Life Skills

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Words are Powerful

Words are so powerful. Words have the power to build people up and bring them down. They can uplift and enlighten, or depress and destroy. We have complete control over the words we use, so we really must choose them carefully. The first step is awareness. Think before you speak. Focus on communicating positives: strengths, […]

Living Above the Line

Above the Line

Living above the line is related to the Key of Ownership, one of our 8 Keys of Excellence principles to live by. Life’s challenges come at us from all directions. At home, at school, and with friends, challenges are what keep life interesting. As these challenges arise, we have choices in how to approach them. No […]

Attitude is everything

Attitude is everything!

Over our nearly four decades of operating SuperCamp and Quantum Learning school programs, we’ve learned a lot about students . . . about what holds them back and about what propels them forward. Maintaining a positive attitude is well up there on the list of what propels students forward—in school and in life! Choose a […]

Mastermind Groups Help Students Excel

Weekly group support meetings PLUS 1:1 Mentoring sessions Masterminds have been a long tradition in business and they continue because of the support members receive and the results they achieve. What is a mastermind? Masterminds are small groups of peers who meet regularly to help each other succeed. Members share their successes, their stories, and […]

Student studying

With Crisis Comes Opportunity— Quantum Live Virtual Learning

Learning online–shift from have to be there to want to be thereHaving joy in your online learning experience   With Crisis Comes Opportunity—Quantum Live Virtual Learning Captivate – Connect – Cultivate How schools open for the new school year is being debated across the nation and much is at stake . . . the wellbeing […]

How to Build Rapport and Support Your Children in these Challenging Times

By Bobbi DePorter These are challenging times for all of us, and perhaps especially for families. Most parents are working from home, and students are being schooled at home—it’s a lot of togetherness!! Our children are also struggling. They’re away from their friends, they’re trying to do their schoolwork and learn at home. They’re feeling […]

What Gen Z Needs is What SuperCamp Offers!

University presidents agree: what Gen Z students need is what SuperCamp offers and has taught students for more than 35 years—“how to learn throughout their lifetimes.”   Middle school and high school students, also known as Gen Zs, are significantly different from millennials and face very unique challenges in school as well as later when they […]

What College Admissions Officers Look For in Students’ Community Service Work

SuperCamp helps high school students and middle school students gain the skills to prepare for success in their volunteer and community service work that college admissions officers look for in college applications.   First, let’s clear up one popular myth that exists regarding students’ community service commitment. There isn’t a direct correlation between the number […]

Building Social Skills in Teens and Pre-teens

As the use of digital devices continues to increase among young people, their communication and social skills are failing to develop at a sufficient pace.   The issue is intensifying, but it’s been evident for some time now. In 2015, Michael Rich, Director of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Center on Media and Child Health, said: “[Young […]

Much of what has been written about soft skills, also known as transferable skills and 21st-Century skills, focuses on their importance in the workplace. There is no doubt that tomorrow’s workforce needs these soft skills in order to survive and thrive. We’ve written about it in our blog. But the reality is that students will begin to benefit from acquiring soft skills while they’re still in school, particularly once they reach college. It begins in college with motivation and commitment—having a positive attitude and working hard in each of their classes to succeed. Being determined and having the self-discipline without a parent looking over your shoulder to see if you’re doing your homework and studying for tests and exams. Attending class on a regular basis is another aspect of this soft skill. A related soft skill is being enthused about their education and having ambition. This includes showing engagement in the classroom through participation in group discussions and asking questions of the professor. It also is seen in college students who understand that success in college is more about what you learn and how you can apply what you learn than it is about obtaining a piece of paper on graduation day. Similarly, being goal-oriented in college is a soft skill that drives one’s results and ultimate productivity, just as it does after college, in a career. Developing and fully utilizing a particular talent or talents in college can be considered a soft skill. A talent does not necessarily have to be some exceptional trait or ability; it’s as simple as having and applying such learning skills as writing, listening, note taking, time management and studying. Effective organization and preparation are soft skills often absent in your average college student. Clearly, these soft skills align closely with several other soft skills, notably motivation, commitment, enthusiasm and ambition. Strong interpersonal skills are a key to college success in most academic areas and an indicator of future success. The more one can hone these skills in college by being personable, friendly, tactful, and a solutions- and resolution-seeker, the better equipped they will be as they embark on their career. Thinking, in and of itself, is a soft skill. Everyone thinks, so how can that be a skill, you may ask. But there is a skill to thinking—applying past learning to current situations, thinking critically to solve problems, analyzing and evaluating information. A college student exhibiting these soft skills has a much greater chance of being successful in their post-secondary academic life. But students who head off to college don’t miraculously acquire these skills on the first day of class. They have to learn them in their high school and even in their middle school years. They also have to use them and ingrain them, particularly in high school, so that when they begin college, these soft skills have become part of their DNA. For the most part, however, these transferable or soft skills aren’t taught or nurtured within schools. One exception is schools that have embraced Quantum Learning methods. Development of a student’s soft skills is a core aspect of the learning and life skills training in QL schools. But, for most middle school and high school students, they have to look elsewhere to learn these soft skills. Enter SuperCamp, which delivers Quantum Learning training to all students enrolled in our summer academic programs. Every one of the soft skills outlined above is covered directly or indirectly at SuperCamp. The indirect aspect of the learning comes from building students’ confidence and motivation, which in turn, strengthens their commitment to succeed and focuses their goal-setting and their ambition to achieve those goals. The thinking, studying, reading, writing, note-taking, test-taking and interpersonal/communication skills comprise the majority of the SuperCamp curriculum. Students graduate from SuperCamp with a thorough understanding of these skills and, through practice and year-long follow-up from SuperCamp, they further ingrain these skills. By the time a SuperCamp grad heads to college they have the soft skills that will set them up for success.

How Soft Skills Contribute to Career and Academic Success

Much of what has been written about soft skills, also known as transferable skills and 21st-Century skills, focuses on their importance in the workplace. There is no doubt that tomorrow’s workforce needs these soft skills in order to survive and thrive. We’ve written about it in our blog.   But the reality is that students […]

Parent and Teen

Building Better Relationships with Children and Students

4 Relationship Styles – One Works! Relationships are very tricky—husbands and wives, parents and children, teachers and students, employers and employees, friends, colleagues, etc. It matters not; every type of relationship comes with its challenges. While it seems that relationships can be defined in an endless number of ways, ultimately, every relationship falls into one […]