SuperCamp’s learning skills are applicable to every subject and every level of learning, and to virtual learning as well as classroom learning.

This has not been an easy school year for students. With no warning whatsoever—and therefore no preparation—virtual learning became the new normal for students and their parents. No one was ready for virtual learning, not teachers, not students, and not their parents.

We recently came across an article in the Wall Street Journal declaring “The Results are in for Remote Learning: It Didn’t Work”! Then another article in the New York Times was brought to our attention by a parent: “What Students are Saying About Remote Learning.” It’s a sad and challenging situation.

While we have produced physical camps and trainings for decades, this spring we looked at how to create the same engagement, connection, and joy in learning online. It’s what students are missing and crave. With this is mind, we designed virtual programs based on our signature Quantum Learning System and the results are in—they work!

Have a look at some student reactions . . .

In addition to students connecting with content, peers, and facilitators at deep levels and looking forward to online sessions, we know that there is high need for students to gain effective learning-to-learn skills for both online and in-person learning. With learning loss a real challenge, keeping students engaged and motivated is paramount at this crucial time.

The virtual programs we developed have been hugely successful—they provided students with new skills and more positive perspectives to build their confidence and help them adapt to virtual learning. Participants have not only gained confidence, increased their motivation, and learned how to focus their attention to stay on task (even with the distractions and reduced discipline of home learning), they made real peer-to-peer connections with other participants.

And now as students and their parents consider what form school may take in the fall—and there are many options being considered out there—many are wondering how students are going to cope. If it’s more virtual, there’s a feeling of dread for most. If it’s back to school “as usual,” there are concerns about learning loss (Covid-19 as well as the usual summer learning loss). And if it’s a blend of virtual and in-person learning, there’s a combination of these anxieties.

To address these real concerns of parents, students, and educators—as well as requests from students who have done our two-week programs—we are now offering a four-week virtual program. SuperCampU (July 6 to 31 and July 20 to August 14) is an engaging and interactive program for students ages 9 to 18 (in groups by age: 9–13 and 14–18). Each week Monday to Friday for one hour students learn SuperCamp’s core content that has resulted in improved grades, confidence, and motivation over the last 39 years! The program consists of four one-week courses: Self-driven Motivation and Leadership Now, Quantum Reading, Quantum Writing, and Quantum Strategies. During all our virtual programs, participants interact with peers in live energetic learning experiences guided by a SuperCamp trained facilitator—and have fun while they learn!

In addition, we have recently partnered with GeniusU and can now offer participation in their Young Entrepreneur Academy at no additional cost. This partnership gives students the unique opportunity of including powerful entrepreneurial experiences with SuperCamp’s proven curriculum. From being a YouTuber to building an app or having an online store, participants in this program can learn how to launch their own fully functioning digital business.

Students really need an extra boost now to reduce the possible effects of learning loss from their virtual school challenges and prepare them for their return to school in the fall no matter what form that may take. SuperCampU has been created to meet those needs. Participants will experience joyful learning and real connections with other participants and with our super SuperCamp facilitators!

LEARN MORE here.

The post There’s a difference in virtual learning! appeared first on SuperCamp.

But the right kind of summer enrichment program can play another significant role in a student’s academic success and that is in helping prevent summer learning loss.

Is summer learning loss real? Several studies indicate that it is. We also believe we have the perfect antidote—the summer enrichment students get by attending one of SuperCamp’s summer programs.

