Music, science, sports and more for kids this summer at McGill

SYLVAIN COMEAU | What did you do this summer? Dozens of young elementary and high school students will have no trouble answering that perennial essay question next September: they went to McGill University. Every summer, the McGill campus welcomes youngsters attending day camps, special hands-on educational summer programs that are designed to be fun and less structured than the classroom. The camps kick off next month. McGill Conservatory of Music Day Camp This is not summer school for musical prodigies. The camp, a two-week introduction to musical instruction in July, is open to students between seven and 15 years of age, with or without prior musical training. "The camp goes along with the conservatory's philosophy, which is that we offer music to all ages and all levels (of training)," says the conservatory's associate director Carl Urquhart. The camp features workshops in percussion, dance and opera. Private lessons in instruments like guitar, piano and violin are offered at additional cost, as are voice lessons. Urquhart says that musical training tends to impose a strict, disciplined focus; the camp offers a more well-rounded alternative. "This is an initiation into a variety of musical disciplines, rather than a specialization." Anybody can benefit from musical training, according to Urquhart, even the vast majority who will never go on to become professional musicians. "The discipline and the creative side (of musical training) can be applied in all areas of someone's life. They gain a lot of confidence from performing, and they gain an ability to approach projects in a structured and systematic way. It is known that people who study music often go into science and medicine, because they have learned how to better organize their thinking." Extracurricular activities include an outing to the Lyman Entomological Museum, a picnic, a marathon, and an end-of-camp show, in which students will perform their own creations. A barbecue on the conservatory premises will be the closing event for both camps. The camp was launched in the summer of 1996 and is directed by Clément Joubert. The fee is $295 for the two weeks and $110 for private instrumental lessons. For information, call 527-CAMP (2267) and leave a message. The McGill University Children's Summer Sports Camp "We offer sports which are traditional to school programs, like basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball," says camp director Phil Quintal, the coordinator for instructionals and sports camps for the Department of Athletics. "But coming to McGill also gives them the opportunity to do some sports which they might not otherwise have had the chance to do." Those less traditional athletic pursuits include martial arts, fencing, lacrosse, field hockey and cricket. "We're hoping to send them away saying, 'Wow, that was fun. I've never seen that sport before.'" The sports camp is for boys and girls between five and 14 years of age. The camp's program is rounded off by non-sport activities including computer instruction, arts and crafts and dance programs. Quintal says that the camp is definitely not designed to foster a win-at-all-costs competitive atmosphere. "We try to emphasize skill acquisition, an understanding of the rules of a game and sportsmanship and fair play. We set up a lot of cooperative game situations. The older kids will play ball hockey, softball and soccer games in which we keep score and the teams try to win. But we downplay the competitive aspects (of sport). We want kids to have a lot of fun and make friends." Such fond memories might mean that participants will be inclined to return later in life for more full-time studies. "For many of the younger children who come to our camp, one of the exciting features of coming to this camp is that they went to McGill. That's a big deal for them, because many of their neighbours or their older brothers and sisters go to McGill." The camp started in 1984. The fee is $140 per week. For information, call 398-7011. Explorations Summer Camp "The parents (of our participants) tell us that this is the best kept secret in Montreal," says camp co-director Bertha Dawang, an adjunct professor of educational and counselling psychology. The Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology has kept the secret since it launched Explorations 20 years ago for the International Conference on the Gifted. The program was originally a summer school for gifted youngsters, but has broadened its mandate since then. "This is now an enrichment program for all kids, because we feel that everyone is gifted in different ways. We want to give everyone a chance to explore areas of learning which are not part of their regular curriculum," says Dawang. The program will welcome some learning-disabled and physically disabled students this summer. Explorations runs throughout the month of July, and is open to boys and girls from ages five to 18. The participants choose among a grab bag of educational and widely varied activities. "We offer everything from soup to nuts: [for example] circus arts, computer courses, 'Design Your own Web Page,' multimedia, cooking, debating, 'A Panorama of the Sciences' and 'Daughters of the World,'" says Dawang. "Daughters of the World" is a program for girls only, in which they learn about the lives of girls across the planet and report on their findings by writing a journal or magazine. "A Panorama of the Sciences" is a senior science program for students in grades 10 and 11, in which students visit McGill departments. Explorations employs a number of Montreal-area professors to conduct the program, including professors from a number of McGill departments. The fee is $740 for the full month, with a discount for early birds. For more information, call 398-4252. The other co-director of the camp is Michael Thomas, a retired consultant in education for the gifted. REACH Science Camp "We call the participants in our program campers rather than students," says REACH co-director Mauro Franco. "REACH is designed to be fun; it's not summer school." REACH is a science program administered by students for students (correction: campers), specifically for grades three to nine. "Our basic objective is to promote science,"says Franco, a Concordia engineering student whose co-director is McGill engineering student Richard Redyi. "What better way than to get young people interested and curious about it?" A program for grades three through six is held at McGill (June 29-August 21) and for grades seven through nine at Concordia's Loyola Campus (July 6-August 21). The emphasis is on hands-on activities: learning by doing. Both programs include an environmental week, which features a tree- planting day and a nature walk, in which campers learn about safe versus poisonous plants. Other activities include experiments with circuitry and instruction on genealogy and pedigree (family trees). The only requirements for participation are "an inclination towards science, and a desire to learn. That's really the most important thing; the rest is up to us, the animators," says Franco. The fee is $150 per week. For information, call the REACH Office at 398-8484. The McGill Community Day Care Centres McGill's day care centres look after the children of McGill staff, students and faculty during the school year, but will open their doors to children from outside the McGill community over the summer. The centres will also place greater emphasis on outdoor activities. "We're going with the flow of the weather," says executive director Lise Simard. The centres have not yet scheduled any events, but Simard says that they are likely to repeat some of last summer's activities, including an excursion to the Botanical Gardens and the Old Port of Montreal, trips to local parks and picnics on McGill campus green spaces. Children who attend the day care centres range in age from four months to five years. Call 398-6943 for information.