In addition to hearing over and over that camp is first and foremost joyful and fun, we know that camp is also a vital learning environment where kids have lots of opportunity to practice a wide range of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills like problem solving, relationship building, perspective taking, and the initiative to try new things.

At our camps, we see kids building these SEL skills all day, every day. 

During just one day, campers might learn collaboration skills by working as a group to create a skit for campfire, build teamwork skills as they figure out what they need to do to win the cleanest cabin award, gain courage and learn perseverance by working through their fear of heights at the ropes course, or practice resilience by falling off and getting back up while learning to paddle board.   

The research is clear that developing SEL skills is essential to healthy child development and supports academic achievement.

In fact, a Challenge Success camp research project showed that not only did over 95% of kids describe their time at camp as fun, but campers experienced high levels of engagement in learning transferrable SEL skills while they were there.  The beauty of developing these critical skills at camp is that all of this is happening away from parents (and school) in a safe and encouraging environment, growing campers’ sense of self and independence. 

With the rollercoaster ride our kids have been on since the beginning of the pandemic, it is no surprise that anxiety, depression, and isolation have increased in our youth.  As a camp professional and parent of two teenage boys, I have seen the negative impacts of COVID on children’s social and emotional development first hand and believe that having an opportunity to experience summer camp is more important for our kids now than ever.

In our own experience, we observed that many youth who attended our camp in 2021 were better prepared heading back into the school year last fall. 

These campers were able to practice being in community, re-engaging with peers face-to-face, and having fun. In fact, Challenge Success co-founder Dr. Denise Pope said in a recent interview with the American Camp Association that camp is a “powerful place for kids to have transformative experiences and for them to learn many of the skills that we know are going to be useful to them and helpful in promoting their mental health and well-being throughout the year.”

Camps are noticing a new trend this year with sessions filling faster than ever before. Parents are recognizing the value of the camp experience after two years of COVID, and they want their kids outside, unplugged from screens, developing SEL skills, creating friendships in person, and belonging in a community.  And perhaps, most importantly, simply having fun.

Sally Whipple has been involved in youth development through the summer camp experience for over 25 years. She and her husband own and direct three traditional camp programs in Northern California that intentionally integrate social-emotional learning into their programs. Sally believes in the power of community and volunteering. She has served as president of the Moraga Education Foundation (MEF) and PTA, and has been on the board of directors at Challenge Success since the fall of 2020.

The post The Power of Camp appeared first on Challenge Success.

Long before the pandemic hit, Challenge Success was hard at work updating our homework white paper, Quality Over Quantity: Elements of Effective Homework, to reflect the new peer-reviewed research that has emerged since the publication of our original paper in 2012. We were initially tempted to hold back these updated findings given the unprecedented and fluid educational landscape we are currently facing; but we realized it’s more important than ever to think critically and thoughtfully about the purpose of homework, especially given the blur between home and school and the educational inequities facing so many kids right now. Based on the research, we know that it is essential for student well-being that time spent doing work outside of a teacher-directed “classroom” is experienced by students as purposeful, meaningful, and engaging. 

The good news is that our original findings about homework continue to hold true based on the most recent research – especially in the current context. We know that:

1. The amount of time spent on homework is not necessarily related to increased academic achievement in middle and high school, and there is no correlation at all between homework and achievement in elementary school (except for self-directed reading).

    

2. When assigned, homework should be high quality and engaging.

    

3. Too much homework may increase stress and interfere with sleep, downtime, family time, and other important activities that are critical to student well-being. Maintaining these protective activities is essential in a time when a variety of in-person social interactions are missing for kids.  

This new paper reviews the most current research on homework, highlights the elements of effective homework, and offers essential questions for both parents and educators to ask about how homework can be improved. We invite you to share Quality Over Quantity: Elements of Effective Homework with your school and professional communities and engage in dialogue about how homework practices can better support all students equitably during this time of online learning. Read recent coverage of our white paper in The Washington Post.  

Denise Pope, Ph.D., is a Co-Founder of Challenge Success and a Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where she specializes in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods, and service learning. She is the author of, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students, and co-author of Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids. Dr. Pope lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement with learning, and integrity. 

The post Effective Homework Practices During COVID and Beyond appeared first on Challenge Success.