With so many options for productive summer activities, deciding which will most positively impact your child can be difficult. We want to help you work out whether a World Scholars Academy online course or overnight camp would be the right fit for your child, so we’ve put together a selection of reasons why studying with us will be unforgettable transformative experience.
Foremost among these are the valuable skills your child will develop on a summer course with World Scholars Academy. Not only will these skills enhance your child’s résumé, they’ll also ensure that they emerge a more confident, skilled, and independent person at the end of summer. The World Scholars Academy experience will promote your child’s future success! So here are some key skills that students will gain from this life-changing experience.
Improved academic skills
With small classes, elite instructors, and exceptional peers, a World Scholars Academy course is an ideal environment to boost your child’s academic skills. Whether your child is currently struggling or at top of their class, the right summer school will help them to reach the next level. A meta-analytic review of 89 summer school programs, published by the Society for Research in Child Development, found that summer programs have a positive impact on participants’ knowledge and skills.
At World Scholars Academy, our tutors are world-leading experts in their field able to convey deep insights in a readily understandable way. Studying with elite instructors introduces students to the mindsets required to attain mastery of a subject, and when you see that concepts which initially appeared complex can be understood in simple terms, you gain confidence in your abilities and are inspired to aim even higher. Being in an exclusive academic environment and among other high-performing peers also helps to reset your child’s priorities, and refocus them to ‘fit in’ by also achieving at a high level. After the summer school finishes, knock-on effects of better focus, a sense of purpose, and greater academic abilities remain.
New academic skills
World Scholars Academy summer courses are structured around key academic content areas that are poorly covered in high school and middle school curricula if at all, including Business, Medicine, Law, Engineering, and Computer Science. Oftentimes students lose motivation to study when they can’t see the pragmatic value in a subject, and there is no better way to show them the utility of mastering algebra or understanding formal logic than to expose them to practical examples of these concepts in action. Let your teen discover how business really works. Expose them to the philosophical and practical significance of a law degree. Or perhaps your child is intrigued by engineering and wants see what it is like to explore, design, and physically build machines and structures like a professional inventor.
The point is to build the connection between what your child is learning and real world. Thereby providing your child with practical exposure to fascinating new subjects, and inspiring them to achieve their potential and make the best career choice at a later stage.
Useful practical skills
A World Scholars Academy summer course is not just about academic learning. Our courses also make a direct connection between knowledge and its application. Our class exercises, study materials, and final ‘Class X’ challenges stretch students and are a unique way of learning via practical experiences, building their capacity to apply their knowledge in the real world. This is a vital part of our learning philosophy at World Scholars Academy. For example, your child could start diagnosing real patients in our World Doctors Academy, or code their first app in our World Coders Academy.
Learning-by-doing and being exposed to career-relevant education is of vital importance in the information economy age, states the latest Mitchell Institute report. It is important for students to experience the world of work before leaving high school to develop problem-solving, team-working, and resilience skills, and to give them better direction at university. The average transition time from education to full-time work is now five years, compared to only one year in 1986, and this decline is largely due to the lack of industry-focused learning and vocational education.
On entering an international summer school at World Scholars Academy, your child will be immersed in hands-on interactive learning that is directly relevant to in-demand future career paths.
Vital social skills
“No man is an island, entire of itself” quipped the esteemed 17th century English poet John Donne. The skills learnt from a World Scholars Academy summer course extend well beyond the academic or philosophic to the social and interpersonal. On our summer programs your child will learn to get along and make friends with others academically-serious peers from around the world.
The opportunity to build a global network of exceptional peers is incredibly valuable and teaches important life-skills. A recent New York Times article reported that there is almost unanimous agreement among researchers that building relationships with people is integral to a prospering career. Success is a team sport, and no matter what level your social skills are currently at, it is important to always be continually improving.
In addition, it is well understood that the single biggest influence on children are their peers. When children begin hanging out with friends who have a focused work ethic, grand aspirations, and high-level insights into academics, the natural result is a process of transference. Even if your child is a high performer already, there is always more they can learn. Or perhaps your goal is to steer your child away from their current friend group as much as it is to introduce them to new ones with better life perspectives. As the saying goes, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” Either way, providing a great network of peers for your child is highly enriching and beneficial experience.
Because of the supportive family atmosphere at the World Scholars Academy, making friends with us is easy! There is always lots of fun activities going on to get involved in, and opportunities to meet exciting new people. On our virtual programs, our instructors also spend time helping the class get to know one another, and having them collaborate in groups both inside the class and for homework assignments outside. Once your course is over, you will additionally be part of the World Scholars Academy Alumni Group, and will have opportunities to connect and collaborate with our growing international community of elite performers.
Essential personal skills
Raise your child’s confidence and improve their communication skills with a summer course abroad. With the support of a youthful and energetic staff, students are constantly encouraged to leave their comfort zone. As a result, we see our students develop increased independence, healthy self-belief, and confidence in public speaking.
Many parents report that sending their child on a summer course abroad was one of the best decisions they ever made. A recent survey, published by the Institute of International Education found that graduates of study abroad programs significantly increased their problem-solving, team-working, and language skills, confidence to pursue career paths, and that these had a long-term impact on career progression and promotion. In addition, it is well known in the international management literature that executives with significant foreign experience perform better on a variety of metrics than those without.
Many overseas students also choose to enroll on a summer school program in Hawaii to expand their spoken and written English ability, necessities for studying at an English-speaking university.
Conclusion - Skills gained at an international summer school
The celebrated former president of Harvard University Charles William Eliot has said that, “A few weeks spent in a well organized summer camp may be of more value educationally that a whole year of formal school work.”
World Scholars Academy offers acclaimed online and in-person summer courses for 12-18 year-olds that are truly transformational, boosting your child’s academic level as well as their personal and social skills.
Browse our offering of courses carefully designed to inspire young people to reach their full potential in high school, college, and beyond.
Next Steps
Not sure how to choose a summer course? Read our guide here on How to Choose the Perfect Summer School for You!
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