Check out some of the highlights so far from Session 1

 

Day 9

Instead of morning meeting today, we started things off with a special presentation by the Shaolin Kung-Fu of Amherst. The campers (and even some parents) watched the martial arts masters while they taught us the history of Kung-Fu. They then invited the campers to practice some kung-fu moves including the stances for horse (ma bu), tiger claw (hu), snake, crane, and mantis.

After kung-fu, we had our morning meeting and then went outside for an exhilarating game of Star Wars.

After Star Wars and snack, Jane Lucia, the Life Science teacher at the Williston Northampton School, came to do a special worm presentation for our campers. We divided the campers into two groups and lead them through the life and responsibilities of an earthworm. The campers even had the opportunity to hold some of the slimy friends.

After the worm presentation and lunch, the campers learned about the terracotta solider's that were found in China. They even had an opportunity to make their own people out of clay.

As always, we ended our day with swimming.

However, the day didn't end there. At 5:30pm, we had our family picnic. The campers performed three great songs and put on a wonderful adaptation of Hansel and Gretel in Chinese.

See you all tomorrow!!!

 

Day 8

What a day!!! Our morning started right away with a field trip to a local blueberry farm. The campers had a blast learning how to say blueberries in Chinese while picking (and eating) their own blueberries right off the trees. Many campers promised to make their parents blueberry muffins or pancakes. Make sure they follow through with breakfast in bed for you tomorrow!!!!

After blueberry picking, campers went to see Hansel and Gretel at the Williston Summer Theater. The show was great and was filled with many child actors.

After lunch, we had a special visit by local author Dana Cuter. He read his book Hoppy Hop in English while one of the counselors read it in Chinese. We will have copies of the book available for purchase tomorrow at Friday for $15. It comes with a worksheet the campers can use to learn more Chinese.

After storytime, the campers worked on their special performances for tomorrow.

Last but not least, we ended the day with a refreshing dip in the pool. Nice!!!!!!!

Don't forget the Family Picnic tomorrow at 5:30pm!

We will also have a special presentation by Shaolin Kung-Fu of Amherst at 8:45am. Parents are more than welcome to stay for this special show.

Zai Jian!!!!

Day 7

Another great day at camp. Today campers started their morning with their normal meeting. They are really enjoying the stretches and songs. We may have to put together a cd and go on tour!

After our morning meeting, we played a round of kickball. It was a great team activity and allowed us to enjoy this beautiful summer day (with sunscreen, of course).

After kickball, we came back to our air conditioned building and divided into two groups based on the campers' ability to speak Mandarin. While one group learned about endangered species in China, the other group made beautiful fans. Once each group was done, they switched rooms in order to participate in the other activity. Each group was challenged on their knowledge of and ability to say the names of the animals in Chinese. I even learned about a new animal today!

After lunch the campers worked on their performances for Thursday night's picnic. They are very excited for you to see it. I hope they keep it a secret until Thursday.

After rehearsal,some campers learned how to play Chinese jump rope while others continued to practice with the Chinese yo-yo and/or Jian Zi. We also had the opportunity to tend to our flowers pots. The campers are very excited to see things growing already.

After some fun in the sun, the campers took a dip in the pool. Yeah! What a way to end the day!!!

FYI - Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will pick our own blueberries for morning snack. It would be great if campers could wear their camp t-shirts for this field trip. After snack, we will see the play Hansel and Gretel at the Williston Northampton School's Summer Theater. We do have the ability to reserve extra tickets for $4 each if you are interested in joining us. Just let us know at drop-off tomorrow. The play starts promptly at 10am in Williston air-conditioned theater. We will also be paid a visit by local author Dana Cuter who will be reading his new book, Hoppy Hop. The story is about a frog who learns the importance of protecting the environment and exercising -- two important themes we would like to reinforce here at camp.

FYI (Part 2) - On Thursday morning, the Shaolin Kung-Fu of Amherst will be doing a demonstration class for our campers. Parents are more than welcome to attend the event. More information will be available on Wednesday. On Thursday evening at the picnic, we will be sharing some of the resources we used during the camp as well as the names of the companies where we purchased them in case families would like to buy them for themselves. We will also post an updated list on this blog on Friday for anyone that may miss it.

