Summer is
soon approaching… time for the lemonade stands to come out!
As summer
looms closer I've been in search of a fun, creative summer camp for
Karuna. I recently found out that I have
the opportunity to review our local Camp Galileo in exchange for a free week-
Awesome! Although I have heard about Galileo for a few years, I knew little
about them (Karuna wasn't old enough to attend until now). After checking out
their website, I am excited to find that their approach to learning is very
"Reggio." As you may know, I have been studying the Reggio Emilia
approach to early childhood education for 10 years, have taught in Reggio
inspired preschools, and have run my own Reggio inspired art studio. This
approach encourages children to explore,
hypothesize, and investigate ideas through play, and then communicate those ideas
through a variety of mediums.
In much
the same way, Camp Galileo is all about innovation. It aims to instill a
"spirit of exploration" in children so that they will feel confident
in the innovative learning process. This includes designing, creating, testing,
evaluating, redesigning and finally sharing those ideas with others. For the younger camp (pre K- 5th grade), each weekly session is based around a theme. Karuna will be diving into this innovative learning process focusing on the theme of "Medieval Adventure." One of the projects will be designing and "strength-testing" a giant castle wall. As cool as this sounds, I'm guessing her favorite part of the week might be the medieval scavenger hunt with team challenges and clues to unearth a royal treasure!
The themes this year are African Safari, Galileo Amusement Park, and Space Odyssey, all with equally enticing explorations.
Karuna
currently attends a Reggio inspired preschool. Next year she will move into the public school system and I want her to
continue learning in this "Reggio" way. Maybe Galileo will become our
go-to place to keep this style of learning in her life. I can only hope!
Check out the Galileo website for more information on their 38 bay area locations.
Disclosure: I am
receiving a week of free camp in exchange for three reviews of Galileo
Learning. The views and opinions are completely my own.
