Summer Journey Course Offerings

Morning Core Instruction Offerings

Kindergarten-Students entering K in the Fall of 2025!

Animals All Around

Join us to explore the captivating world of animals! In this course, students dive into various habitats, discovering species and behaviors through hands-on activities like creating animal masks, nature walks, and imaginative play. The course emphasizes literacy with animal-themed stories, fosters creativity through art projects, and incorporates music and movement to mimic animal behaviors. Students also explore basic science concepts, such as life cycles and conservation, while practicing counting and math skills with animal-themed materials.

Grade 1

ENGINEERING: A Ride to Remember & Push, Pull, and Build

In this course, students explore basics of physics and engineering through engaging texts, hands-on activities, and experiments. Students learn that forces, like pushes and pulls, can change the motion of objects. Young engineers engage in interactive activities to observe and understand how using different materials contributes to successful inventions, such as withstanding the elements. By the end of the course, students not only grasp these fundamental physics concepts but also develop a greater appreciation for materials and design.

Grades 2-3

Reading/Language Arts:

Fairy Tale Chronicles

Join the magical fun with stories from the fairy tales and fantasy genre. The unit opens with an in-depth study of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, an interesting twist of the traditional version of The Three Little Pigs. Through a careful balance of shared and guided reading opportunities and hands-on activities, students participate in discovery learning through the exploration of reading strategies. A real-life connection to our judicial system adds a unique quality to The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Primary Language Arts lessons. Students will become familiar with courtroom terminology, newspaper articles, press conferences, and many other aspects related to court cases. This unit offers a different perspective that will spark interest and promote student involvement.

Incredible Writers Squad

Students will love to be part of the Incredible Writers Squad as they paint, act, and imagine their way to incredible writing superpowers! During this primary language arts course, students create their own journals, write about the contents of a mysterious bag, paint a poem, and craft a fantasy story—all while stretching their writing abilities. An artistic word wall will guide students through careful word choice and creating images through words. Amazing superpowers such as developing characters, creating a setting, and writing poetically will also emerge as students become official members of the Incredible Writers Squad!

Math:

Math Mosaic

Math Mosaic is a two-part course designed to improve student competence in the areas of geometry/spatial awareness and algebra. Through hands-on, problem- solving activities, students discover that algebra and geometry have real-life applications beyond the classroom. The course utilizes a wide range of manipulatives and construction materials and provides many engaging activities such as “snaky” number patterns and insect collection box puzzles. Every lesson in this course is designed to strengthen mathematical communication and reasoning skills.

Science/Social Studies:

Scientific Mysteries

Students learn from engaging hands-on activities that address life, physical, and earth sciences. They observe mealworms, hatch butterflies, grow plants, investigate forces, and solve problems using magnets. They also test their engineering ideas addressing erosion. Inquiry-based lessons give students experience making observations that lead to analytical thinking.

Map Attack

Directions, legends, grids and coordinates, landforms and water ways, roads and boundaries…all these and more are found in Map Attack. Students are motivated with a hunt for hidden treasures, the opportunity to map out the school playground, and participation in engaging games and lessons. Maps have never been such fun!

Grades 4-5

Reading/Language Arts:

Camp Write Right

Problem: How to motivate students to master grammar and writing conventions. Solution: Invite them to a fun-filled getaway at Camp Write Right! Using correct punctuation, constructing fluent sentences, and identifying parts of speech are but a few of the focus skills in this fun course. Students learn and practice writing and grammar skills through fun camp competitions, such as creating cabin chants and participating in grammar talent shows. Humorous and entertaining teacher read-alouds reinforce the importance of using correct punctuation and help students learn the functions of different parts of speech. Students will leave Camp Right Write with a pack of language arts skills sure to boost achievement when school starts in the fall

Owls in the family

This popular book provides grade-level text, but is a perfect summer read for adults and children alike. Fiction based on fact, the novel in a variety of activities, from dissecting owl pellets to designing character trait graphic organizers. Some of the lessons in this course include compare/contrast, sequence, problem/solution, figurative language, main idea, point of view, and exposure to expository as well as narrative text.

Math:

Get Cooking with Math

Get Cooking with Math! focuses on exploring how mathematics applies to cooking and food (though no actual food is used in the course). Math skills are used to explore all aspects of cooking from working with recipe measurements and cooking times, to shopping for ingredients and planning events. Students will explore changing recipes, dividing food into servings, organizing banquet seating charts, “shopping” for groceries, and opening their own pizza parlors. Activity-based lessons engage the students as they connect the mathematical concepts to real life.