Think of our summer enrichment programs as producing a summer learning gain! We’ll get to that in a minute, but first, what are the studies saying about summer learning loss? Here are a few generally-accepted facts:

• Yes, on average, students’ achievement scores decline over summer vacation by one month’s worth of school-year learning
• Declines are sharper for math than for reading
• The extent of loss tends to be larger at higher grade levels

Gaining a consensus on solutions to this phenomenon, however, is a little more challenging.  For example, there are varied opinions on the effectiveness of school-based summer enrichment programs. Advice to help younger students maintain during the summer include the following suggestions:

• Go to the library with your child, and find books that capture his interest and help him stretch his reading skills.
• Set aside some time to review mathematics concepts — and make it fun.
• Take those trips to museums, zoos, and nature sites. But don’t merely attend. Help children enjoy hands-on experiences, and engage in family conversations.
• Let kids explore interests that don’t fit into the standard, school-year curriculum

So, let’s turn to the SuperCamp summer enrichment, or summer learning gain, solution. The gain comes through a combination of two key things unique to our summer enrichment camps:

1. The new learning and life skills the students who attend SuperCamp acquire, which propels their learning forward when they get back to school.
2. The added motivation, confidence and inspiration they return home with, which empowers them to take control of their own learning and future.

Let’s dig deeper into SuperCamp’s ability to counteract summer learning loss through our very directed form of summer enrichment. Students at SuperCamp gain an understanding of how the mind approaches learning. This understanding of the how, and the why behind the how, can have a significant effect on a student’s performance. They begin to learn, comprehend and recall information more easily. Studying becomes a much easier task once a student identifies their personal learning style and incorporates techniques unique to that style.

The highly orchestrated positive environment that students encounter at our summer enrichment programs allows them to grow personally as well as academically. By doing so, this spurs the growth in self-confidence and motivation that ultimately elevates their learning as much as the new learning skills themselves do.

Then there are the specific life skills, which also create a “gain” on the academic side, as well as the personal side of life. Students learn new communication techniques that help with peer, parent and teacher relationships. They learn how to collaborate more effectively, enhancing their ability to participate constructively in group undertakings at school. At the same time, they learn about the traits that make for a good leader; another life skill that is equally as beneficial in school as it is later in life.

SuperCamp provides students with clarity on how to set and reach goals. They learn that no obstacle is insurmountable as long as there is a commitment to the ultimate goal and an effective step-by-step process to pursuing the goal. Related to achieving goals is the confidence students gain at SuperCamp by moving out of their natural comfort zones.

Let’s not forget the importance of the 8 Keys of Excellence in the summer enrichment students receive by attending SuperCamp. Without going into great detail on the definitions of the 8 Keys, which are outlined in depth in other SuperCamp blog posts and on the 8Keys.org website, consider the impact these eight character principles have on a student’s personal enrichment, character and attitude toward and approach to their academics:

• Integrity – Match behavior with values. Demonstrate your positive personal values in all you do and say. Be sincere and real.
• Failure Leads to Success – Learn from mistakes. View failures as feedback that provides you with the information you need to learn, grow, and succeed.
• Speak with Good Purpose – Speak honestly and kindly. Think before you speak. Make sure your intention is positive and your words are sincere.
• This Is It! – Make the most of every moment. Focus your attention on the present moment. Keep a positive attitude.
• Commitment– Make your dreams happen. Take positive action. Follow your vision without wavering.
• Ownership– Take responsibility for actions. Be responsible for your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. “Own” the choices you make and the results that follow.
• Flexibility – Be willing to do things differently. Recognize what’s not working and be willing to change what you’re doing to achieve your goal.
• Balance – Live your best life. Be mindful of self and others while focusing on what’s meaningful and important in your life. Inner happiness and fulfillment come when your mind, body, and emotions are nurtured by the choices you make.

In summary, while summer learning loss is, to some degree, a reality for most students, parents don’t need to over-react by sending their son or daughter off to a math class in summer school or a series of intense remedial courses, which will drain the student even more by the time the fall semester begins.

A 6-day or 10-day SuperCamp summer enrichment program can and will work wonders.

The post Another benefit of summer enrichment programs appeared first on SuperCamp.

Just like students who wait until the last minute to cram for an exam, many parents don’t focus on college prep summer programs until it’s quite late in the game.

Most high school college prep programs are geared to high school seniors and juniors. Some ACT and SAT prep courses begin for sophomores, but there’s much more to the college prep process than preparing for the college entrance exams.

