SuperCamp

SuperCamp is an international educational summer camp program which introduces students to accelerated learning academic skills and life skills. The program is held in several different locations around the world, and has been attended by over 50,000 students since it was founded in 1982.

SuperCamp is run by the Quantum Learning Network (QLN), a California-based educational organization. The SuperCamp program aims to teach students skills which will make studying any subject a faster, easier, more enjoyable and less stressful process. The camp's life skills curriculum focuses on developing communication skills, building stronger personal relationships with family and friends, developing teamwork and leadership ability, boosting creativity and problem-solving ability, and setting clear goals. The camp uses metaphors such as an outdoor ropes course and board-breaking to help students develop strategies for overcoming barriers to success.

History

The President of the QLN, Bobbi DePorter, first studied accelerated learning methods with the educational pioneer Dr. Georgi Lozanov in the 1970s. These methods became the basis of the SuperCamp program which DePorter co-founded in the early-1980s with Eric Jensen and Greg Simmons and further developed with husband/partner, Joe Chapon. The first SuperCamp was held in 1982 at Kirkwood Meadows, California.

The program has since grown rapidly. Presently, camps are held every summer at several college campuses throughout the United States, including Stanford University, Claremont Colleges, Cal State San Marcos, Colorado College, Cornell University, Drake University and Wake Forest University.

SuperCamp was first held outside the United States in 1990, when camps were conducted in Moscow and Singapore. The program is now held every year in various countries in Asia, Europe, Central America and North America.

Since 1982, over 48,000 students worldwide have been through the SuperCamp program.

SuperCamp has been featured in "The Wall Street Journal", "USA Today", "Los Angeles Times", "The Boston Globe" and many other major publications.

Curriculum

SuperCamp programs teach the following skills:

Academic Skills

* "Quantum Strategies" – Test-taking, time-management and organizational skills. Discovery of the student's personal learning style and how to make the best of it.
* "Quantum Reading" – Speed reading skills designed to cut reading time and simultaneously increase comprehension.
* "Quantum Writing" – Strategies designed to overcome "writer's block" and improve both the structure and creativity of written assignments.
* "Note-Taking" – Mind Mapping and other techniques to intended to ensure that note-taking parallels the way the brain stores information.
* "Memory" – Methods designed to make memorizing and recalling information a quick and easy process.
* "SAT / ACT Preview" – Curriculum developed in partnership with the Princeton Review.

Life Skills

* "8 Keys of Excellence" – A series of principles based on a study by Bobbi DePorter on the common beliefs of highly successful individuals.
* "Communication Skills"
* "Problem-Solving and Creative-Thinking Skills"
* "Goal-Setting"
* "Outdoor Adventure Course" – Ropes course designed to be a metaphor for breaking through barriers to achieve success.

The camp has an internet follow-up program, known as "SuperCamp Online", to help graduates review and integrate the skills that they have learned at the camp into their home and school lives.

Program levels

The following SuperCamp programs are conducted the United States:

* "Youth Forum" – 7-day camp, ages 9-10
* "Junior Forum" – 10-day camp, ages 11-13
* "Senior Forum" – 10-day camp, ages 14-18
* "Leadership Team" – 10-day camp at Senior Forum for past Senior Forum graduates only, ages 15-18
* "Leadership Forum" – 7-day camp, ages 16-19 (for past Leadership Team graduates only)
* "Quantum U" – 8-day camp, ages 19-25

Variations on this structure exist outside the United States in order to make the program relevant and appropriate for students in the local school system in each country where the camp is held.

There is also a "SuperCamp Parent Weekend" program, which parents of students who attend SuperCamp can attend.

External links

* [http://www.supercamp.com/ SuperCamp website]
* [http://www.qln.com/ Quantum Learning Network website]