Camps Can Enhance School Classes
Did you know that many times you can count time spent at camps as school days if they suppliment classes that the student is taking? Unless it is not allowed by your overseeing agent, such as your umbrella or school, days that students spend at camp can be counted as school days if the camp provides a valid educational experience.
For example: Sports camps can count toward physical education. Bible camps toward Bible class. Music camps toward Music class. Etc.
Camps can provide a valuable hands-on educational experience that helps students apply things they learn in class to the real world. Therefore, they can greatly contribute to a student's educational experience.
In order to count a camp as part of the homeschool student's school, parents need to first determine if the camp does suppliment a class that the student is taking, meaning that it has some relevance to the material that the student is studying in that class during the year. Then, parents should create a lesson plan that will help the student understand how the camp ties in with their other learning.
Lesson plans can be as simple or complex as families choose. Parents could have a discussion, or create worksheets that help the student think through what they learned at camp. Or, they could simply have the student write a report on the experience. There are innumberable ways to make a school lesson out of the experience.
It is also important to keep a record of the trip and log time at the camp as school days. You can do this in your lesson book, and include the information on your quarterly reporting of your student's work as well.
Often times, students attend camp during the summer. So, does it still count even if school is not in session? You may be surprised to hear that, yes, it can. Homeschool is extremely flexible as to when students start and stop classes, so having educational days of this nature in the summer is perfectly acceptable, as long as it is not forbidden by your overseeing agent.
There are not a specific number of camp days that you can count toward a student's school days. (Again, your overseeing body may set a limit.) However, it does need to be within reason so that the student has enough time in classes to clearly complete and master the intended curriculum for the year. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to count a summer-long camp unless that camp is specifically an educational camp that has school lessons actually included. On the other hand, it is perfectly feasible to count a couple weeks worth of camp if it accentuates the learning for the year.
There are many camps out there. Some are expensive, but there are many that aren't.
We will be detailing some camps in the links to the right. Please check back regularly for new additions. If you have a camp experience or suggestion you would like to share, please let us know. You can send it to staff@localhomeschool.org.
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