Sylvan Learning Centres were founded in 1979, and the company has grown to include locations throughout North America. Sylvan’s reputation has grown as well, principally through the visibility of the locations and their association with effective academic tutoring.
Still, there is more to Sylvan than perhaps most people may know, and the seasonal camps and programs are included in that. Yes, the focus can look somewhat academic at first glance—engineering, STEM, robotics, coding—though the feel of the camps is less formal, less academic, and more geared to gather children around topics and activities that they are passionate about, in addition to having fun.
The camp concept
The concept of summer camp is often aligned with canoeing and campfires, though any camp director will tell you that it’s less about what kids do, and more about how they relate to one another.
Certainly, that’s what the Sylvan camps are created to do as well. Coding, for example, draws children of like minds, around shared interests. For many kids, that experience alone is as empowering as it is transformational. We all enjoy environments in which we can indulge our passions, and to spend time with others who share them. And kids, of course, do too.
“It really is for all kids,” says Leigh Jones of Sylvan. “If you like to play with Legos, or work with something more sophisticated … whatever it is, it’s really exciting. It's just really amazing to see kids from all different age groups, all different backgrounds, working together.”
The Toronto locations have recently acquired new laptops, allowing them to provide the latest Bluetooth technology within their robotics and STEM programs. For the campers, it’s like, well, being kids in a candy store.
They will learn a lot, no doubt, though often the empowerment that the camps can bring is, for many families and kids, their principal value, and the thing that keeps them coming back year after year.
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