Summer Programs

July 1 – 26, 2013

For Children Ages 7-11:

Are you still wondering about your child's summer activities? Does your child have an insatiable curiosity, bounding creativity, and a solid sense of self and perseverance? This July, we will be offering four, week-long sessions of Tinkering Camp for children ages 7-11. Each week we will present a unique challenge designed to engage and grow our curiosity, creativity, self-expression and competency. Every project will be collaborative, hands-on and exciting. Tinkering camp is designed to inspire creative minds and practitioners of STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math - who will better understand how things work and recognize the beauty within the world around us. These assumptions are basic to our work:

- Tinkering is a state of mind in which children instinctively thrive.
- Learning occurs through investigating, exploring and making.
- Freedom to fail is fundamental.
- The use of real tools (drills, hammers, hand saws) to tackle real problems creates an atmosphere of trust and responsibility.

To view the Enrollment Application, please click here.

All sessions of Tinkering Camp will be taught by Lucy School teacher, James Erard. James started to tinker at an early age. This may explain the myriad of jobs he has had on farms, islands, ships, offices, science museums and schools. "Nothing saves the day like knowing how to fix a copier or pump, or recite a poem to friends."

Description of Weekly Sessions:
Mini City (Week 1, July 1-3, 5)) - Children will plan and build their own abode (1:24th
scale) on a chosen site, with materials they have "purchased on loan" from
the "City Store." During the week, City dwellers will vote on issues that
arise and determine how their city will run.

Boats (Week 2, July 8-12) - This week of naval architecture involves basic and
applied research, design, development, evaluation and calculations of a
model vessel for Lucy School's pond. Various materials and means of
propulsion will be explored.

Rube Goldberg Variations (Week 3, July 15-19) - An ultimate challenge in creativity
and collaboration, and figuring out how things work! This weeks inventors
will design a multi-step machine that will perform a simple task.

Vehicles (Week 4, July 22-26) - Tinkering participants will design, construct, test drive,
and refine a model wheeled vehicle. Various materials and means of
propulsion will be explored.

Each week we will have A) outdoor time B) imaginative play C) exploratory adventures D) building project time

For Children Ages 3-7:

Integrating the elements and aesthetics of nature into the learning process, Lucy School provides an arts-based curriculum bursting with opportunities for joy and creative self-expression through drama, creative movement, dance, puppetry, music, and visual arts. 

Download Enrollment and Contact Forms

The arts are integrated as a lively and dynamic learning medium for young children that nurtures the need for play and fosters active learning.

In addition to the arts, children explore our 17 acres of woods, fields, waterfall, pond, and organic gardens, integrating the aesthetics of nature as part of their multisensory learning experience.

In the Lucy School summer program, projects are introduced through related literature and an introductory drama experience:  

Drama is used to introduce and create the learning environment, foster dramatic play and present “living through” learning experiences.

Music, Movement and Dance enhance the learning experience and facilitate multi-sensory learning, and

Visual Arts, based on Reggio Emilio, provide for creative self-expression.  

The arts serve as the foundation for daily activities.  Art experiences enhance motivation and curiosity for learning and continued exploration in free choice play that takes place in our large dramatic play and block building area, and outdoors on two large playgrounds for ball play, bike riding, sand and water play, and lots of climbing opportunities to exercise large motor skills.

Summer Program Activities

Using drama, creative movement and dance to create the journey and place, and integrating music, visual arts and outdoor exploration to enhance the experience, children will engage their creativity and problem solving skills during our fun-filled adventures. On the last day of each session, parents will be invited to see To join us in celebrating our “return home.”

Session One:  Frogs, Logs and Bogs!

Campers will explore the woods, fields, hills, pond, waterfall, wetlands and organic garden of  Lucy School's 17-acre campus. Unhurried by the pressures of time, children will be guided in nature-play and exploration, discovering an exciting world hidden under fallen logs and along our lush woodland trails. Activities will include forest games, map making, sensory explorations and nature-based art and we will dramatize an imaginary journey to help a family of frogs relocate from their polluted city puddle. 

Session Two: Journey to the Moon and Beyond

We’ll turn our large barn space into the galaxy (creating stars and planets to hang from netting), fashion our own spacesuits and gear, build a rocket ship and blast off into outer space. What planets will we visit? And what adventures will be had there? Our journey is no more limited than our imaginations! Parents, in the role of news reporters, will be invited to interview the returning astronauts. 

Early Threes:  Adventures with Moonbear

We will put on our soft fuzzy bear tails and ears each day as we journey through the stories of Frank Asch, including Moonbear's Shadow, Moon Dance and Happy Birthday Moon and will pepper our adventures with a visit from Baby Bear and Goldilocks.  The Lucy School “silo” will be our bear cave and we will crawl through the “secret tunnel” each morning as we begin our playful adventures.  On our outdoors escapades we’ll play in the waterfall, pick blueberries, and play in Explorer Woods. Please join us on the last Friday of this four-week session as we celebrate Moonbear's birthday.   

Schedule and Tuition Information

July 1 - 26

FULL DAY SUMMER PROGRAM –5 DAYS

For children ages four – seven

(Entering Kindergarten, First, or Second Grade)

Monday–Friday - 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Session One (7/1 – 12)……..…$ 395.00 *

Session Two (7/15 – 26)….… $ 425.00

Sessions 1 & 2 ..……………….… $ 760.00 *

FULL DAY SUMMER PROGRAM - 3 DAYS

For children ages 3 (by June 1) – 4

Monday – Wed. - 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Session One (7/1 – 10)………. $ 265.00 *

Session Two (7/15 – 24)…….. $ 285.00

Sessions 1 & 2 ..…………………. $ 520.00 *

HALF-DAY “EARLY THREES” PROGRAM

For children who will be three by 9/1

Thursday – Fri. - 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM

Four weeks (7/5-26)……..…... $ 265.00

* Please note that Lucy School is closed 7/4 

“A growing body of research on the effects of early arts experiences shows their positive relationship to improved overall academic performance and demonstrates that when creativity is developed at an early age, its benefits are continual and are transformed to many individual tasks.”

–Arts Education Partnership

Founder and Director: Victoria Brown

Victoria Brown, PhD has worked with children, parents, teachers and artists nationwide for more than 20 years. Formerly professor of theatre arts at Gallaudet University, Victoria is currently co-director of the Luce Institute for Creative Arts in Early Childhood, providing arts in education training for teachers, artists and parents.

Victoria is also a consultant for the National Head Start Bureau; a founding artist of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, and is co-author, with Sarah Pleydell, of the award winning book: The Dramatic Difference: Drama for the Preschool and Kindergarten Classroom (2000) Heinemann Press.

Faculty: All teachers at Lucy School hold a degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field. Each teacher brings her/his own unique talents to create a top-notch teaching team. Professional artists create and lead arts activities developed in collaboration with the teachers.

For more information please contact:

PO Box 1111 Middletown, MD 21769
(301) 293-1163
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www.lucyschool.com