Thursday, June 21, 2012

Send your kids to Virtual Summer Camp with Common Sense Media



Before we get to the part about the nifty Virtual Summer Camp...

I believe that every parent needs to know about the resources at Common Sense Media.  I wrote about this organization last summer, but in case you are new to the blog, Common Sense helps parents sift through the vast sea of websites, apps, computer games, television shows, movies and books to identify which are appropriate for children at every age group - and why.  I have found that it is a handy resource when one of my own children is begging to buy a game or watch a movie that is not even close to age-appropriate... I'll just pull up the review and tick off the reasons why they'll need to make another choice.  It also helps parents navigate the world of Social Media once their kids hit the 'tween and teen years.  Check out the website on http://www.commonsensemedia.org/   I suggest you subscribe to the weekly parent newsletter.

Common Sense Media has a new learning ratings initiative that will evaluate the learning potential of websites video games, and mobile apps. As part of this new initiative, the creative geniuses of this organization have created a Virtual Summer Camp Guide, as they thought: What better way to orient skills than around camp themes?  I couldn't agree more. This guide has 50+ recommendations with the highest Learning Ratings for kids age 2-17.  The themes include: outdoor exploration, arts and crafts, scavenger hunt, campfire friends, and more.  There are also great tips and activities that you can use to support your kids as they sharpen their skills.


If you find any particularly amazing games, please let me know by commenting below:


3 comments:

  1. This is really an informative & useful blog. Thanks for sharing with us. Summer camps

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! You have such a nice page. I'll try to visit some other time. Thank you so much for sharing this blog post. I'll be looking forward for your other posts as well. The practice of running residential holidays for children away from their own home seems to have originated in Appenzell in the Alps in 1876, when Pastor Bion set up holiday camps in which children made tree-houses, sang songs, did drama, made kites and had adventure games. Keep your student active and engaged this coming summer with a Mathnasium summer camp that will help them avoid the dreaded “summer slide.” The summer slide is the two months (on average) of instruction that children ‘lose’ over the summer due to lack of engagement.
    Summer Camps Manchester MA

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is really an informative & useful blog. Thanks for sharing with us. Summer camps

    ReplyDelete