Pre-college summer programs for high school students can and should begin for freshmen. College readiness is not an overnight occurrence. Instead, it’s a gradual assimilation of the skills and life principles a student needs to possess by the time they arrive in college.

Taking it one step further, students can begin the college prep process in middle school with college prep summer programs that will establish fundamental learning and life skills that will help them in the near-term, and which they can continue to develop in order to master them prior to college.

Let’s look at the college prep program progression SuperCamp has established with our pre-college summer camps.

It begins with Junior Forum for incoming 6^th – 8^th graders. College prep for incoming 6^th graders? Yes—in the sense that at SuperCamp, middle school students learn skills and gain the motivation to become more independent and confident learners. How many high school graduates go on to college without having gained the ability or self-motivation to take responsibility for their own academic success? Judging by first-year dropout rates, the answer is, many. By becoming more responsible when still in middle school, a student, in essence, is in pre-college prep mode already.

A 6^th grader or 7^th grader who returns to Junior Forum a second time has an opportunity to take the next step in their college prep progression by joining the Junior Forum Leadership Track. This “L-Track” for returning Junior Forum students incorporates the learning of leadership skills, which helps them begin to develop their personal leadership style. Again, this is another facet of college prep that a student can begin well before they’re a high school junior or senior.

When a student does move into high school, starting with incoming 9^th graders, we have another level of summer college prep for them with SuperCamp’s Senior Forum. Incoming 9^th-12^th graders are eligible for this pre-college program. In Senior Forum, students acquire a broad range of learning and life skills and we show them how to become much more goal oriented. Not only goal oriented, but how to break through barriers that can stand in the way of accomplishing goals. This is an important next step in the college prep progression, as students start to approach their academic life more purposefully.

As with Junior Forum, Senior Forum has a Leadership Track for its returning students, which again enables students to prepare for college by developing their leadership skills and discover their personal leadership style. But it doesn’t stop there. Students who have attended our Senior Forum L-Track can return the following summer and be part of the Senior Forum Leadership Team, which takes their leadership college prep to the next level as they model and practice their personal leadership style with others in the camp.

Two college prep program options exist for incoming 12^th graders. The first pre-college program option is Senior Forum, described above. Placement of the student on L-Track or the Leadership Team will depend on if it’s the student’s first, second, third or fourth year in Senior Forum.

The other college prep program available to incoming high school seniors is SuperCamp’s Quantum Academy. Quantum Academy is designed to immerse students in the pre-college prep experience by opening their eyes to what they need in order to succeed in college. This 6-day residential college prep program is also available to incoming college students and even to current college students up to 20 years of age. This program is part college prep camp and part post-college prep, as a prime focus is the development by students of their personal growth plan, including clearly defined action steps.

It should be added that a largely overlooked aspect of college prep programs is character development. That is not the case with SuperCamp. At the core of every one of SuperCamp’s summer programs are the 8 Keys of Excellence, character principles to live by. One of the biggest elements determining a student’s college success is their ability to independently manage their lives with a necessary level of maturity. The 8 Keys of Excellence give students, during their college preparation, guidance on how to live their lives pre-college, during college and after college.

In summary, families should look for college prep summer programs that provide a progression, rather than a quick fix, toward college readiness, because that’s what it takes to truly prepare a student for the academic and personal challenges he or she will face in college.

The post College Prep Programs for College Success appeared first on SuperCamp.

It’s been obvious to parents, teachers and us at SuperCamp for some time that teens, in particular, are becoming more detached as they get lost in their mobile phones, video games and other digital devices. A 2016 article in the New York Post quoted Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of neuroscience at UCLA, as referring to all screens, from mobile phones to computers, as “digital heroin.” Their impact on the brain’s frontal cortex is the same as cocaine.

At SuperCamp, we show students how they can become less reliant on their devices, while using them productively in the classroom and outside of school. It’s our way of targeting this phenomenon of gadget addiction among teens and pre-teens.

