“海外夏令營”的那些坑，都是最可貴的回憶

首先，說說夏令營 ( summer camp ) 與夏校 ( summer school ) 的區(qū)別吧：

夏令營 Summer Camp 以玩為主。

每到暑假，很多美國孩子會根據(jù)自己的興趣選擇參加當(dāng)?shù)氐南牧顮I，開心地體驗和探索不同的游戲和項目。

夏令營招生年齡從4～16歲甚至更大，涵蓋項目十分廣泛，包括運動類，如射箭、劃船和曲棍球等；還有藝術(shù)類，如戲劇、舞蹈和陶藝；以及計算機(jī)、生存技能、烹飪等，每個孩子都能找到自己的興趣所在并能享樂其中。

夏令營的主辦方各不相同，有博物館、學(xué)校、俱樂部以及夏令營機(jī)構(gòu)。

每年暑假也會有很多國內(nèi)的孩子會去美國參加當(dāng)?shù)叵牧顮I，和各地孩子一起體驗很多以前沒嘗試過的項目，結(jié)交朋友，輕松感受美國文化，提高英語能力。

夏校 Summer School 通常指的是美國中學(xué)或大學(xué)自己開設(shè)的暑假課程。

涵蓋STEM、語言、工程等多領(lǐng)域，學(xué)術(shù)性強(qiáng)，由學(xué)校多年有任教經(jīng)驗的老師來授課，讓孩子和美國同學(xué)一起體驗真正的美國課堂，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生在項目設(shè)計，創(chuàng)意和解決問題的能力。對于那些將來計劃到美國讀中學(xué)或大學(xué)的孩子，可以提前了解美國的學(xué)校生活，對將來的申請很有幫助。高質(zhì)量的夏校會提前考核孩子的學(xué)術(shù)能力（比如SCAT/MAP考試）

從價格上來說，由于很多夏令營會請大學(xué)生或者高中生擔(dān)任指導(dǎo)員。夏令營的價格比夏校要優(yōu)惠一些。同時，正式的夏校項目需要申請F(tuán)1學(xué)生簽證，并且使用I20表格在進(jìn)入學(xué)校時做登記。

蘅寶2018年去美國3周，參加了3個不同的夏令營 / 夏校：美國的夏令營從最便宜的大概275美元 / 周（日間營）到2400美元 / 周（住宿營）都有，我們選擇的都是價位中等的：一個洛杉磯阿納海姆小學(xué)的夏令營（ 500美金 / 周 ），一個爾灣的STEM夏令營（ 750美金 / 周 ）和一個華盛頓邊的夏校（ 約翰霍普金斯大學(xué))。＊以上費用均不含注冊費

First, talk about the differences between summer camp and summer school:

Summer Camp is play-oriented.

Every summer, many American children will choose to participate in local summer camps according to their interests, happily experience and explore different games and projects.

Summer camp enrollment is from 4 to 16 years old and older, covering a wide range of items, including sports, such as archery, rowing, and hockey; arts, such as theater, dance, and ceramics; and computers, survival skills, cooking, Every child can find their own interests and enjoy them.

The organizers of the summer camp are different, including museums, schools, clubs, and summer camp institutions.

Every summer, many domestic children will go to the United States to participate in local summer camps, and experience many projects that have not been tried before with children everywhere, make friends, easily experience American culture, and improve their English skills.

Summer School Summer School usually refers to a summer school offered by an American middle school or university.

Covering many fields such as STEM, language, engineering, etc., it is highly academic and taught by teachers with years of teaching experience in the school, allowing children and American classmates to experience the real American classroom together, and training students in project design, creativity and problem solving skills. For those children who plan to go to the United States to attend secondary school or university in the future, you can learn about school life in the United States in advance, which is very helpful for future applications. High-quality summer schools will assess children’s academic abilities in advance (such as SCAT / MAP exams)

In terms of price, because of many summer camps, college students or high school students are invited as instructors. The price of summer camp is better than summer school. At the same time, the formal summer school program requires an F1 student visa and registration using the I20 form when entering the school.

