In just two short months, kids will be out of school, and you’ll be looking for ideas to fill up their summer with fun and learning. Summer is the perfect opportunity to round out your child’s education with creativity.
Numerous studies show art education strengthens both critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in young children. Business leaders consistently say that creativity is among the top skills they look for when hiring, and is an important trait for success.
Because arts programs are usually the first to be cut when schools reduce their budgets, enrolling your children in summer art programs is a great way to fill the gap. It’s important to encourage kids to expand on their creativity in forms of expressions that they wouldn’t get in other core academic subjects. And, art camps do just that!
Jennifer Hartvickson, co-founder of Adventures in Writing Camp says: “Studies show that students who do not participate in summer enrichment activities fall weeks, if not months, behind those who do continue to engage their brains over the summer break. This “summer brain drain” phenomenon has been well documented in academic research, and is a notable cause of the academic performance gap between low-income students and their more advantaged peers.”
Choosing one or more creative education camps for your children over the summer will broaden their thinking and bring back the joy in learning. From writing, dance, theatre, cooking and more, Monterey County has a lot to offer our kiddos with experts who have a passion for teaching the arts to our youth.
Hans Hartvickso, co-founder of the Adventures In Writing Camp “finds many schools are shifting attention and budget toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs, and away from the language arts. As kids get less writing in school, many parents are looking to summer language arts programs like Adventures In Writing Camp to fill that gap.”
The stage can be a fantastic place for a child to express themselves and learn skills that will set them apart in school and life. Heather Kirk, Executive Director at ARIEL Theatrical says: “ARIEL is a special place where young people build character while creating a character on stage. Theatre classes, rehearsals, and performances help to teach principles including accountability, respect, integrity, excellence, and leadership. Between the work involved in preparing for a production and life’s challenges, children learn lessons that go beyond the stage and into the lives, families and communities of the young people we serve.”
Jesse Banda of Jeanne Robinson Dance Arts mixes exercise and dance education with essential lessons in teamwork. “We believe that summer arts camps help develop a child’s creativity and coordination while also helping them gain crucial social skills. With the arts, children are in a setting that allows them to achieve a goal while working in a group setting. Whether it’s learning a dance number, creating a craft or memorizing a monologue, the things they experience can be used as tools later in life.”
Chris Cohoon, Manager of Education and Public Programs at the Monterey Museum of Art believes that creative arts camps help students succeed academically. He says “Aside from curbing the summer brain drain, just a couple of the ways creativity helps academically are by exercising the creative problem-solving muscles. This helps students learn how to learn. Creativity isn’t making something from nothing. It is bringing two disparate ideas together in a new way or looking at an idea from a new angle.“
Laura Jeselnick, co-owner of The Dance Center, gives insight on how this side of learning can be the catalyst to a more successful school year. “Bridging the time from one school year to the next is crucial. The summertime allows a child to feel free of other academic responsibilities, take a deep breath and ask themselves questions we as adults so often forget — What do I want, what interests me and what can I do solely for joy?
Let summer be the time for your child to explore new interests and for his or her mind to develop creatively. Creative arts camps will arm them with new skills to bring to their academic subjects when the school year begins.
For more info about camps mentioned in the article:
Adventures in Writing: www.aiwcamp.com/team
ARIEL Theatrical: www.arieltheatrical.org
The Dance Center: www.dancecarmel.com
Monterey Museum of Art: montereyart.org/summercamps
Jeanne Robinson School of Dance: www.jeannerobinsondancearts.com