CaliforniaGermans

All Things German In California

Camps for kids in California

German Immersion Summer Camp for Kids is Back!

by Leave a Comment

GASA Summer Camp June 2023 - CaliforniaGermans

Plan for the Summer. It’s Camp Time!

It’s only January, but guess what? It’s never too early to plan for some fun summer activities for your children, especially if we are talking about the German Immersion Summer Camp offered by GASA, the German American School Association of Southern California.

The pandemic had put a sudden stop to this beloved yearly tradition. But it is back!

GASA’s German Immersion Summer Camp for kids
from June 18th – June 24th, 2023.

During seven days and six nights, kids will learn about German history and reenact the “Battle of the Teutoburg Forest”. They can partake in a planned special Hye Katch Do, an art of self-defense class, and learn many useful skills before having fun with zip lining, archery, a soccer clinic, and playing other team sports. Group activities will also include nature hikes, dancing, singing, crafting, and so much more.

Needless to say, there is something for everyone before relaxing and hanging out at the campfire at night.

Best of all is that you don’t need to send your children to Germany to be immersed in speaking German. All activities at the camp are held in German.

Camp Application is now open. Register today!

COST: 7 days and 6 nights at Camp AREV in Frazier Park, CA for $975.00. Each additional child within the same
family is $925.00.

.

Image: courtesy of GASA

German Summer Camps in San Diego at GPSSD

by Leave a Comment

GPSSD German Summer Camps for Kids – A creative way to Learn German in San Diego

A few years ago, a brave woman from East Germany started a project that is now a wonderful meeting place for many German-speaking families and families, who are interested in the German language: The German Pacific School of San Diego.

In the beginning, Wiebke Elbe, a former pharmacist, had just a few resources but managed quickly to connect with a number of similar oriented projects in San Diego and other parts of California.

With growing know-how, she started one German after-school-class in a small facility in Clairemont followed by the first German Summer Camp in San Diego.

Within six years the school has grown and now has 4 locations in La Jolla, Clairemont, Carmel Valley and Poway with more than 200 students attending classes from 4 to 6 pm during the week and Saturday classes.

Our founder Wiebke has started a new project in Norway! But she has put so much effort and energy in our project, that today GPSSD is thriving and continuing attracting more and more germanophile families that attend our school.

Wiebke has always made a point of creating a relaxed and stimulating learning atmosphere. She had a discreet manner to inspire our teachers and helpers. She induced them to the philosophy that German lessons and German summer camps should be a fun experience, where children should be inspired and helped to develop their own initiatives and creativity.

With our new principal Christine Johnson, we are continuing this philosophy, and we are still getting a lot of support and help from Wiebke and her husband Hauke.

What about our German Summer Camp?  

Summer Camp 2019 will be amazing! This year it’s all about magic!

This year’s GPSSD camp will be at a wonderful location at the French American School in La Jolla! It’s a campus that offers a lot of space for many outdoor and indoor activities.

GPSSD 2019 Summer Camp’s Topics and Activities

Depending on their interests, the campers will dive into a magical atmosphere where they can learn magic tricks, create their own theater play or even create their own video ( 3rd week)! We would like to give our campers impulses and inspiration and then encourage and help them to create their own play or show.

In our magic oriented group,  campers will read and listen to magic stories and plays. The magic flute might appear from time to time to enchant us with new ideas. Campers will also be surprised by magic tricks and then learn and practice them for a little end of the week show.

In our theater oriented group, campers will get inspiration by German plays and stories, ways to perform a play, and materials they could use. Our camp teacher Heather has a broad spectrum of ideas and ways to carry away our campers imagination. They can choose to create a performance that matches their interests, from a simple puppet show or a self-performed play on stage.

In our third week, campers will create their own small video with the stop motion film making technique.