Qibao went to the United States for 3 weeks in 2018 and participated in 3 different summer camps / summer schools: Summer camps in the United States range from the cheapest about 275 US dollars / week (day camp) to 2400 US dollars / week (accommodation camp). We The choices are all moderately priced: a summer camp in Los Angeles Anaheim Elementary School ($ 500 / week), a STEM summer camp in Irvine ($ 750 / week), and a summer school in Washington (Johns Hopkins University ). ＊ The above fees do not include registration fee

WEEK 1 阿納海姆小學(xué)夏令營

當(dāng)?shù)夭灏酄I：蕩著秋千就把日子給過了

第一周日子過的是飛快的。第一天校方要求早上8點進(jìn)校，我們帶著孩子7:45到達(dá)。領(lǐng)了營服（后來看學(xué)校里很多孩子都不穿制服，只有到 field trip 的時候才穿），了解了一日規(guī)范以后就把他們送進(jìn)了學(xué)校。

第一天我是對國外的夏令營非常好奇的，好在校園也是半開放式的，我在停車場里幾乎就能看到她們大概在進(jìn)行什么活動，我發(fā)現(xiàn)她們在操場上足足玩了1個小時……我閨女就是霸在蕩秋千上“隨風(fēng)飄蕩”了整場。

WEEK 1 Anaheim Elementary School Summer Camp

Local transfer camp: swinging the swing and passing the day

The first week of life was fast. On the first day, the school asked to enter the school at 8 am, and we arrived with the child at 7:45. I got the camp clothes (I will see that many children in the school do n’t wear uniforms, only when they are on field trip). After learning about the day norms, they sent them to school.

On the first day, I was very curious about summer camps abroad. Fortunately, the campus was also semi-open. I could almost see what they were doing in the parking lot. I found that they were playing on the playground. Hours … My girl is “floating with the wind” on the swing.

接著是分班進(jìn)行活動，有手工制作、話題討論、音樂課程等大概一小時，孩子們又像一群快樂的小鳥被放出來吃零食了，接著又是操場體育活動，然后午餐開始了……

下午4點（其實是5點接）我裝著記錯時間進(jìn)校接娃，看看她們在干什么。我看到課表最后一個小時是數(shù)碼時間，孩子們?nèi)齻€一群五個一組，有的看教室里播放的電影，有的就在一起玩手機(jī)或者pad。哇，原來這就叫數(shù)碼時間哦，仔細(xì)想來竟也無力反駁。

After that, there are activities organized by classes. There are handmade, topic discussions, music lessons, etc. For about an hour, the children are released like a group of happy birds for snacks, followed by playground sports activities, and lunch begins …

At 4 pm (actually 5 o’clock), I pretended to pick up the baby at the wrong time to see what they were doing. I saw that the last hour of the timetable was digital time. The children were in groups of five and some watched the movie in the classroom, while others played on their mobile phones or pads together. Wow, this is called digital time. I can’t refute it if I think about it.

Day 2 和 Day 4是他們的 field trip 時間，這兩天校園里突然出現(xiàn)了很多高年級的孩子，后來參觀過很多學(xué)校后我知道了其中緣由：美國法律是不允許12歲孩子單獨留在家里的，所以一般當(dāng)?shù)丶彝演^小的孩子送到學(xué)校去參加夏校，而12歲以上的孩子，他們有更多自由選擇的余地，學(xué)校在進(jìn)行 field trip 的時候也會邀請這些孩子作為 JC（ junior counselor ）起到帶領(lǐng)與管理弟弟妹妹的作用。

Day 2 and Day 4 are their field trip time. In the past two days, many senior children suddenly appeared on the campus. After visiting many schools, I learned the reason: US law does not allow 12-year-old children to stay at home alone Yes, so local families usually send younger children to school to participate in summer school. For children over 12 years old, they have more freedom to choose. They will also invite these children as JC when they make field trips. (Junior counselor) plays the role of leading and managing brothers and sisters.

