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Plenty of Play – and Lots to Learn – at Daycroft’s Summer Day Camp

Camp’s Fishing and Cooking Classes, among Many Others, Extend Daycroft’s “Learning Is Fun” Philosophy from Regular School Year through Summer

Ann Arbor, MI (July 6, 2010) – Learning is fun. This is a guiding principle of the distinctively student-centered approach to education at Daycroft Montessori School of Ann Arbor.

The philosophy helps shape the highly personalized learning that Daycroft provides to students from preschool through Grade 6 during the regular school year – and it remains the basic M.O. for Daycroft students even now, at the height of summer break.

From left, Brooke Fisher and Claire McClelland proudly displayed the sunfish they caught at Daycroft's Summer Day Camp.

You can see the school’s exceptional dedication to spurring students’ life-long love of learning in the many fun and engaging summer day camp programs now in session at both Daycroft campuses – preschool and elementary.

Worlds to Explore...and Sprinklers to Run Through

To be sure, there is plenty of time for pure play at Daycroft’s summer day camps. Children running, jumping, and twirling through sprinklers is a common sight here.

From left, Anson Briegel and Andrew Fisher were equally proud of their catch – a largemouth bass.

Yet campers find much to enrich their skills, knowledge, and interests too.

Classes at Daycroft’s preschool summer day camp let youngsters test their talents in everything from coloring and painting to hiking and fishing. They can also make trail mix and bake cookies, design puppets and act out skits, hunt for hidden treasures, learn about the animals of land and sea, and take part in favorite sports and games.

Emma Larson, who will begin first grade this fall, delightedly displayed her cooking creation at Daycroft’s Summer Day Camp.

Campers can even learn to juggle.

And there is always time for exploring the natural world on the preschool’s grounds.

The full line-up of preschool summer day camp programs at Daycroft can be found here.

At the elementary level, summer day camp at Daycroft offers many more opportunities to learn. Campers can write and illustrate stories, create their own comic books, stage plays, practice arts and crafts, and build working machines – from simple to complex – using LEGO pieces. They also explore ponds and gardens, and study the world’s cultures.

An always-popular program takes Daycroft’s elementary summer day campers into the broader community on a tour of Ann Arbor’s major landmarks.

All of Daycroft’s elementary-level summer day programs are described here.

As the Saying Goes, “Teach a Child to Fish...”

The recently completed elementary-level program on fishing exemplified what makes summer camp at Daycroft here so special.

Daycroft teacher Dave Willoughby (Grades 1-2) guided campers in learning the sport’s basics. Willoughby, a 29-year Daycroft veteran, shared his extensive knowledge of rods, reels, lines, knots, lures, and baits.

In a blend of art and sporting, campers created fish-themed mobiles and made two different kinds of lures. They also learned the habits of Michigan’s game fish, and practiced fly tying.

Onions chopped by Daycroft campers were soaked in water, so as to lessen the sting to the children’s eyes. From left, beginning with the boy in the white t-shirt, are: Max Perdu, Nina Gardner, Miriam Stidd, Josephine Wilensky, Brianna Kowalchik, Ife Martin, Ryan Kowalchik, and Natalie Mycek.

At the close of the two-week class, campers put their new skills to the test, fishing for bluegills, bass, and more in a nearby pond. Per Willoughby, “The campers were thrilled to make some real catches.” He added, “Who knows? Maybe a few of the children are now telling tall tales about the even bigger fish that got away.”

“Top Chef” Has Nothing on These Young Culinarians

Meanwhile, just down the hall at Daycroft’s elementary campus, other summer day campers similarly broadened their horizons by learning basic cooking skills such as cutting, chopping, measuring, boiling, baking, and frying.

From left, Thania Gomez Diaz (visiting from Mexico), Martin McClelland (going into Grade 3), Claire McClelland (going into Grade 5), and Brigitte Olson (going into Grade 3) practiced cooking skills.

The campers’ expert guide was Maty Gomez-Hamilton, a Spanish teacher who has been with Daycroft for 25 years.

With Gomez-Hamilton’s help, campers explored the textures, colors, and flavors of many kinds of food – fruits, vegetables, grains, spices, more. They also sampled the distinctive dishes of Mexico, Morocco, and Peru, among other world cuisines.

Campers practiced kitchen safety, and made their own delicious chips, salsa, dips, sauces, desserts, and other treats in the process. (The macaroons the children baked were particularly tasty, as this reporter can attest.)

“The campers did absolutely everything themselves,” said Gomez-Hamilton, “and they used the healthiest ingredients fresh from the market, wherever possible. The children, I am pleased to say, rarely opened a can.”

About Daycroft Montessori School

Daycroft Montessori School blends the distinctive student-centered teaching methods of Maria Montessori with traditional and progressive teaching methods. Daycroft thus accomplishes its educational mission: to provide a personalized learning environment that appreciates individual differences, nurtures the whole child, and enables students to develop at their own pace and achieve to their full potential.

Daycroft is one of Washtenaw County's leading independent schools. It began as a preschool program in 1968. Daycroft has since grown to include a full-day kindergarten program, an elementary school program through 6th grade, before-school and after-school care, summer camp programs, and enrichment classes.

Daycroft has earned accreditation from the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS; www.isacs.org). It is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS; www.nais.org) and is affiliated with the American Montessori Society (AMS; www.amshq.org).

Daycroft Preprimary School (preschool and kindergarten) is at 100 E. Oakbrook Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Phone: (734) 930-0333.

Daycroft Elementary School (grades K through 6) and Daycroft's administrative offices are at 1095 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Phone: (734) 662-3335.

Media Contact:
Chris Kochmanski
DesignHub, Inc.
(734) 944-8705
chris@design-hub.com

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