June 17, 2016

A Day in the Life of An Ivy Kids Camper

As parents look to give their children an edge in their own development, giving your child some sort of educational stimulation during the summertime has proved beneficial in preventing the summer slide. Summer slide is a real phenomenon where some children can lose up to 2.6 years of math computational skills and experience reading comprehension loss over the summer.

As you may know, there are more resources being dedicated to childcare development than ever. Research has shown that proper childhood education sets children up for success in school, and also in life. According to UNICEF, brain development is most rapid during a child’s early years of development, and children who receive developmentally appropriate education early have higher employment, earnings, and are in better health as adults.

At Ivy Kids, we understand that summer is supposed to be fun for children, but we also know the importance of academic and social stimulation over the summer contributes to a child’s overall development.

Our summer camp curriculum is designed for a child to have fun AND to grow their mind through engaging themes and activities. Thanks to our experienced Director of Enrichment, Caleb Brown, every hour of an Ivy Kids program is planned with a child’s academic and social stimulation in mind, and it starts at the beginning of the day.

An Ivy Kids camper schedule

9:00am: According to the Physical Education Guidelines for Americans, a child needs at least sixty minutes of exercise per day. At Ivy Kids camps, your child gets 90 minutes of exercise throughout each day of camp. They  begin their camp days with thirty minutes of exercise to wake their minds up in order to more deeply engage with the activities during the day. We provide a variety of structured exercises and free play so your child is able to lead a healthy and active lifestyle while at our summer camps.

9:30am: Snack time! Children need constant energy to get through a hot summer day. Our chefs prepare nutritious snacks for your children before they start the learning stimulation portion of their day.

10:00am: After snack time students gather around for a  pow-wow, to have an engaging teacher-guided conversation relating to the theme of the week. For example, topics discussed during Space Camp may include gravity, life in space, or even the types of training an astronaut goes through. The morning pow-wow allows the children to connect with one another, and encourages children to converse amongst each other. Teacher-led community discussion positively encourages some of the quietest children of the group to break out of their shell, and provides them a safe space to speak openly.

10:30am: After the pow-wow, children move into their theme activities for the day. This art project relates to that day’s theme- if children are learning about life in space, they may be asked to create a U.F.O craft.

11:00am: During this time period, children work on a theme activity for the day. This activity is fun for students, and relates to the topic of the day. An example of a theme activity is during the Straw Rocket activity during Space Camp week, where children create their own rockets to learn about a real rocket’s flight path.

11:30am: As the lunch hour looms, children get back with their groups to perform team-building activities. These can be theme related (Man from Mars is a common team-building game) or otherwise (Walk the Plank). These team-building activities are designed to foster personal and group development in children. Children involved in team-building learn how to work together with others, as well as problem solving skills.

Noon: During this period, a nutritious lunch is served by our chefs who are specifically trained to create healthy meals for your children. Keeping a child’s nutrition up during the summer is important as it cultivates positive eating habits throughout the year and prevents ailments like childhood obesity. During this time we also have independent reflection and structured play, to give your child’s mind a brief break from the academically stimulating activities they do in the morning.

2:00pm: Every day at this time, we prepare students for their afternoon activities with yoga and meditation. Your child leads a busy life, and Yoga helps children enhance their flexibility, strength, and body awareness and is part of the 90 minutes of daily exercise your child receives at Ivy Kids.

2:30pm: During this time, your child will be creating an art project related to that summer camp theme. During our art camp, students are exposed to the works of famous artists, and learn about the techniques these artists used to create their most famous works.

3:00pm: As the day nears its end, children will use this block of time to construct their daily science project. These activities involve a tremendous amount of creativity and are designed to enhance each student’s level of curiosity. Teachers also use technology such as Smart Boards and iPads technology to make these projects as interactive as possible.

3:30pm: As our major activities are coming to an end, we use this time to give your children 30 minutes more of more outside play time. In addition, we provide them with an afternoon snack, so that your child does not leave hungry. Each day, we dismiss by 6:30pm, which allows your child time to relax and prepare for another intellectually engaging day at Ivy Kids summer camps.

Field Trips

Part of the Ivy Kids curriculum involves showing your children real-life applications of what they are doing in summer camp with field trips. This means field trips to a variety of cultural locations designed to be in line with what your child is learning about that week.

We believe in healthy mix between learning and play,  so not every field trip your child takes at our summer camps will be curriculum-related. Texas gets hot and humid during the summer, so once per week, your kids will get a splash day, where they’ll be able to bring their bathing suits and enjoy the summer sun at a park.

Don’t Just Take our Word For It

We can tell you the benefits of our camps all day, but our parent testimonials really make the difference. One of our parents told our Director of Enrichment that she came to Ivy Kids because at another summer camp, her kids were not engaged and just played the entire day. Others have tried other schools (because we know children need to exposed to variety of situations) and came back to Ivy Kids because of the amount of learning their children were doing at our summer camps.

Want more proof of the Ivy Kids difference? Check out our Testimonials page.