“Creating a Movie”

A lot of crafting, painting of props and other hands-on activities are always part of our summer camps. All groups will liven up their activities with fun games and a lot of music and entertainment. We will also do Karaoke and will not only use the airy sports field but also the playground to do our outdoor activities. And, of course, our camps are full immersion German language camps.

That means that we will help our campers to better understand German words and sentences by repeating, describing and explaining German expressions. We will also help our campers to produce German sentences and to speak German by their own initiative.

We are looking forward to a relaxed and fun summer event, that will take place from June 24 to July 12, 2019 from 9am to 4 pm. And there is also aftercare available for working families.

Weekly sessions can be booked online at www.gpssd.org. Call us for more information at 858-461-9118 or send us an email, germanpacificschool(AT)gmail.com

Text: Vicky Ripart – GPSSD Camp Team

Images: ©GermanPacificSchoolSanDiego

German Language Immersion in the Summer – German Summer Camps In CA

by 2 Comments

Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool
.

Spring is just starting today and we are already  talking summer! In fact now is the perfect time to think about a camp that your child will not only enjoy but that will help him/her strengthen his German language skills during summer!

Growing up in a multilingual family offers many advantages, but often it can also be challenging, especially in regards to the second language, the language that is not spoken as frequently. To help your child with this process experts recommend to find different ways to get him/her immersed into the non-dominant language as often as possible. This gives the child the opportunity to connect to that language and become more familiar with its usage as well as its particular culture.

In the case of many CaliforniaGermans this ‘second’ language is German. Once children are in school they speak English for most of the day. Back home again they might hear some German, and if lucky also speak some German with their mother or father.

Spend Summer in California Attending a German Immersion Camp

Many expat families plan on going back  home to Germany, Austria or Switzerland during the summer months to visit family. This of course proofs to be the perfect solution for giving your children a firsthand experience and immersion into the German language and culture. But that’s of course a perfect scenario.  What if work or other factors don’t allow for a European vacation?

Wouldn’t a German language camp in somewhat close vicinity to your home in CA be a great alternative for your child to still benefit from speaking, hearing and learning German all day long for the duration of a fun summer camp?

That’s exactly what we thought and put together this compilation of German Language Immersion Summer Camps throughout California. We hope you find the perfect one for your child and would love to get your feedback on your experience.

German Immersion Summer Camps for Children in California.

Southern California offers camps in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Big Bear. Northern California has camps in Oakland, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Mountain View and Berkeley.

Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool

Southern California:

Big Bear – (offered through the German-American School Association of SoCal) 7 Days German Immersion Overnight Camp

  • Dates: 23 June – 29 June, 2013
  • Minimum age: 7 years
  • Fun Activities include: archery, swimming, rock climbing, nature hikes, baking & much more.
  • All activities are in German
  • Cost: $575.00
  • Location: Presbyterian Conference Center, Big Bear
  • Contact: Email for enrollment forms, gasa54@aol.com

Los Angeles – (offered by Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool – Regenbogen Kindergarten )    – “Spiel, Spass und Sommer-Aktivitäten”  –

San Diego – (offered by Enrichment4Kids – 3 Sessions available )

  • Dates:  Session 1: July 29th-2nd;  Session 2: Aug 5th-9th;  Session 3: Aug 19th-23rd
  • Age Groups: Pre-K to Elementary Age
  • Activities: “Enrichment for the Head, Heart and Body”. Math & reading, both in German will be taught for the first 3 hours each day before activities like swimming, piano, field sports, tumbling, skateboarding, etc.
  • Cost: Call for info
  • Contact: Kimberley@ReCenter.org
  • Website: https://www.facebook.com/Enrichment4Kids?ref=ts&fref=ts

Northern California:

Oakland – (Organized by BAKS plus – 2 Sessions available )

