You understand the importance of Overnight School/Field Trips for your students; the value added to their learning journey when experiences outside of the classroom are offered to them.
But did you know you can add a layer to these trips by participating in trips that are completely in French….in Ontario!?
Connecting to the the Ontario Ministry of Education’s policies:
As the “Education and Career/Life Planning Framework” has become central to the development of teaching and activities in schools, the Ministry of Education is now recognizing the positive impact of experiential learning in helping students realize their personal and career goals. As a result, teachers are regularly looking for innovative ways to incorporate experiential learning into their practice, both for the purpose of giving students out-of-classroom opportunities to experience the subject curriculum, and to work towards their personal and career goals. Fortunately, in recognition of the amazingly positive impact overnight field trips can have on students’ growth, the Ontario Ministry of Education’s new “Community-Connected Experiential Learning Policy Framework” suggests including such trips in any child’s experiential learning. To support teachers looking to give their students experiential learning opportunities, our field trips also offer direct links to curriculum across numerous subjects. Participants have a chance to learn so much and develop their abilities in the few days they spend with us.
Invaluable additional benefits to your students:
- Bonding: Despite all of the ice breaker activities done in-class, there is nothing like an all-class challenge to get kids understanding their classmates on a different level. As a result, students get a new perspective on the class dynamic, a better understanding of human behavior in social settings, and a chance to bond with their peers, some of which they would have never met had they not participated in the activity together.
- Discover new environment: As children age, they are constantly developing their understanding of the environment around them. Bringing them out of an area they are familiar with and into a safe space gives them a chance to understand more about the world around them and their sense of identity within their world.
- Autonomy: Many activities in the overnight school trips require timely decision-making for both individual and group activities. As a result, students become more and more autonomous, as they seek to have fun on their own terms.
- Cultures: When students only access point to a different culture is through reading materials and videos, there is often a sense of disconnectedness to the material, and campers view the materials as not “real life”. However, once immersed in that culture, campers respond with engagement and genuine interest! There is nothing like listening to a folkloric legend around a campfire or sing-along a “chansons à répondre” to imagine the story behind the words.
- Hands-on: Overnight School Trips place the students in an informal learning environment where there retain information through hands-on fun and innovative activities, perfect for both visual and kinesthetic learners.
- French: Throughout the entire trip campers are strengthening their French verbal skills in a social, casual environment, by engaging in spontaneous and authentic conversations (as per the Ontario French as a Second Language curricula) about everything going on around them.
- New skills: Being exposed to new environments, activities, and people, children are constantly testing their personal limits and developing a sense of who they are and their personal ability. They determine their abilities in skills they may have never used in the classroom, and understand how they can improve on them.
- Memories: Overnight trips create memories that are likely to far outlast any recollection of what happened in the classrooms. Students often recall their academic year by the quality, experience and success of the overnight school trip alone!
- Teacher-pupil: Simply participating in an overnight trip with a teacher provides a chance for the students to bond with their teachers in a different environment. When outside guides organize and lead the activity, the teachers have more time to interact one-on-one with the students, getting to know them better as an individual rather than only on an academic level. Experienced and well-trained guides know how to create these opportunities for such meaningful interactions.
But Why an overnight school trip in French in Ontario….
….and Why with Camp Tournesol?
#1: It is cheaper! Travel costs associated with getting to this French-speaking areas are reduced, because all programs are local. #2: More Bang for your Buck! Because the travel time is greatly reduced, the time dedicated to learning and fun outside experiences is tenfold! You are no longer “wasting” days simply on travel. Within 2-3 hours you are on-site and the fun begins at lunchtime on the first day and ends after lunch on the last day. #3: French 24/7! Being able to offer a full French immersion experience is invaluable to the students French journey. . They now interact with French native speakers in a fun, well-organized schedule of activities, allowing them to develop the spontaneity of their French verbal skills in a non-judging, non-grade related sets of well crafted team building and leadership development activities. #4 Experts in FSL experience! Camp Tournesol has established itself since 2001 as THE leader in providing experiences outside of the classroom to French as a Second Language learners in Ontario. Our extensive library of activities specifically developed to enrich the language skills and vocabulary of the students allow us to craft an itinerary for your trip that will include activities connecting directly to the different strands of the Ontario curriculum as well as promote character traits such as team building, empathy, leadership, tolerance and acceptance of others and active living. Perhaps most importantly your students confidence in USING the French language will skyrocket and their attitude towards learning a second or third language will be transformed. Did you find this article informative? Think other teachers/parents like you could benefit from reading it? Share to your twitter follower: Tweet: Did you know you can bring your students on French Overnight School Trips in Ontario? http://ctt.ec/Uza6H+