Science:

The Dirt on Soil

Earth’s most precious ecosystem is brought to life in The Dirt on Soil. Students get their hands dirty as they explore this ever-changing world beneath their feet through topics including soil analysis and classification, erosion, organic and inorganic materials in the soil, and structure of the Earth. It has been said that man has only a thin layer of soil between himself and starvation. This concept is explored through worm farms, pH testing, and a model of decomposing material leading students to recognize that life is contained as well as sustained within soil.

Grades 6-8

Reading/Language Arts:

Saturday Scholars

Reading selections from the novel The View from Saturday provide an opportunity to indeed view an event through several characters’ perspectives as each one bonds with the others on a scholar bowl team and with their paraplegic teacher. The student reader has the opportunity to learn crucial comprehension skills while reading this novel. In addition, exposure to a variety of expository texts provides students with the opportunity to locate and organize information, compare and contrast narrative and expository texts, and integrate new ideas with existing knowledge, reading for a purpose as they prepare for their own “scholar bowl.”

Writing for the Win

This course offers a wide range of innovative and engaging activities centered on writing. By emphasizing what all effective writing has in common, the course gives students a new sense of what they can achieve as writers. As they move through the course, students are introduced to different genres of writing—argumentative, narrative, and informative—and have the opportunity to develop relevant skills. Students are also encouraged to be creative and have fun as they produce items like a lost- pet flyer, an analysis of tongue twisters, an advertising campaign for shoes, a group skit, and an encyclopedia starring their classmates.

Math:

Math Mixer

This course includes a mix of strategies, experiences, and tools to help students understand algebra. Motivating lessons capture students’ interest and build their confidence in mastering algebraic concepts. Activities, including flying balsa wood aircraft and calculating slopes for “designer” roller coasters, help students see connections to real- world situations, and algorithms seem more fun when applied to making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Mathematical representations include equations, tables, graphs, pictures, and manipulatives. Students work with addition and subtraction of integers and decimals, multiplication and factoring, patterns, data representation, and systems of equations.

Science:

​​Changes Do Matter

Changes Do Matter introduces students to the Kinetic Theory of Matter and the Law of Conservation of Matter as they explore properties of matter. Students also determine mass and volume, graph density, design density columns, and conduct experiments with heat. Finally, students observe the differences between physical and chemical changes as well as endothermic and exothermic reactions.

Social Studies:

We the People

We the People is an entertaining social studies course providing opportunities for students to explore how government works, with a focus on the structure and history of the U.S. government. Course projects and activities encourage students to think critically about how governments can solve problems and protect people’s rights. Students will take part in mock versions of a courtroom trial, a political campaign, and the creation of a government.

Afternoon Elective Courses

Kindergarten-Students Entering Kindergarten Fall of 2025

Nooks, Nests, and Burrows

Ready to be a zoologist? This course takes students on an exciting journey through the animal kingdom, exploring bugs, reptiles, and aquatic creatures in habitats like Australia, the Everglades, and the Sonoran Desert. After a short rest, young adventurers engage in imaginative play, song, and dance, including an “animal orchestra” and storytelling. Each day concludes with center activities that develop artistic, gross-motor, literacy, and social skills, making learning a fun, hands-on experience.

Grades 1-3

Act It Out

Imagination is a powerful tool as students use their own creativity and voices to become characters and dramatize familiar stories. Pirates, giants, and more are some of the child-oriented themes. Children relate to literature, create props, dramatize stories, and engage in creative movement to music. In this course, everyone can be a star.

Lifetime Sports Primary

The Lifetime Sports course provides the opportunity to learn lead-up activities as well as actual lifetime sports at a modified level. Lifetime Sports lessons include bowling lead-up activities, frisbee, dances (line and without partners), walking activities with a pedometer, and hula-hoop games. All activities are great for lifetime fitness.

Stacking Madness Primary

A new craze is sweeping the country. Cup stacking competitions and clubs are being introduced in many schools. Through cup stacking fun, a student develops the right side of the brain, increasing focus and creativity and training the brain for success in sports and music. Sequencing and patterning are also elements of cup stacking, which can help with reading and math skills. A valuable experience, but most of all, fast paced and FUN!

World of Wonders

Grab your passports and binoculars, and step into our time machine for an adventure like no other! With World of Wonders, you’ll explore some of the world’s greatest ancient wonders—from Machu Picchu high in the Andes to the Great Wall of China. Each day is packed with exciting engineering challenges and imaginative art projects inspired by the ingenuity of the people, cultures and traditions behind these wonders. This camp sparks joy, creativity and hands-on learning at every turn.