We start by having students turn in all of their electronic devices when they check into camp. They get to use these items each day for 15-20 minutes. But that’s it!

Culture is key. We create an engaging environment that encourages greater interaction among our students. All of the course work is interactive, as we emphasize teamwork. We place each student on a team of 12-15 campers, with each team having a team leader.

Students bond over team-building activities including an outdoor adventure course, board breaking and general group interaction. Much of the training combines exercises with the full camp of 100 to 125 students and practicing what the students have been taught within their smaller team groups.

Additionally, we utilize visual, auditory and kinesthetic teaching strategies to ensure that all students are engaged at all times. We frequently intersperse the training with music and fun to further promote interaction among and engagement with the campers.

Over the course of a SuperCamp program, students learn that they can exist, and actually thrive, without being “wired” 24/7. Without their devices, we have the benefit of having the students’ undivided attention. Plus, this “pattern interrupt” of separating students from their mobile phones opens them up to the world around them, immerses them in the SuperCamp experience and encourages interaction with fellow students.

The life skills portion of our curriculum is heavily weighted to the development of non-digital communication and interpersonal skills and collaboration. We teach students how to articulate their thoughts and how to manage conflict through effective communication techniques. We help students move out of their natural comfort zone, which includes speaking to and sharing with their team. They even learn effective techniques for communicating with their parents.

The bottom line—after SuperCamp, students return home more social, more confident in their ability to interact with other and less inclined to hide behind their devices as an escape from interpersonal contact.

The post Targeting Teen Gadget Addiction appeared first on SuperCamp.

In the interview, Bobbi explains how SuperCamp is in the “fire in the belly” business, meaning how the summer program transforms students from knowing they need to learn into wanting to learn.

Bobbi shares how students are under so much pressure to succeed they aren’t setting or pursuing their own goals. Rather, they’re more often trying to accomplish things in school to please others or simply because they know they have to.

Watch the four and a half minute interview to learn how SuperCamp is unlike every other academic summer camp in terms of how it positively impacts students in school and life.

The post GIVING STUDENTS A “FIRE IN THE BELLY” appeared first on SuperCamp.

Are their grades up to par? Do they have the social and emotional skills to succeed in life? To excel?

If you’re asking these questions, you’ve probably been researching academic camps and enrichment programs to be sure your child is well prepared to excel in life. Rest assured, you’re not alone. I can’t tell you how many summer camps and leadership courses I checked out before finally finding the one that truly transformed my son into a scholar.

Last July, I sent my seemingly know-it-all fourteen-year-old to SuperCamp’s Senior Forum, a 10-day residential summer program held at Stanford University. Even though he thought he knew it all, I knew better. He lacked self-confidence and this impacted his communication and peer relationships. SuperCamp claimed they transformed participants to excel both personally and academically. When I called, the consultant told me they taught leading-edge learning skills that built competence and confidence. It was just the things my son was lacking. So I signed him up, and it’s one of the best things I ever did.

Of course, he wasn’t exactly positive about the idea. But once he figured out that he’d be leaving home without mom and dad to spend 10 days with other teenagers at a well-known university, he started to warm up to the idea—just a little. Nervously, we drove him to the campus. Ironically, it was just few days before Independence Day, and independence—being self-sufficient, independent, confident—is what our son would soon discover.

On the final day of the Senior Forum, we attended the closing ceremony. The son we had dropped off a mere 10 days earlier was not the same person. He was over-the-top excited. He could not stop talking about the new friends he had made and the life-changing moments he had experienced. The emotion and joy in his voice—it was so wonderful to see him so excited, positive, and passionate about something.

During the closing ceremony, my son actually spoke—in front of a packed room. He had never done anything like this before, and I must say it brought me to tears. He thanked his mother and me for giving him the opportunity to attend SuperCamp. He thanked his team leaders for bringing out the best in him. And then he actually apologized on stage to his mother and me for being a know-it-all. He said he had learned more in the past ten days then he had in the last ten years.

