Great Summer Camp Ideas to Prevent the Summer Slide!

Keep your child learning all year long with these fantastic summer programs!

While summer is an important time for children to relax, travel, and enjoy a break from their school routines, it is also prime time for the summer slide to take over. It’s incredibly important that children start the new academic year ready to build upon their prior knowledge and move forward in their education instead of having to retrace their steps in the beginning of the fall term. Summer school can be one method to combat the summer slide—the academic regression that can occur over summer break—and it may be necessary if a child is truly struggling throughout the year.

But unless your child needs a specific academic intervention, a great way to stay engaged in the summer is through camps or programs that encourage both educational achievement and creative development. Finding a summer camp that combines a fun, imaginative outlet with the skillset necessary to thrive in school will help your child grow intellectually and having an amazing, memorable experience.

One terrific type of camp to consider is a filmmaking camp. At filmmaking camps, kids use writing exercises, storyboarding, and eventually scriptwriting, filming, and editing to bring their own stories to life. They will also learn the importance of working collaboratively to turn a vision into reality. Every camper has a role in making a short film, and they all take turns learning about writing, acting on camera, filming, and editing. The creative writing aspect will give them a boost in their language arts classes, acting provides an opportunity to learn about public speaking, and filming and editing gives them a foundation to build technological skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Additionally, noncompetitive debate camps are great for preventing a summer slide. Although some children are introduced to debating in class during the school year, debate camps are not about dull academic exercises. In PAW’s Debate Camp for instance, teachers use games, hands-on activities, questions and answers, and age-appropriate topics to challenge students and cultivate personal and intellectual growth. Learning the finer points of debate fosters empathy, constructive dialogue, the ability to confidently face peer pressure, and a passion for the power of words that will significantly benefit them in their language arts classes.

Another great camp idea that will help maintain and strengthen your child’s reading muscles all summer long is a theater camp. Reading lines in a play helps children enhance their reading comprehension skills and builds upon their vocabularies, in addition to strengthening their memory and content retention. Children also learn public speaking skills that they can take with them into the classroom for school presentations. In a letter describing the benefits of her daughter’s camp experience, Angelina, mom of PAW camper JoJo, 11, says, “JoJo has learned important life skills such as teamwork, cooperation with various people (teachers and other campers), listening, self-confidence, and the joy of musical theater.”

While continuing a child’s educational pursuits during the summer break is a critical part of avoiding the summer slide, it is equally as important to find a program that gives your child the opportunity to explore new things, builds on their prior knowledge, and uses academic skills as an enjoyable part of its curriculum. At the end of the day the most important thing is that children’s minds remain active and curious all year round, and that they have fun doing it.

PAW’s award-winning camps for kids ages 5-14 include Rock The Mic, Musical Theater, Filmmaking, Guitar,  Magic, Photography, Stage F/X Makeup, Camp LOL & Camp WOW – a debate camp for kids!

Trusted for over 30 years, PAW has 10 camp locations to choose from including; Brentwood, West LA, Manhattan Beach, RPV, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, East Pasadena, Old Town Pasadena, Northridge, and Studio City. For camp information call us at (310) 827-8827 or check out our website at www.PerformingArtsWorkshops.com.

Performing Arts Workshops ~ the ultimate ARTS experience. 
Part Art…Part Play…ALL FUN!