Cubelets® BOT Builder

In Cubelets® BOT Builder, students build a variety of fully functional robots or design their own using Cubelets, the modular robotics building blocks. From the Waddle- Bot that runs in circles to the Rodeo-Bot that bucks like a bull, Cubelets BOT Builder has learners harness the power of STEM to make robots move, sense and adapt to their surroundings. Get ready to introduce your youngest roboticists to a lifelong love of STEM!

Yoga-cize

What do you get when you cross drama, yoga, and exciting group games? Yoga-cize! Focus, flexibility, and balance are strong features in this module designed to hook students on fitness and fun! Students learn yoga poses that imitate a cobra, butterfly, turtle, and frog. Student actors dramatize a yoga story and choreograph a yoga dance, and all will enjoy a yoga pose relay!

Grades 4-5

Readers’ Theater

Let the adventure begin! Students will become a part of readers’ theater as they use entertaining and age-appropriate scripts to perform “read-aloud” plays. Plays are entertaining, and future stardom may result! Students come away with improved comprehension, retention, and fluency skills . . . as they enjoy the fun.

DaVinci Camp

Travel back in time 500 years to reveal how Leonardo DaVinci’s inquisitiveness inspired many of today’s advancements in everything from art to zoology. Students experiment with mirror writing, observe geometry in nature, reveal anatomical proportions, and design cities to discover the tricks DaVinci used to become one of the most regarded scientific minds of all time. Most importantly, students develop a deeper understanding of the world's interconnectedness simply by asking, “I wonder why….”

Science of the Human Body

Examine the complexities of human anatomy and physiology through engaging, fast-paced activities. Using exercise and movement as a teaching tool, get ready to unravel the mysteries of the human body with learn-by-doing experiences like running for a minute to measure heart rate, calculating energy expenditures, and discovering the im portance of proper nutrition.

Retro Recreation

Step back into the past with Retro Recreation. This course offers opportunities to experience activities such as tie-dying shirts; building old-fashion toys; learning about the history of classic games such as jacks, marbles and board games; and tasting candies that have been tantalizing children for decades. These activities develop thinking skills, team interaction, and good old-fashion fun.

Art with an Aptitude

Start with art lessons on perspective and dimension, weaving, and color blending. Add art materials of fabric, pastels, and cardboard. All this and more combine to develop artistic aptitude and result in products with attitude! Students enjoy creating cartoons with movement, engage in a Falling for Perspective lesson, create pop-up art, and experiment with batik.

BrickLAB: Famous Architecture Around the World

From the Taj Mahal to the Gateway Arch, use hands-on manipulatives to replicate some of history’s most famous designs. Travel the globe learning fundamental architectural elements for constructing stable structures. Each day, new collaborative building challenges integrate social studies with engineering design. Encourage creativity and global thinking in BrickLAB Famous Architecture Around the World!

Grades 6-8

Just Golf

Students take a swing at a game that has been a favorite pastime for centuries when they participate in Just Golf. This adventure course provides opportunities for students to experiment with some of the skills necessary to play golf as well as participate in circuit challenges right at school. This course should provide the motivation to enjoy this sport for a lifetime.

Summer Camp Classics

Gather around the campfire and get ready to relive the joys of summer camp with this 12-part take on the classics. Whether you’re under Douglas firs or inside a gymnasium, Summer Camp Classics brings a refreshed look at the best of what summer camp can offer. From friendship bracelets and leaf prints to team-building challenges and new ways to make s’mores, students get creative and discover their strengths with this STEAM- filled camp of arts and crafts.

Daily Challenge Plus

Physical fitness and teamwork are the focus. Developmentally appropriate games and activities such as Crows and Cranes, Clean Your Backyard, and Fitness Kickball have students working cooperatively and begging for more when the class concludes. The activities in these courses are geared to developing cooperative group problem-solving skills and thinking strategies.

3D Art Camp

All art projects in this course are above the plane and definitely beyond the plain! Students sculpt, create modern art, construct balloon sculptures, and form masks in this fun course. These and other projects all involve three-dimensional creations. Students assuredly gain a new perspective on art.

Mixed Media

Students work on multiple projects using unusual mediums such as frosting and shaving cream. They become paper engineers and realize the potential of this simple material. Color, texture, and design are investigated as students draw, shape, form, and paint their way through mixed media!

Rockets Plus

Students design paper rockets and other paper aircraft as they explore a number of exciting scientific investigations. While building rockets, they discover Newton’s Laws of Motion, Principles of Flight, and Simple Aerodynamics. To test theories learned, students fire a rocket over 1,000 feet in the air.