WEEK 2 爾灣STEM營

MINECRAFT 游戲的世界

知道這個營是當(dāng)?shù)嘏笥淹平o我的網(wǎng)站，這是爾灣一個小有名氣的工作室，他們在學(xué)期中的周五晚間及周末提供編程、科技等 workshop，在暑假里，則按年齡分成高年級編程、低年級科學(xué)活動及簡單編程兩個主題開展活動。

蘅寶還在第一個營的時候，我們就先前探訪了這個地方。映入眼簾的是 “哇，全是華人及印度人”。等蘅寶和她的小伙伴進(jìn)入這個營后我們才發(fā)現(xiàn)，這的確也是當(dāng)?shù)睾⒆拥南牧顮I。我們看到的所有的華人孩子都不會講中文，但看他們玩電腦的水平，簡直就是爾灣的IT星星正在冉冉升起。

WEEK 2 Irvine STEM Camp

The world of MINECRAFT games

I know this camp is a website promoted by local friends. This is a small and famous studio in Irvine. They provide workshops such as programming and technology on Friday evenings and weekends during the semester. Grade programming, lower grade scientific activities, and simple programming are two themed activities.

We visited this place earlier when Lu Bao was in the first camp. What caught my eye was “Wow, all Chinese and Indians.” We did not find out until Lu Bao and her companion entered this camp that this is indeed a summer camp for local children. All the Chinese children we saw didn’t speak Chinese, but judging by their level of playing computer, the IT stars in Irvine are rising.

（ 插播一下，作為對孩子學(xué)習(xí)能力很自信的老母親我經(jīng)常希望個頭特別大的蘅寶能夠混跡在高一個年齡段的孩子當(dāng)中，我想很多人跟我有一樣的想法 ）

然而參觀過這個 camp 后，我確定讓蘅寶進(jìn)他們的低齡班就好。因為我領(lǐng)教了高齡組的孩子編程的那個難度：老師簡單說一下要點，然后整段程序編碼（是這樣叫嗎？）就被投屏到墻上，孩子們根據(jù)自己的領(lǐng)會進(jìn)行下一步的程序編寫。嗯，我們家這個 ICT 還停留在 C 階的同學(xué)，我還是讓她感受下氛圍就好了。

同時，每天放學(xué)我們都會被邀請進(jìn)教室，參觀當(dāng)天的成果。對于比較偏文科的女生能夠有滋有味地說明自己當(dāng)天在科技前沿學(xué)到的知識，我們也“老懷安慰”。

我們這次選的都是價格適中的當(dāng)?shù)貭I，并沒有去類似 iDtech 這樣在國內(nèi)很火的營。一方面我們不想讓孩子又用著母語與大家一起拼命打游戲中度過一周，另一方面，iDtech 由于校區(qū)眾多，部分校區(qū)是請大學(xué)生授課的。他們的確會與大一點的孩子有更多的共鳴，但在我們小學(xué)低齡組來說，還是有經(jīng)驗會啟發(fā)的老師來的更適合一些。

(Interview, as an old mother who is very confident in her children’s learning ability, I often hope that the particularly large cymbals can be mixed with children of an older age. I think many people have the same ideas as me

However, after visiting this camp, I was sure that it would be good to let Bao Bao enter their young age class. Because I taught the difficulty of programming for older children: the teacher briefly said the main points, and then the entire program code (is it called that?) Was projected on the wall, and the children proceeded to the next program according to their own understanding write. Well, my classmate whose ICT is still in the C level, I just let her feel the atmosphere.

At the same time, we will be invited into the classroom every day after school to see the results of the day. We are also “old comforting” for the girls who are more liberal arts to be able to explain the knowledge they learned at the forefront of science and technology that day.

