These days, you might be trying to find more avenues for your child to learn and grow (and develop that college application). You might need to look outside your kid’s school to find programs which can foster their particular interest.
Coding camps and after school programs are a great way to move your child from Angry Birds to productive play with the computer. CodeRev Kids is a great organization which offers a variety of programs aimed at teaching your children computer programming skills. Your child can learn game design or website design with the help of hands-on instruction. If your child is interested in robotics, there is a wonderful intensive program which incorporates Legos and technology used in the industry today to teach the construction and programming of an automated arm or other projects.
If your child would like to move forward in various subjects related to her academic studies, Saturday school programs can be a great source of further learning. Often your kid can learn about advanced topics that he would never get a chance to investigate in depth, like microbiology or inorganic chemistry, before he would in high school or even college.
Like Saturday school programs, many community colleges offer vocational and skills training classes on the weekends which are designed for grade school children. These programs vary from place to place, but sometimes, your child can learn to work on a car before they have a driver’s license!
Art classes are also often available through your local community college, but there are many other programs which seek to encourage the arts of all types in youth. Sometimes, school art programs are basic and there is little in the way of variety of materials or mediums. Outside programs can help your child gain access to things like jewelry making, pottery, or advance music studies. Art is an underrated aspect of your child’s academic growth, and a creative understanding is known to be beneficial to the development of what other people consider “left-brained” thinking skills.