Academic summer camps are a great way to keep your child exercising both mind and body over the long summer break.
“Ideally a summer camp will appeal to your child’s personal interest and combine academic challenges along with physical activities,” says NSCF executive director Sunil Weeramantry. “The academic challenges should be over and above those offered during the school year, but still be age and grade level appropriate, and in some way preparative to education in the upcoming year.”
Structured activities in the summer have been shown to counter the effects of summer learning loss. A 2013 Johns Hopkins University survey found that 66 percent of teachers have to spend three to four weeks re-teaching students course material at the beginning of the year, while 24 percent of teachers spend at least five to six weeks re-teaching material from the previous school year.
A more recent study commissioned by Northwest Educational Assessments showed that children in 3rd to 5th grades, on average, lost about 20 percent of their school-year gains in reading and 27 percent of their school-year gains in math during summer break. In addition to helping with academics, when engaged in structured summer programs, parents reported significantly more social-emotional growth in their children.
The NSCF provides chess instructors to general interest camps where chess will be one of many activities children engage in over multiple weeks. These programs are offered by parks & recreation departments and other organizations serving children. Some partners will offer half-day camps where chess is the main focus of the program. Contact us if you would like to incorporate chess in your summer programming.
The NSCF also offers its own chess-focused camps. These camps run for 5 weeks at The Leffell School in Hartsdale, NY. These camps feature both group and individual instruction and balance formal chess instruction with friendly competition. Every day also includes outdoor activities such as soccer and basketball and a daily hot lunch is also included in the full-time camp fee.
The NSCF summer staff is comprised of full-time chess professionals who all share an enthusiasm for working with children. Every teacher is an active tournament player as well as provider of classroom instruction. Whether the child wishes to learn new strategies or improve existing skills, the end result will be a stronger player who has mastered new skills for the chess board and for life. As Sunil points out, chess teaches children problem solving skills that can increase confidence in other subjects as well. “The importance is having your child exercise both mind and body during the summer so that she has fun but is also keeping up the skills required to have success during the school year.”
The National Scholastic Chess Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. Donations are tax-deductible. Relevant IRS information is available on request.
