Results

Grades

Grades are not always a true reflection of your child’s ability or potential. This may be caused by any of several factors including lack of effort, low self-confidence, anxiety at test time, not understanding their learning style, or even just lacking the skills to learn effectively. SuperCamp helps with all of these problems faced by teens.

Our research shows that 73 percent of our graduates increase their grades. Students maximize their learning and improve their grades when they focus on their dominant learning style. We all take in information through three learning channels—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic—though our brains tend to have a preference for one of these. We help students identify their personal learning preference and teach them valuable strategies to enhance their learning by focusing on their strengths.

Following are some highlights of the three learning styles. These are obviously generalizations, but you may have noticed some of these characteristics in your child.

• Visual: Talks fast, moves fast, neat, orderly, sits up straight and stares until he/she gets the picture, takes notes to create a visual representation of content. Says I see what you mean, I get the picture. These students learn most easily when they see what they need to learn.
  
  
• Auditory: Talks in a rhythmic pattern with much inflection, talks to everyone/everything, has “radar ears” and a CD-recorder brain. Says I hear what you’re saying or That sounds good to me. These students learn best when they hear and talk about what they need to learn.
  
  
• Kinesthetic: Moves slowly, talks slowly or with pauses between ideas, big gestures, takes the “scenic route” through the classroom, digs for notes. Says I can do that. These students learn best when their learning involves movement or touch.
  
  

When your teen knows how they process information and learns ways to incorporate the other learning channels into their studies they greatly improve their ability to learn and retain information. Students’ knowledge of how they learn best combined with the many other academic strategies we teach—including mind mapping, narrative chain and power pegs memorization techniques, and circuit learning and 10-24-7 for transferring information to long-term memory—are the reasons so many grads increase their grades after SuperCamp.

Confidence

It’s challenging being a teen. You’re trying to figure out who you are, who you want to be, and who everyone wants you to be. Every day you’re being asked to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. This is a tough task for adults, let alone teens that are experiencing emotional and physical changes due to hormones. At SuperCamp, we help students realize they’re not alone and that what they’re feeling is real and not unusual.

Moving outside our comfort zone allows us to recognize our fears, and be confident we can overcome them. Teens know what it’s like to be uncomfortable outside their comfort zone, but they’ve also had positive experiences outside their comfort zone in the past:

• The first time they rode their bike
• Learning to drive a car
• Singing karaoke

All of these things were scary at first, but they discovered they could do them. Using our Quantum Learning Success Model we create opportunities for your child to build confidence by experiencing numerous "success moments.” Our safe environment encourages students to try new things. We allow them to be successful and we allow them to fail.

At SuperCamp we view failures as feedback that provides us with the information we need to learn, grow and succeed. Using the Failure Leads to Success Key students gain confidence to try new things, and let go of outside pressures and opinions. When they truly believe in themselves, they’re able to build confidence, motivation and self-esteem.

All young people have the potential for greatness. Incredible things happen when they get a chance to see that greatness for themselves—and to have other people acknowledge them for it. This is what we do at SuperCamp.

Motivation

Nobody can motivate kids just by telling them to be more motivated. Intrinsic motivation, which by definition comes from within, is the most powerful motivator. At SuperCamp, we teach teens about intrinsic motivation by helping them get in touch with their WIIFMs.

Short for what’s in it for me, WIIFMs are the motivating force behind nearly everything we do. Teens and adults alike can accomplish almost anything when their WIIFMs are strong enough. The most powerful WIIFMs are immediate—pleasure we’ll gain right away, rather than at some undetermined future time. They’re also positive. We’re more likely to motivate ourselves to gain pleasure than we are to avoid pain.

Most teens are unable to see the WIIFM for doing well on a test. As parents we try and explain that doing well in school increases your ability to get into a great college. Teens often have difficulty being motivated by “it will help me some day.” At SuperCamp we help teens tap into the powerful WIIFMs that are already built into schools success—like the feeling of learning something new and the thrill of accomplishment.

We help them remember that success feels great and is an emotional rush. We celebrate these moments with them and teach them how to motivate from within so they can continue to enjoy the feeling of success day after day. We help them focus on what they like about school, and give them tangible WIIFMs to become more deeply engaged in their learning.

Self-esteem

Self-esteem is about having confidence and satisfaction in oneself. Low self-esteem manifests itself in many ways. Some teens who suffer from low self-esteem become easily coerced by peer pressure to make bad choices such as doing drugs, bullying, and playing hooky. Others pour a lot of energy into just blending in. They conform to what they think is normal and avoid any situation that might make them stand out—even being good at school.

At the heart of this issue is negative self-image. For a kaleidoscope of reasons, teens can end up feeling bad about themselves. They may become afraid to show their true selves—sometimes even to their parents.

At SuperCamp, we have our own word for why someone might have low self-esteem—FIMAGE. Short for fear of image, FIMAGE can be seen very easily. Teens create images for themselves all the time. Their image shows up in their …

• clothing
• music
• language
• attitude
• hair
• make-up
• hobbies
• friends

Some people spend a lot of time creating and preserving their image. They avoid things that make them look uncool, things that aren’t good for their image. They fear damage to their image. That’s FIMAGE.

During SuperCamp, students learn to confront their FIMAGE and question the message it sends. In our process, teens have the opportunity to do some wacky things in front of their peers to practice letting go of their FIMAGE. Nobody can look cool doing these things—that’s the point. They can have the experience of looking uncool in front of their peers and realize nobody judges them because of it. They become more confident in who they really are and build healthy self-esteem as a result.

Testimonials

"My daughter attended SuperCamp at Stanford this summer and to say she enjoyed it would be the understatement of the year. She's always been a great student and daughter, but this was a life-changing event for her. Keep up the good work! It is much appreciated by parents and students!" —Andrea, SuperCamp grad parent

"SuperCamp is worth every penny. You will experience motivation, friendship, work ethic, and inspiration like never before."—Jacob, SuperCamp grad

"In just two weeks SuperCamp accomplished what I've been trying (to accomplish) for 16 years. My son, who was reluctant to go, now says it was the best 10 days of his life."—Daniel, SuperCamp grad parent

"It's a great experience. It's a lot of fun, plus you learn some important life skills."—Heather, SuperCamp grad

"A decision well worth making. We have seen remarkable improvements in our son's confidence, social skills and study skills as well as motivation."—Mark and Donna, SuperCamp grad parents

"It improved our relationship with our son and willingness on his part to communicate with us more—he talks a lot of things over with us now."—Don and Mary, SuperCamp grad parents

"My son never seemed interested in getting good grades. When he did homework he did not bother to turn it in. He had high A's in tests but zeros in homework. After SuperCamp he has not missed a single assignment. SuperCamp was worth every penny we spent."——Anita, SuperCamp grad parent

"This is the first time in history that my son ever got straight A's! He is using memory techniques, Quantum Reading and note-taking skills. I am proud! He is proud!"—Connie, SuperCamp grad parent