Druid Heights Educational and Cultural Enrichment Summer Fun Camp Program
Literacy Building Program Description
For twenty years, we have focused on developing educational summer programs. Our focus is to decrease learning loss. All parents are required to bring their child’s report card. When necessary, areas of concern are addressed by staff for each camper. All campers receive entry tests on their first day of camp. The same tests are administered during the last week of camp to measure the progress of each child. The camp incorporates the Verizon Foundation’s Thinkfinity academic programs as a supportive curriculum.
The Druid Heights Camp literacy program focuses on two hours of reading and one hour of math per day. Thursdays are referred to as “Math at Camp” day. The balance of the day is learning while having fun. All camp games are academically based.
The camp’s literacy program includes reading grade level books on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Campers will participate in a reading and writing exercises on these days and will complete a report to demonstrate requisite comprehension. In preparation for the upcoming school year, campers will be given a list of vocabulary words one grade level ahead of their current grade. Each week will end with a spelling bee where the campers will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of each new word through a intellectually engaging exercise.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, campers are taught creative writing and literacy building skills. They are encouraged to express themselves creatively by reading, writing and sharing short stories and essays. Our continued theme is “Why is Education Important?” Guest speakers are invited to the camp to address campers on our continued theme.
The geography portion of our literacy program is sectioned into seven groups.. Each group is assigned a specific continent for research and study. This involves reading, writing and speech. Independently, and as a group, each team will read, write and present the information they’ve gathered through their research along with book reports at the end of the week during the weekly camp rally. A chart will be placed on the wall behind each grade group to track their participation and comprehension. We provide incentives and awards to campers who complete their work.
Our goal for Math is for each camper to have a minimum of 50 hours of concentrated math during the summer. In order to reach this goal, one hour per day is committed to math worksheets after lunch. Grade level worksheets are distributed to each group for campers to work individually. Upon completion, the campers will switch papers and help to grade each other’s work while listening and learning from the instructors. This will also promote social skills at camp.
Thursdays are reserved as “Math at Camp” day. Math is incorporated in every aspect of the day. For example, physical fitness and math is combined into a game called the “Math Relay Race”. This is a game created by former youth counselors that is still one of the camp’s favorite. Five math stations are set up in the camp where teams have to run to each post, solve a difficult problem, confirm the answer and pass the pencil to their teammate. The first team which completes all five posts is the winner.
On Thursdays, campers will be given the responsibility of counting attendance, meals, milk and juice cartons, supplies, etc. All learning and recreational activities will be math centered for the day. The reading activity in morning will still take place and the rest of the day will be math and science projects. Last year, the children learned about the solar system, volcanoes and other science projects.
Monetary value is incorporated through our Awards and Incentive component of the Literacy Building program. Campers are given an opportunity to earn “camp dollars” for their attendance and participation. These dollars are used to purchase prizes, tickets to excursions and awards from the camp store. Children will learn how to manage their account and be rewarded for their hard work. Our camp theme is “Our Summer Camp is High-minded”.
Outcomes
• Every child will participate in 50 hours of reading, 50 hours of math and 50 hours of learning while having fun over the summer months.
• Every child will be able to receive a total of 150 hours of constructive learning at camp.
• 90 % of the students will score higher on the Post-test than they scored on the Pre-test. All results are kept in the Office of Community Resources at Druid Heights CDC.
• All of the children will be accustomed to reading regularly as opposed to no reading during the summer months.
• All of the children will have a chance to practice math in order to retain the knowledge while gaining confidence.
• Information gathered will be useful for parents to better understand their child’s academic standing.
• All of the children who scored low marks on the math pre-test will get assistance with their area of concern throughout the summer.
• All of the children who scored low marks on the reading and spelling pre-test will get assistance with their area of concern throughout the summer.
• All of the children will have fun with the special games the camp offers while learning.
• By combining math and recreation, children will be more interested in math.
• Children will speak proper English and less slang.
• 50% of the campers will enroll into the Druid Heights After-School Homework Assistance and Tutorial program which begins on Monday, September 15, 2014.
At the commencement program scheduled for Friday, August 8, 2014, campers will receive a book bag / back pack filled with pencils, erasers, highlighters, three ring binders, notebook paper and other school supplies.