Summer Camp: Montessori with Mammolina and CISB’s Creative Camp

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We’re all looking forward to a little rest after the tumultuous year and a half that’s past. Some families treat summer like a lazy time, others as the fourth semester of school, but we all know that come July, some kind of break from the norm is in order. And that’s precisely where Jingkids comes in, ready to rock your scheduling world with these summer camp highlights. Each week we’ll go behind the scenes of a camp so you can make the right choice for your family.

And don’t forget to get your family’s tickets to the Jingkids Summer Fling on May 22 where you can meet and get a feel for Beijing’s best summer camps with games and activities in one day. It’s the not-to-miss family event of the summer! Scan the QR code below for more info.

Natural Play the Montessori Way at Mammolina Children’s Home Model Montessori Kindergarten

The theme is “Natural Play” at Mammolina’s newly designed natural playground. Each morning, children will enjoy Montessori work time along with independent educational play in the natural playground. What’s more, mixed ages play together according to the traditional Montessori ethos.

By its very name, a natural play space does not dictate how children should play, and young people are encouraged to collaborate and communicate with their peers. Through play in an open-ended setting, children improve their sharing, negotiation, problem-solving, empathy, and leadership skills as they work together.

One of the greatest benefits of natural playgrounds is found in the way they help children improve their fine motor skills. A natural setting involves a vast array of textures, sensory activities, gardens, and natural sounds, which encourage children to engage all of their senses. Through touching, feeling, and collecting natural objects, fine motor activity is challenged and strengthened.

Montessori education emphasizes learning through the senses. Children in Montessori environments learn at their own pace and according to their own choice of activities. Mixed – or multi-age – groups are essential to Montessori, because older children spontaneously share their knowledge with the younger ones, initiating and guiding them.

Montessori is a comprehensive educational approach from birth to adulthood based on the observation of children’s needs, with an eye firmly focused on meeting those needs. It is applicable in cultures all around the world because it follows the child and seeks to provide what Dr. Maria Montessori referred to as “the keys to the environment,” i.e., knowledge and experiences that lead to independence.

Summer Camp Facts

Who: Mammolina Children’s Home Model Montessori Kindergarten
What: Immersion in an authentic bilingual Montessori learning environment and a brand new “Natural Playground”
Where: Mammolina Children’s Home Model Montessori Kindergarten, Liyuan Xiaoqu no 36, Maquanying
When: Jul 19-Aug 20
How: WeChat ID: CN69696969696969
Ages: 2-7
Teacher to Child Ratio: 1:4
Prices: RMB 3,500-4,500 per week

About: The camp will be run by experienced Montessori Lead teachers (over 10 years experience) and experienced Montessori Native English teachers. Dr. Montessori began developing her approach more than a century ago. Her work was based on long, careful hours of scientific observation and a profound understanding of children’s natural learning tendencies as they unfold in “prepared environments” for multi-age groups (i.e. 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, and 15-18 years of age).

Montessori environments normally include specially designed didactic materials, or manipulatives, that invite children to engage in learning activities of their own choosing. Children in Montessori prepared environments learn by experimenting with the available materials under the guidance of trained adults (lead and assistant directresses and directors, or guides). While learning essential skills they have the opportunity to discover possibilities and relationships, cultivate concentration, nurture motivation, develop self-discipline, and set in place the pillars for a life-long love of learning.

Today, Montessori schools can be found worldwide, serving children from birth through adolescence. Many become independent learners: autodidacts who never stop learning and exploring, showing initiative, and are critical thinkers and scientists at heart both in their approach to learning in particular, and life in general.

Uniqueness in Montessori
In her landmark text, From Childhood to Adolescence, Dr. Montessori wrote, “My vision of the future is no longer of people taking exams and proceeding on that certification from the secondary school to the university, but of individuals passing from one stage of independence to a higher, by means of their own activity, through their own effort of will, which constitutes the inner evolution of the individual.”

Montessori education builds on the continuing self-construction of the child, as life unfolds moment by moment. Although Montessori schools are divided into multi-age classrooms – roughly, infant-toddler (ages 0 to 3), preschool (ages 3 to 6), lower and upper elementary (ages 6 to 9 and 9 to 12, which are often combined), middle school (ages 12 to 15), and high school (ages 15 to 18) – the prepared environment at each stage introduces an uninterrupted series of learning passages, a continuum, that carries on throughout life well into adulthood, and develops into a life-long love for learning. Needless to say, many multi-age environments and communities go well beyond the minimum 3 year age span.

