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Academic Summer Camp Teaches Teens 21st Century Thinking Skills
Through six unique academic rotations, students learn valuable 21st century skills that allow them to put the fun of learning back into their academics, and retain more information in less time. During the portion of the 10-day program called Quantum Strategies, students learn specific ways in which to bring their creative thoughts to life in order to complete a paper or a project.
Convergent and Divergent Thinking are two of the tools students learn in order to become more creative thinkers. They are first taught how to think divergently about a problem or challenge. They are asked “What are the different ways to look at this problem? Are there ‘little’ problems inside the bigger one, or are there bigger problems underlying this one?” The Divergent Thinking method is then applied to generate ideas. Students learn to do this through drawing, journaling, fast writing, mind-mapping, and general brainstorming.
Once all the Divergent Thinking ideas are on the table, students are then encouraged to switch their thinking to a Convergent process in order to discover the ‘real’ problem they need to focus on. Here, students narrow down the divergent list into a more logical, realistic solution.
By using Divergent and Convergent thinking strategies, students discover how to consider all possibilities, generate zany problems, ideas, or plans, and how to think wild and big without concern for practicality.
Next they focus on the things created in divergent phases to identify the solutions that work best. By the end of the lesson, students become ‘slinky thinkers’ as they can think convergently and divergently through every step of the process.
SuperCamp students learn that there is always another way of looking at a challenge. Creative thinkers are curious and aren’t afraid to take risks; which makes their solutions more powerful. The best way to get great ideas is to get lots of ideas. Students discover how to be passionate about who they are, what they want, and what it takes to get them there.
To learn more about SuperCamp learning skills and enrollment information for any of the seven regional program sites across the country, parents can call 1-800-285-3276 or visit www.SuperCamp.com.