We chose local camps at affordable prices this time, and did not go to camps like iDtech that are very popular in China. On the one hand, we don’t want our children to spend a week playing games with everyone in their mother tongue. On the other hand, due to the many campuses of iDtech, some campuses invite students to teach. They do resonate more with older children, but for our younger primary school group, teachers who have experience and inspiration can be more suitable.

WEEK 3 Maryland

與全世界的天資生同行

全球的營地非常多，包括 day camp（日間營）和 boarding camp（住宿營），低齡段的孩子基本只提供日間營（走讀），同時，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)持中國護(hù)照的學(xué)生不能申請香港地區(qū)的營地?；谵繉毜谝淮螀⒓舆@樣的營會，我們也是做嘗試，所以我們選了離華盛頓特區(qū)很近的 Sandy Spring Friends School 的日間營，主題選的是“TOYOLOGY”。

” TOYOLOGY ” 是針對小年齡段學(xué)生的課程，課程內(nèi)容介紹一看就非常有趣。如蘅寶所說，她們學(xué)習(xí)了玩具的傳承，并且設(shè)計制作自己喜歡的一款玩具；結(jié)業(yè)典禮上蘅寶與營會上結(jié)識的新朋友演出了她們設(shè)計的玩具的小短劇。相對目前很多借高大上的大學(xué)場地，開設(shè)的熱門營會使用兼職大學(xué)生的情況，我看到蘅寶參加的這個營會老師還是比較專業(yè)且有從教經(jīng)驗的，她們在營前、營中都會積極發(fā)送郵件與家長進(jìn)行溝通細(xì)節(jié)事宜，并且受到孩子的喜愛。

WEEK 3 Maryland

Travel with talented students worldwide

There are many camps around the world, including day camp (boarding camp) and boarding camp (boarding camp). Children in the younger age group basically only provide day camps (day). At the same time, we found that students with Chinese passports cannot apply for Hong Kong. Camp. Since Baobao participated in such a camp for the first time, we also tried, so we chose the day camp of Sandy Spring Friends School, which is close to Washington, DC, and the theme was “TOYOLOGY”.

“TOYOLOGY” is a course for young students. The introduction of the course content is very interesting at first glance. As Lu Bao said, they learned the inheritance of toys and designed and made a toy that they like; at the closing ceremony, Lu Bao and the new friends they met at the camp performed a short play of the toys they designed. Compared with the current situation of many borrowed college campuses, part-time college students are used in popular camps. I saw that the teachers in this camp attended by the professional are more professional and have experience in teaching. They will be active in the camp before and during the camp. Send emails to communicate details with parents and be loved by children.

不得不說 已經(jīng)是全球非常成熟的夏令營（及線上課程）的商業(yè)執(zhí)行機(jī)構(gòu)了，從簽發(fā)F1簽證開始，到夏令營說明會，以及入營前的現(xiàn)場 orientation，直至每日接送學(xué)生的流程及營會結(jié)束的小結(jié)和郵件反饋，都嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)、人性化；當(dāng)然，習(xí)慣了國內(nèi)夏令營每日在群里海量圖片發(fā)送的家長可能會有小失望，因為營會里并不會配如此多的助教處理這些內(nèi)容。我在營會結(jié)束的郵件里找到了2張蘅寶的照片，已經(jīng)非常滿足了。

It has to be said that it is already a very mature business executive agency for summer camps (and online courses) in the world. From the issue of F1 visas, to summer camp briefings, and on-site orientation before entering the camp, to the daily process of transferring students and camps. The conclusion and email feedback are rigorous and humane. Of course, parents who are accustomed to sending a large number of pictures in the summer camp in the country may be disappointed because there are not so many teaching assistants in the camp. content. I found 2 photos of 蘅 寶 in the email after the camp, and I was very satisfied.