It’s not Everyday that one is able to visit the third floor of the Cerritos Public Library, a floor that is mainly used for Special Public Events. Luckily, children in grades 4-6 now have the opportunity to participate in Camp Knowledge 2009, a program designed to enrich children’s creativity as well as their academic skills. All subject areas are covered through the curriculum—vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing, math, and more..
Camp Knowledge is divided into two themed sessions: Great Inventors, and Wonders of the World. Great Inventors, or Session I, Ran from July 20-24 and July 27-31 from 9 A.M.-12 P.M. Wonders of the World, or Session II, is currently running from Aug. 3-7 and Aug. 10-14 from 9 A.M.-12 P. with both sessions held in the Hi-Tech Lab in the 3rd floor. .
Great Inventors encourages the children to Discover the accomplishments of famous figures such as Eli Whitney, Galileo Galilei, or Robert Goddard. They are also given assignments in which they must Create PowerPoint presentations featuring their own ideas for improvements on earlier inventions. .
Imaginations are put to the test in a project titled “Are You Inventive Enough to Survive?” A scenario is presented to the children in which they are hypothetically Placed on an island in the Pacific Ocean. They must use only the items in their pockets and their Inventor’s Notebook. The items consist of two paperclips, a pencil, a rubber band, and a piece of string. Everyday, something new is “washed up” on shore, allowing the students to use additional items for their survival. .
Their main goal is to attain water & create shelter on their imaginary island. In addition to expanding their creativity, the teachers conduct lessons on root words involved in their activities. For example, the students are taught root words such as “civ-” for “civilian” or “capt-” for “captain” along with their Latin or Greek origins. Other additional assignments include creating visual story maps based on imaginary dragon Tales, or developing smaller replicas of Leonardo Da Vinci’s drum..
Session II, which is themed as Wonders of the World, focuses on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Students are given assignments where they must build monuments with 20 newspaper tubes and one roll of duct tape. The main goal is to build structures that are sustainable & sturdy. Facts and details about architecture are focused on in this activity as well. Creative writing is reinforced throughout these assignments, in which the children express their own ideas and artistry on either inventions or a new wonder of the world.
The program has been running for 3 summers so far Under the educational perspective of the Cerritos Library. Camp Knowledge is assisted daily by three teen volunteers for each class, along with three teachers. The cost of each session is $200 for Cerritos residents and $250 for non-residents. Each session is limited to 20 students..
The library is also proud to host the Explorer’s Academy, a program that is scheduled to run in August. Children ages 8-12 are invited to become involved with this program; however, Explorer’s Academy is limited to twelve students. Three Sessions are scheduled and are all held in the Art Studio. Session I is themed Discovering our Past, Dinosaurs and More, Session II Our Great Planet, and Session III Space Exploration. The sessions run from August 10-14, Aug. 17-21, and Aug.24-28, respectively. Session I introduces the history of dinosaurs with a geological theme in order to expose kids’ minds to fact-finding projects. The kids are assigned to create binoculars in their “search” for information on prehistoric life. Our Great Planet features the rainforests, oceans, and aquariums. In this session, students will be exposed to creative and journal writing as well as math and science. It would be no surprise if the students in this session had to construct their own baking soda volcanoes, a popular and successful project from previous years. The final session features a theme of space in which kids can develop their own space shuttles and space stations. .
All sessions run from 1:00-3:30 P.M. Each session costs $75.00 for Cerritos residents and $100 for non-residents. All registration can be done at the Reservation Desk or by phone at 562) 916-1388.
Carry Kurata, one of the program’s coordinators, explains that it is necessary to have kids excited to visit the library, while also improving their inventiveness. It’s a crucial part of Childhood to be able to grasp imagination and creativity, and Camp Knowledge provides an excellent method to enable this.
Source : Margaret Song,
Special to Los Cerritos Community News
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