SUDBURY SUMMER CAMP
PRESENTED BY
ARTS & IDEAS
SUDBURY SCHOOL
A new kind of old-fashioned summer camp experience
The Magic of Age-Mixing:
Sudbury Summer Camp is for kids 5 to 18 years old. Adults enjoy working and playing with colleagues and friends who are not the same age. Kids like being with kids of all ages too! Some older kids like showing younger kids how to do things, or being a stand-in older brother or sister. We observe older kids being kind and helpful to the younger ones all the time at school. Little kids look up to big kids, and learn much by observing and being engaged with someone just a little older. A 6 year old has the same vote as the 14 year old, or the 50 year old, so they feel good that their opinion counts. Kids get together based on their interests, not "their date of manufacture," as creativity expert and author, Sir Ken Robinson might say. They get to play football, Minecraft, make up a song or have a discussion about their favorite movie with others who share their interests, not just those in their age group.
Democracy begins at camp:
Sudbury Summer Camp is a kid-powered camp built upon the principles of democracy. Your child will have a chance to create, along with their camp community, the day to day camp experience they want. SSC is hosted by Arts & Ideas Sudbury School and will emulate the same Sudbury model of education that our school follows. Even though SSC is for any kid who wants to come and enjoy it, camp can be an especially useful program for families who want to "try out" the Sudbury way of doing things before enrolling in our school. Just like at A&I, kids and adults all have an equal vote. At the beginning of camp, Camp Meeting (all campers and staff) will come together to create and vote on every aspect of the two week camp: rules and how they will be enforced, activities, chores, and anything else the group deems necessary to the camp as a whole. Camp Meeting will also work together to figure out how to spend a set budget, which is included in the registration fee. This money can be spent on anything that Camp Meeting votes for - special equipment, props for a play, a martial arts teacher to come teach a class, a field trip to the Inner Harbor...the possibilities are endless! To keep things running smoothly, all of the camp meetings are run by Robert's Rules of Order.
Old-Fashioned Play:
Until very recently, adults were happy to let kids go out into their neighborhoods and find other kids to play with, as long as they came home "when the street lights come on." Turns out, that unstructured, unscheduled play time was essential to developing emotional intelligence and executive function in children; it's what we are designed to do. Plus, it is usually the most fun a kid can have. That fun comes with real benefits. When kids get together, the first thing they do is create structure, often in the form of game rules, fantasy play perameters or conversation norms. For example, if you keep interupting everyone around you, those people aren't going to want to talk to you, so you learn to listen and wait. Being in the conversation, staying in the game (when everyone has the option to quit) is the goal. Good sportsmanship, leadership, fairness, flexibility, and the ability to compromise are some of the by-products of play. Kids love having control over their time just like adults do. At Sudbury Summer Camp, in a rich environment, with ample resources and lots of other neat-o kids and adults, your child will have a blast.
The Resources:
In addition to the most important resource of one another, campers will have a fully stocked art room, a video production studio (stop animation and iMovie), a kitchen, a stage, musical instruments, the village of Mt. Washington and the Light Rail, outside play field and equipment, and a budget to work with to make it happen! (To read more about what kids will have access to at SSC, see the Facilities page)
Kids will love it!
Kids love coming to Sudbury school and we know they'll love Sudbury Summer Camp. Our parents often report that their kids hate snow days, and ask all summer how long it will be before school starts. Its a no-brainer; kids love being in charge of their lives, even if it's just for the hours that they attend camp (or school). It may sound simple--we provide a safe place where kids are respected and allowed to pursue what is interesting to them on their own timeline. It's not as common as it seems. Staff at Sudbury schools are well-versed in the nuts and bolts of running a working democracy, and taking seriously the passions of people younger than them. We are not there to motivate, manipulate, or coerce kids to participate in something they'd rather not, or be someone they aren't. We are strongly protective of the common sense and intelligence of kids, and view camp time as a chance where they can be afforded the rights that adults enjoy. What our experience shows us is that this joyful, stimulating and remarkable environment is one in which kids will flourish.
To learn more about the Sudbury model of education:
Please check out our school's website at www.aisudbury.com. You'll find more information about Arts & Ideas, as well as links to readings and resources specifically chosen to help the curious learn more about Sudbury education.
