In a word, the first day of Spring Break Chess Camp was FUN.
The kids were amused to learn this was my first day of camp -- I'm a new
apprentice administrator. So I spent the day watching how camp works,
learning everyone's names, and whenever I forgot I'd call them by the
most outrageous names I could think of. (Gertrude, Matilda, Hortense,
Archibald, Percival, Mortimer, etc.). My philosophy of chess camp is
simple: safety first, fun second, growth and development third, and
chess fourth. Because it doesn't matter how knowledgeable the
instructors are -- if camp isn't fun, kids will lose interest no matter
what's being taught.
Our schedule went something like this:
9:00 - kids arrive
9:15 - fun begins with dodge ball in the park
9:45 - fun while learning about chess
10:30 - fun while snacking
10:45 - fun while analyzing chess games
11:30 - fun while playing soccer
12:00 - fun during lunch
12:30 - fun playing in our afternoon chess tournament
1:30 - fun with art available
2:00 - fun with math and logic puzzles available
And they did have fun! Far more than I can mention, so here are a few
shout-outs. Leon Wang had fun painting trees in the art room. Melanie Liang and Lucas Sokolov had fun their 3-0 tournament wins. had fun telling me which of his brothers was the craziest.
Jerry had fun with his chess medal prize at the end of the day.
Everyone had fun at different times.
In all seriousness, this was a great day for the kids. They were happy,
upbeat, and genuinely enjoyed attending camp instead of their school.
I'm sure by the end of the week they'll miss their friends and teachers,
but for now they're loving life and enjoying spring break.
Visitors: 367