One of the most important parts of academic summer programs is the curriculum. What students learn in this academic non-school environment can elevate their summer experience. All year-round students learn amazing things from teachers that have dedicated their lives to educating our youth. The academic summer program experience should compliment that effort and give students a different, yet valuable, learning experience.
With that in mind, here are the four ways academic summer program curriculum can be even better than school curriculum:
Students interact with the curriculum more.
Academic summer camps are not bound by the same type of schedule school is, and this encourages camp staff to think outside the box for how to use the time they have. Many academic summer camps will run fun activities to teach students the valuable skills students want to learn. This might include running simulations where students represent a fruit or a vegetable to teach diplomacy. During that activity, students would be encouraged to get out of their seats, speak up, and get in the role of being a fruit or a vegetable.
Summer programs can be focused on a specific set of educational outcomes.
Academic summer programs usually have a specific theme or idea they want to revolve around. For example, if part of the educational outcomes is that students should improve their public speaking skills, then there will be several opportunities for students to practice speaking, throughout the whole day, students will be reminded of that goal, there will be games and activities around that goal, and so on. Click here to watch an example public speaking lesson from the MUN Institute!
Students can learn about topics that they are interested in outside of the classroom.
The theme or focus of a summer programs can mean that staff get the opportunity to nerd out in their subject areas. A camp staffed by International Relations majors can go into the specifics of the China Trade Wars or North Korean Nuclear Weapons. With some of the staff studying these topics at the undergrad and grad level, they can give students an in-depth look at these topics with specific details and examples.
Students can learn lessons specifically about college prep.
Academic summer programs will often hire superstar university students as Counselors (or Mentors, as we call them at the MUN Institute). Those undergraduates offer students a clear, in the moment, look into University life. They can give them valuable shortcuts for how to apply to top universities, which internships are the most valuable and how to apply to them, and doing relevant extracurricular activities in college, like Model UN. These kinds of tips can sometimes be the make-it-or-break-it factor in High School Juniors and Seniors university decisions and ambitions.
At the MUN Institute, we aim to embody the above techniques in our curriculum. Watch the video below to see exactly what students learn at our programs!
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