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Active, educational camps at Abington can stem summer learning loss

Abington camps include topics in the national STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education initiative as well as the arts, music, and sports and fitness. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Would you allow a child to fall one month behind in school? Probably not, but a century of research documents summer learning loss -- the erosion of academic skills that sets students behind as much as one month each year. This lost month forces teachers to spend valuable classroom time playing catch-up in September.

Parents and caregivers can combat summer learning loss with a variety of educational and enrichment opportunities at Penn State Abington Kids & Teen College. Abington camps include topics in the national STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education initiative as well as the arts, music, and sports and fitness.

Deanna Bosley, the manager of the Abington camps, said that a number of new camps have been created this year in addition to perennials such as Rocking with Rocketry and Busting Those Myths. A camp inspired by the popular television show "Glee" as well as meteorology, Astrobiology: The Search for Life and iMovie are among the new offerings, according to Bosley.  

The week-long camps allow elementary through high school students to explore new interests or to build on existing skills, foster self-confidence and self-esteem, and develop social skills and make new friends. The programs begin the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 12.

Abington camps provide an additional, priceless benefit. Few caregivers will hear the dreaded sentences of summer: “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.”

For more information on Abington summer camps, go to www.abington.psu.edu/continuing-education/youth-programs/summer-camps.

Find photos and videos from previous summers, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennStateAbingtonCamps.

Last Updated June 17, 2013

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