Day 6

  • What a day!!!! The rain outside did not dampen our spirits. We started our day with our morning stretches and several circle games. We also sang our goodmorning song that reinforces our greetings, and our friends song that reinforces the numbers.
  • After our morning meeting, the kids watched a brief video about the Chinese Yo-Yo and the sport Jian Zi (also known as shuttlecock). The campers then had the opportunity to practice each! They did a great job on each activity. We may have some future Olympians in our mix!!!!
  • Following Jian Zi and the Chinese Yo-Yo, we had a delicious snack and played a game where we had to identify the different parts of one's head. Feel free to ask your campers how to say head, mouth, ears, or nose.
  • After snack, the campers were divided into two groups based on language proficiency. While one group was painting their pottery from last week or make new pieces, the other group made different animals out of origami. Once they were finished, the groups rotated. The origami was such a big hit, we continued it after lunch. Be sure to check out some of the animals your camper made.
  • After an extended session of origami, the campers started to develop their performances for Thursday night's BBQ. I do hope that you will be able to make it to see what they have been up to. The campers also had the opportunity to play a couple of rounds of charades. What a hoot!
  • After drama class, the campers were ready for their daily dip in the pool. We are so happy that we can swim indoors on a daily basis.
  • REMINDER - We will be holding our Family Picnic on Thursday at 5:30pm at the camp. The picnic will take place outside (weather permitting). Please let us know if you plan to attend. If so, please let us know the final count by drop-off on Wednesday morning. All families members are certainly welcome to come. And we LOVE pets! Just remember that you will still need to pick-up your child by 4:00pm on Thursday in order for us to prepare for the picnic.

 

 

Day 5

  • Morning Meeting: Today's morning meeting included a new song that was taught to us by one of our campers. The song was about making new friends and helped to reinforce some of the vocabulary we have been learning over the last couple of days.
  • Ultimate Frisbee - After our morning meeting, we headed outside for a game of Ultimate Frisbee.
  • Snack and Songs - For snack the campers had raisins,fruit cups and the ever-so-popular goldfish! We also sang a song called which was about a beautiful butterfly
  • Planting seeds in our new painted pots - After the campers refueled, they headed outside to plant seeds in their newly painted pots. They could plant carrots, spearmint, morning glory, chinese lanterns, marigolds, sunflowers, and cosmos. They could even plant grass seeds!
  • Water coloring - The campers headed to our art room to paint with watercolors. The campers did a great job listening to the presentations about paintings in China. The artwork that was done by the campers was simply beautiful. We will be putting it on display in the main room of the camp starting Monday. Feel free to check it out during drop-off or pick-up.
  • Lunch - Pizza Day!!! Yeah!
  • Kung-Fu - The campers had another Kung-Fu lesson today. Not only did they practice their stance, they also worked on their forward rolls. Some campers were even able to do one-handed flips!
  • Swimming
  • Snack
  • Gardening and Mandarin Lessons - After snack, we divided into two groups. One group worked on the garden while the other group talked about what they planned to do this weekend while speaking in Mandarin.