Once we were home, the things he had learned became more evident. He conducted himself with integrity. He was sincere, authentic, and believed in his own abilities. His relationships with his friends changed. They grew into solid bonds with affinity and common interests. And once he was back in the classroom he applied the new skills that would help him learn. From effective listening and note taking to improved memorization and retention—the results were nothing short of remarkable.

I know one thing for sure—this program went way beyond my expectations in preparing my son for college, career and life! The friends. The experiences. The learning and life skills. I truly believe this 10-day SuperCamp program has prepared him to excel throughout his life. So if you want to help your son or daughter find their true potential this summer, there’s only one program that accomplishes so much in so little time—SuperCamp.

Summer enrollment at Stanford and five other prestigious campuses for junior high and high school students is going on now. Check out SuperCamp.com or call 800.228.5327.

The post Is your teen prepared? appeared first on SuperCamp.

But not all academic summer camps are created equal. Here are some points to consider when evaluating summer programs for your son or daughter.

Does the area of enrichment have any practical application to your child’s academic future?

Several camps position themselves as “academic” when in reality they are more like vacations for the students who attend. Do the kids like these camps? You bet. But before signing up, make sure the students aren’t just left to their own devices to “learn”! Find out about the learning experiences they’ll have that will give some depth to their summer—in addition to fun. Close inspection may reveal that there’s far more downtime and unstructured free time than there is quality enrichment.

What kind of training and expertise does the staff possess?

If a summer program bills itself as providing new skills to participants, then make a point to learn about the background of the staff who will teach these skills. Are the program leaders teachers themselves or experts in a particular field? Also, inquire about the training they receive. Many summer programs scramble at the last minute to hire summer staff and, as a result, the experience and training of some staff members may be lacking.

Is there a balance between learning and fun?

The last thing a student needs in summer is more school. A good academic summer camp gives students the feeling that they’re at camp, not back at school. While some programs try to combine learning and fun by giving the campers adequate free time, the best camps incorporate fun right into the learning. When a student enjoys the learning process, the brain does a better job of assimilating and retaining the new information.

In what ways will the program enrich your child’s life?

When most people hear “academic summer camp,” they think of academic enrichment. Clearly, students benefit from acquiring new skills in such areas as creative writing, reading comprehension, problem solving, and critical thinking. But if a camp offers them growth in life skills areas that build their confidence, motivation, and self-esteem, as well as their communication and leadership skills, then you’ve found an academic summer camp that can help a student grow in school and in life.

How long is the academic summer camp?

There is no set length that is best. Students do benefit from some downtime in the summer, so a program that runs three or more weeks may be too long. On the other hand, camps that last just a few days will have limited value. Similarly, day camps don’t have the same impact as residential enrichment camps, where students get to stay on site for the duration of the program. Some of the best learning can come in the evening sessions of summer programs.

Where is the academic summer camp held?

Look for enrichment camps held on college campuses. Middle school and high school students enjoy the experience of living in college dorms for a week or more. It can even prove to be inspirational as they begin to think about college.

The most important question—have you enrolled yet?

Sending your son or daughter to the right academic summer camp can pay long-term dividends for the entire family. Newly acquired academic skills, increased motivation, or added confidence can translate into better grades, as well as new academic and personal interests. In turn, this growth can lead to admission into better colleges, college scholarships, and rewarding careers.

It’s no coincidence that SuperCamp delivers in all six areas. We’ve designed every aspect of our program to draw your student into an experience of learning like no other. Our students have a blast, but they also learn valuable academic and social skills that they use for the rest of their lives.

For more information about SuperCamp’s academic summer camps, call 800.228.5327 or request a digital brochure.

Image Courtesy of Peter Blanchard

The post 6 Questions to Ask Before Choosing an Academic Summer Camp appeared first on SuperCamp.