Why summer camp:
Summer camps are an important time for children. The type of summer camp one attends can be an even more important matter. Studies have shown that the type of activities that children take part in over the summer months make a big difference in their brain’s development. Summer camps are a great opportunity for children to be engaged, but also develop other skills such as socializing, teamwork, and problem solving.

There are many summer camps out there, such as sports, theatre, and art camps, to name a few. These camps offer great opportunities for children to be active. Many of these camps allocate some time to activities that get children also intellectually stimulated, such as through games and group activities. However, not every camp offers such activities and some may not give much attention to them all together. As a result, children may not be as intellectually engaged as they need to be during summer months. That is why we believe that another kind of summer camp, a learning camp, is most beneficial to elementary and middle school students.

Why Learning camp:
Over the summer months, children need to nourish their brains. If they do not, they will not only not learn anything new, but actually find themselves falling behind when the new academic year starts. The reality is that with most other things, if there is not enough practice or continuity we are likely to forget the material and concepts. As parents, we definitely want to avoid this kind of disruption to our children’s learning. The start of the academic year would otherwise be much more stressful for the students who may have forgotten the material and as a result this can even impact their confidence, self-esteem, and happiness.

Learning camps, which offer learning complemented by other kinds of activities (such as speech, debate and sports), offer a unique kind of balance for children. Children have the opportunity to learn in a fun, low stress environment and keep their minds active. In such a manner, while they are enjoying themselves, many of the concepts they have been taught in school is being reinforced in their brains. So, when they go back to school, their brains are not starting from the first gear because they have already kept the brain’s engines on the entire time. There are many learning camps out there and we encourage you to look at these programs in your region.

This is exactly why here at Prepsmart Tutoring we have developed summer prep classes. After many parents came to us and told us how stressed they and their children felt in starting the new academic year, we knew we had to do something to address the issue. That is why we created summer prep classes. Our objective through these classes is twofold: to first ensure that the child is up-to-speed in terms of his or her grade level at school, and secondly to help students prepare for their following year’s classes. We follow a custom-built curriculum that follows the Ontario Curriculum across all subjects, including English, French, Math, and French. We perform an assessment to assess the child’s current standing to see if he or she is at the level she needs to be. Based on that assessment, we come up with a personalized summer study plan for the child that will cover any knowledge gaps they may have while preparing them for the following year classes. We give weekly homework that we track to ensure the completion of. At the end of each course, we have a final test that will measure the children’s understanding. At the same time, we usually have the classes once or twice a week to ensure that children have plenty of time to enjoy other activities and be active.

Start the school year feeling good:
After launching our summer prep program, we had a ton of feedback from parents and children. The most common feedback was that parents and children felt much better heading into the school year. In particular, they felt less stressed, very confident, and happy about starting the academic year because they felt more prepared. We feel truly blessed to hear such comments and are dedicated to continuing on building on our summer prep program to ensure that every child feels ready for the new school year.

We hope you are all enjoying the remaining weeks of summer break!

Yours sincerely,

Prepsmart Team