Day 4

  • We had another jam-packed day of activities and fun. We started our morning meeting with stretches. Stretching a group is a common activity in schools, as well as corporations, in China. You can even find groups of people stretching in public parks as one unit. It is said to open the body and prepare the mind for the day. After our stretches, we sang a simple greeting song in Chinese to the rhythm of "Are You Sleeping." The song helps to reinforce how to say hello, how are you, please, and thank you. Plus, it is a catchy song! After our song, we allowed a camper to teach the rest of the group a song in either English or Chinese. Today's selection was in Chinese. That was very exciting.
  • After our morning meeting, we went outside to play capture the flag. The campers had a really good time working as a team and figuring our new ways to capture the opponents flag. We like to constantly mix-up the teams for each activity so campers are learning how to work together with new groups.
  • Following our exhilarating game of Capture the Flags, the campers cooled off inside with a snack and were then separated based on their language ability. One group began their next art project while the other group had a lesson in Mandarin. We are currently learning about agriculture in China. Our counselors gave us a lesson of the different things that grow in the country while the campers designed and painted their own pots to grow something of their own.
  • While one group was painting their pots, the other group was engaged in a lesson in Mandarin. The group that is a little more proficient in Mandarin read stories and worked on creating their own story while learning the words for different animals. The group that is new to Mandarin learned four of the basic characters in the language - sun, water, mouth and people. These characters are the building blocks to many of the other characters in the language. They also learned how to write and recognize them in another characters. Why not ask your camper how to write the character for water!
  • Afterwards, campers came outside for a game of Elves, Wizards and Giants. However, in this game, our 3 characters were cats (mao), birds(niao) and fish (yu). The game is a live-action, group version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" were one object beats another. Each team finds a quiet corner and decides on a character to be as a team, after choosing their character, each team stands facing each other with their hands behind their backs. On the count of three the whole team acts out their character. The trick to this game is that the winning team then tries to tag the other team before they get back to their safe space. If a player get tagged before reaching their safe space, s/he then moves to the other team. The game is over when everyone is on the same team. The game reinforced the Mandarin words for one, two, three, cat, bird and fish.
  • Mao, Niao, and Yu was followed by lunch. The campers are becoming very comfortable with their chopsticks. One camper even ate their hamburger with them!
  • After lunch, the campers had the opportunity to use their fishing poles in the pond. While they weren't successful in catching anything aside from the algae, they were very close to catching a huge fish and a frog.
  • After fishing, the campers took a dip inside the indoor pool.
  • After swimming, campers came back to the camp and were divided again by language proficiency. One group worked on the garden and had the opportunity to eat the carrots and broccoli while the other group used their language ability to talk about their upcoming weekend.
  • WORDS/PHRASES THAT WERE LEARNED/REVIWEED TODAY: Horse, Bird, Eat, Fish, Hello, Good-by, How are you?, Father, Mother, Flower, Flower pot, and Seeds.

Day 3

  • Campers started the day making animal footprints out of chalk as other campers started to arrive. Campers made horse, duck, bear and bird prints. We then started our morning
  • After our morning meeting, campers played a game called Star Wars. The Jedi's worked had to work hard to design a strategy to keep their teammates safe and in the game.
  • After Star Wars, we had our morning snack.
  • Campers then learned about traditional Dragon Boat Races while designing their own Dragon Masks.
  • Campers also had a more formal Mandarin lesson today. Campers were divided into two groups based on their proficiency of the Mandarin language and played a game called Kingka. Kingka is a combination of Bingo and memory game using pictographic Chinese characters as its key element for visual (spatial) perception and Right Brain Regions (math/music centers) stimulation. The group that is new to Mandarin Chinese also practiced the phrase, "can I have it, please?" as they tried to match their bingo cards. Feel free to ask your camper how to say this phrase.
  • After Kingka, we headed over to lunch. Campers used their very own personal kid-friendly chopsticks. Campers are becoming masters at these chopsticks. We will begin practicing with real chopsticks soon, based on their level of comfort. The kid-friendly chopsticks will be theirs to keep and can be taken home at the end of the program.
  • After lunch, campers played a couple of rounds of telephone. This has become an annual after-lunch activity. Today was the first day that a message successfully made it's way around the room. The winning message was "Today is the third day of camp." Time flies when you are having fun!
  • Campers had the opportunity to go swimming indoors today. We will be using the indoor pool every day for the rest of the session. The pool goes from 4ft to 13ft. Novice swimmers can get swim lessons from one of our counselors who is also a swim instructor. Campers who pass a swim test can go into the deep end of the pool. Many campers hung around the shallow end today and used the diving toys and flippers.
  • After swimming, we had an introduction to Kung-Fu. Campers learned how to greet one another, do warm-up exercises, get into a horse stance, and practice kicking. Ask your camper the name of the animal the ready position is named after.
  • After Kung-Fu, we had a snack. It sure was great to refuel after a day of swimming and Kung-Fu.
  • After snack, the campers made their own fishing poles out of bamboo. They learned about where bamboo comes from, what it is used for, and what animal likes to eat bamboo. Campers were able to decorate their poles with beads, bobs, and kid-friendly lures. After the campers completed their fishing poles, we headed out to the pond. We were only there for about 5 minutes before we had to return because of rain.

Day 2

The campers had a great day exploring nature and learning Mandarin. Campers did everything from exploring the Mt. Tom


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