The Children's College program is designed to expand the general knowledge of youth by providing instruction in the areas that encourage acceptance, inspire creativity and foster the intrinsic, inquisitive nature of children; By offering instruction, both academic and artistic, in an exciting and structured environment, children are free to gain skills in the absence of the demands of school and after school obligations; Suggested subject areas include, but are not limited to-- Foreign Language, Communication (Sign Language, Public Speaking), Music, Drama/Theater, Art, Movement (yoga, martial arts), Health and Nutrition and Lyceum (designed to accommodate guest speakers, career exploration, campus tours, etc;); This concept differs from most summer camp experiences by offering a variety of subject areas and activities rather than highlighting one activity supplemented most often with unstructured free play; A critical element of the concept is the involvement of a collegial institution, preferably four -year, although the community college setting offers benefits as well; This introduces to some and enhances prior knowledge for other participants the desire to pursue education beyond the minimum high school graduate level; There are basic program components, such as the daily change of class instruction, on-campus class settings and energetic instructors; What may differ throughout the various campus settings are the course offerings; Ideally, the content would build upon the areas offered by the institution; For instance, if the institution's Foreign Language department does not offer instruction in German, but offers instruction in Spanish and French, the Children's College program would likely select one of these for inclusion in the program; Children will change classrooms and instructors during the camp day; The schedule can be altered to accommodate single or multiple tracks of student participants; Sample schedules appear below-- Children's College Track A Track B 8--00 Movement Movement 9--00 Foreign Language Sign Language 10--00 Music Art 11--00 Computers Theater 12--00 Dismissal Dismissal K-2-- Week 1-- Track A-- MWF, Track B-- TTH 3-5-- Week 2-- Track A-- TTH, Track B-- MWF Children's College Track A Track B Track C 8--00 Movement Movement Movement 9--00 Foreign Language Music Sign Language 10--00 Music Theater Art 11--00 Lyceum Lyceum Theater 12--00 Dismissal Dismissal Dismissal Week One K-1st 2nd - 3rd 4th - 5th Children's College Track A Track B Track C 8--00 Movement Movement Movement 9--00 Sign Language Art Foreign Language 10--00 Art Sign Language Music 11--00 Theater Foreign Language Lyceum 12--00 Dismissal Dismissal Dismissal Week Two K-1st 2nd - 3rd 4th - 5th The key to the program's success is to make the experience fun for the youth, in such a way that they may not even realize that they are learning! Careful attention must be given to the process of identifying instructors; Possibilities include students from the university who are pursuing education degrees in the program's subject areas; This would provide field experience or either an opportunity for employment; Other considerations are teachers employed within the local school system; During the registration process, it is imperative that parents indicate if the child has had prior instruction in one of the program course offerings; Every attempt should be made to group kids, first by grade level, and secondly, by competency in the particular area to minimize boredom; The program should capture data that will provide a basis for analyzing changes that result from the program; Developing a relationship with the schools and parents will result in increased access to data that may provide a more sophisticated analysis, such as the performance in the program subject areas during the academic year and participation in similar activities after school; Program expenditures include, but are not limited to-- administrative and instructional supplies, compensation for a coordinator and instructors, marketing tools, snacks, camp T-shirts and diplomas; There are also costs for the use of the facility, although it differs by institution; In order to provide a quality program, it is necessary to invest the necessary resources that will produce quality results; By doing so, it is likely that registration costs may be higher than many other area camps; Partnership opportunities exist with individual schools, after school programs, religious institutions, social organizations, social/human service agencies and area businesses to create scholarships for families for which registration costs are not affordable