happen next. Both strategies help a child comprehend and remember. After reading a story together, think out loud so your child can see how you summarize and predict. Say something like, "I bet D.W. would have eaten some more if she hadn't known that it was spinach."

According to the American Library Association (ALA), "A child's early experiences with language contribute to healthy brain development and lay the foundation for learning to read when a child enters school." As a result, parents and caretakers are the child?s most important teachers before that child reaches school age. Basically, children learn better when they enjoy reading.