Mammolina Children’s Home Montessori Kindergarten offers children a “living environment” where they can choose their work from the available self-correcting materials displayed on open shelves and work in specific work areas following their own interests and curiosity. Over a period of time, the children gravitate towards what, in Montessori vernacular, is called a “normalized state” and, as a group, into a “normalized community,” working with periods of high concentration and few interruptions.

Normalization occurs through self-directed and purposeful activity, or work which gives rise to repetition leading to concentration. It is an idealized natural state which Dr. Montessori observed children achieving in her prepared environments and included many characteristics such as deep concentration, obedience as an act of will, generosity, independence, self-discipline, and joy. For some children, this inner change takes place quite suddenly, while for others it takes longer, but it always develops and nurtures in the child an ability to deeply concentrate on the activity or task at hand.

Natural Playground
One of the latest trends in childcare is the move towards natural playgrounds. A natural playground is designed to make use of existing topography and natural materials to create an open-ended outdoor play area for children to make discoveries and interact with their environment. Play structures within natural playgrounds are often created using tree stumps, logs, rocks, and water, offering a wide range of opportunities to connect children back to nature, while stimulating creativity and encouraging development. Here’s a look at why the idea of a natural playground is becoming increasingly popular among child care centers, schools, and cities throughout North America and beyond.

They Help Children Be More Active
A natural setting lends itself to an increased level of activity. Studies show that when natural elements are incorporated into a playground, the length of time a child plays is more than doubled. Natural playgrounds present a wealth of opportunities for children of all skill and activity levels to improve their fitness levels through play.

They Are Accessible
Natural playgrounds, unlike traditional plastic-style playgrounds, are more welcoming to children of all abilities. A natural playground does not discriminate when it comes to differing fitness levels, abilities, intelligence, genders, and cultures. Children are encouraged to create their own ways to play, rather than being “told” how to play by the equipment available to them.

They Encourage Imaginative Play
Many natural playscapes are designed to stimulate the imagination and encourage creativity. Features are typically incorporated to promote imaginative play through a variety of sensory stimulation including touch, sight, and sound. It has been found that children who play in more natural settings tend to play in more diverse and creative ways, and show improvement in the areas of collaboration and language skills.

CISB 101 Kindergarten Creative Camp

With Canadian International School of Beijing’s unique Creative Camp, children will enjoy learning and discovering. The Program includes Phonics/Reading, Creative English Workshop, Chinese Language/Culture, Arts and Crafts, Music, Physical Education, Lacy Creative Block, Kung Fu, Swimming, Gymnastics, and Mad Science (curriculum may vary based on ages).

This unique fun-filled phonics class will be taught at two levels. The beginner-level phonics class teaches the basic phonetic sounds of English and helps students distinguish between the names and sounds of letters as well as writing letters. Completing the intermediate-level phonics class will prepare children to read common sentences found in age-appropriate English books.

Summer Camp Facts

Who: Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB)
What: Fun-filled phonics learning through creative arts
Where: Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB)
When: Jun 21–Jul 9, Jul 12–Jul 30
*Field trip on Jul 22
How: Please contact the CISB Summer Admissions office: [e-mail]
* Application deadline: May 29, 2021
* 15 percent discount for CISB, ISNS, and CCSC students
* Fees include Summer Camp uniform, tuition, all materials, nutritious snacks, and lunches
* School bus service can be provided for limited routes based on the number of students
Ages: 18 months to 6 years old
Prices:
Half-day Program
– RMB 6,500 (2 weeks）
– RMB 9,650 3 weeks）
– RMB 18,150 (6 weeks）
Full-day Program
– RMB 9,650 (2 weeks）
– RMB 13,900 (3 weeks）
– RMB 26,600 (6 weeks)

About: The Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) offers classes ranging from Montessori Nursery (18 months) to Grade 12 in two downtown campuses: the main Liangmaqiao Lu campus and the new Jianguomen Kindergarten. CISB is a three-program IB World School: Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme, and Diploma Programme. Graduates obtain a Canadian (New Brunswick) High School Diploma and the opportunity to complete the full IB Diploma. The current 1,000+ student body represents over 55 nationalities.

Images: Courtesy of the camps, pexels

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