  • Dates:  Session 1: June 17th-28th; Session 2: July 1st -12th
  • Age Groups: 4-14 years
  • Activities: Session 1 – ”Wer waren die alten Germanen? – Who were the Germanic tribes?   Session 2  – “Klaus Stoertebeker & CO. – A Pirate’s Life for Me! “
  • The whole program is in German Immersion. Prior knowledge of German is advisable.
  • Hours: Sessions run from 9-1pm daily. Extended Care is available until 5pm
  • Cost: Session 1 – $400; Session 2 – $360 (Discounts available for siblings, Combination of session 1 & 2, and early bird sign ups )
  • Location: Archway Lower School, 250 41st Street, Oakland, CA 94611
  • Contact: sommerschule@kinderstube.org
  • Website:http://www.kinderstube.org/plus/plusprogram.html#summercamp

Menlo Park – (organized by GASPA-German American School of Palo Alto)     One 4-week full immersion summer camp session .                                    “Gedanken in den Wolken…Füsse im Matsch!”

  • Dates:  One session from June 24th – July 19th, 2013 (9am- 2pm Mo-Fri; extended time 2-6pm available)
  • Age Groups: 3-12 years ( no prior language knowledge required!)
  • Activities: music, art, cooking, crafts, sports games, dancing & much more
  • Cost: Early bird – $995 and Regular – $1095
  • Location: GAIS School Campus, 275 Elliot Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94303
  • Contact: office@gaspa-ca.org;
  • Website: http://www.gaspa-ca.org/summer-school-program/overview
  • Note: Earl Bird Tuition valid through March 31st & non-refundable $150 registration fee for all registrations per child!

GISSV – German International School of Silicon Valley offers German Summer Camps in 3 different locations in NoCal: San Francisco, Berkeley & Mountain View. ( www.gissv.org/summerprogram )

San Francisco – (Organized by GISSV – 4 one-week sessions available)

  • Dates: June 17th – July 12th 2013 (Four sessions)
  • Ages: 4.9 -7 years
  • Activities: Indoor & Outdoor Adventures. Per session children will discover one of the four elements, air, earth, fire & water.
  • Hours: 9am-4pm
  • Cost: $395/Full Day Session
  • Location: San Francisco Campus, 4 Funston Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94129
  • Contact: office@gissv.org, phone: 650-254 0748
  • website: www.gissv.org/summerprogram

Berkeley – (Organized by GISSV – 5 one-week sessions available)

  • Dates: June 17th – July 19th 2013
  • Ages: 3-6 and 7-12
  • Activities: Explore the world with topics like Ocean, Circus, Space, and Fairy Tales from Around the World!
  • Hours: 9am-2pm
  • Cost: $247/Half Day Session
  • Location: Berkeley Campus, 1581 Le Roy Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94708
  • Contact:  office@gissv.org, phone: 650-254 0748,
  • website: www.gissv.org/summerprogram

Mountain View – (Organized by GISSV – 4 sessions available)

  • Dates: June 24, 2013 to July 19, 2013
  • Ages: Ages 3-4, ages 5-14, and adult classes
  • Activities: Students will be exposed to German throughout the day. Music, Art, Art History, Soccer, Basketball and much more. For further information on our program
  • Hours: 9am – 12pm/ Half day, Afternoon activities available from 12pm – 4pm
  • Cost: $375 – $750
  • Location:  Mountain View Campus, 310 Easy Street, Mountain View, CA 94043
  • Contact:  office@gissv.org, phone: 650-254 0748,
  • website: www.gissv.org/summerprogram
  • SPECIAL Website: http://www.gissv.org/podium/default.aspx?t=151553&rc=0

————————————-

Related Articles:

Hilfe, mein Kind spricht Kauderwelsch! – http://www.bibernetz.de/wws/interview-rosemarie-tracy.php

Wie lernen Kleinkinder sprechen? Prof. Rosemarie Tracy, Sprachwissenschaftlerin an der Universität Mannheim, im Interview mit Leslie Rowe über Spracherwerb und Mehrsprachigkeit – http://www.br.de/radio/bayern2/sendungen/radiowissen/gespraech-rosemarie-tracy-100.html