Spring and Summer Schools 2011
The vacation programs include education in English language, Music, Arts, Sports, and Entertaining Mathematics. The children are divided into groups according to their level of knowledge of the English language and their age. Classes start at 9:30 AM and end at 4:30 PM. Textbooks, lunch, and snacks in the afternoon are provided. The students have constant medical supervision.
English language
This year, the Spring School will take place on April 4-8. English language classes are mainly focused on studying fiction texts. Serious attention is paid to grammar exercises and developing children’s communicative skills.
This program gives the students the opportunity to enlarge their knowledge and to experience what they have ready learned. It also encourages kids’ curiosity and knowledge advancement.
During the five-day English program the kids were acquainted with the following stories and heroes:
- Little Red Riding Hood – The Brothers Grimm- New Patches for Old – A Folk Tale- The Cracow Dragon – A Folk Tale- Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
This April, the children who are extremely interested in the tales will receive an extra book for individual reading at home.
Summer School is when amazing magic happens. Summer days are most suitable for games and competitions. One of the most attractive places for these adventures on campus is the beautiful Dafina’s garden. The topics and stories from the books become more vibrant when you read them with your friends. The children are not only students but become authors and main characters in adventures and projects. Appreciation of the English language and for studying in general is our greatest gift to the children.
The English language course is intensive - between 60 and 80 academic hours according to the students’ age. The work aims toward:
developing language skills
teaching the youngest kids to read and write
enriching vocabulary
Music
Music lessons supplement and assist the English language classes through teaching appropriate and interesting songs. By learning a song children seamlessly and easily memorize phrases and sentences. Learning songs aids in the introduction and the usage of language models – conversational, as well as written forms. In addition, music lessons offer emotional experience for the students while they dance, play, and make new friends among the kids in their group.
Sports
Sport activities present a wide range of games in open air and inside. The green park and the indoor sports facilities of the College provide many opportunities for sports.
- Students from 12 to 17 years old play football, volleyball, basketball, softball, frisbee, tennis, badminton, and table tennis.
- Children from 6 to 11 years old are involved in the following games: Ball Upon Rope, dodgeball, relay (race) games, cognitive games, and gymnastics.
Although these are group activities, they are consistent with the individual capabilities of each child. During these games children freely express their characters in spontaneous contact with others.
Arts
This program supports and directs children’s unique ability to communicate with adults through their pictures. Drawing is their way to interpret images that impress them in the surrounding world. Thus, children develop their personal capacity for expression. Our arts program is a combination of the children’s rich imagination and ability to illustrate it through their works and the teacher’s drawing skills and experience. Children complete different creative tasks. We actually show them how easily their ideas and observations could be expressed on a sheet of paper through a beautiful drawing.
Entertaining Mathematics
This course aims at transforming the acquired knowledge into applicable skills. Our classrooms are equipped with various didactic facilities which help discussions and presentations (part of our teaching process). Visualization develops learning and memorizing skills as well as ability to combine a number of complex actions in sequence.
A lot of funny logical games are played, in the style of relay race and orientation on campus. These activities give the kids the opportunity to demonstrate their personalities and to experience team work.
You can see photos from Spring and Summer School 2010 in our Photo Gallery (page 3 in the gallery for 2010).
Parents and children about the programs
There are children who traditionally take part in the vacation programs of the College. For others this is a completely new experience. Undeniably, the Spring and Summer Schools are holidays for studying English language and meeting many new and old friends. Below, parents share about their children’s wishes to spend vacations with us (these opinions were received after Spring School 2010).
Hello,
Thank you for all the care and your efforts during the Spring school! Yana was fascinated and every day keeps asking me if she is enrolled for the Summer school. So, we can hardly wait for the summer!
Regards,Nikolay Tumbev
Hello Mrs. Djuvinova,
I would like to express my gratitude to you and all the External programs teachers. You know that each parent tries to find the best additional education for his/her child. A friend of mine recommended the American college in Sofia (and the External programs particularly). I enrolled my son in the English language courses and it turned out that he shared more about the courses and the college than about his school. Maybe one of the reasons is the different approach of the teachers here. Another possible reason might be the combination between the language learning and the entertainment in classes.
My child insisted on enrolling him for the Spring school. The balance between classes and games aroused in Tonni interest for Arts. I would like to thank Mr. Isay Penchev for his ability to reveal the magic of the Arts world to the children. Thank you for the great choice/selection of teachers and the successful approach in English language learning.
Regards,Darina Stefanova
I’m Nikola Doynov’s mother. My son is deeply impressed by the Arts teacher. At his school their class adviser is teaching Arts, and here in the program, my son has the opportunity to come into contact with professional artists and to learn things of great interest for him.
Moreover, the campus, the green park and the sports facilities are what my son likes most. The natural setting, the fountain, and the buildings create a different atmosphere unlike in a state school. And last but not least, the English teaching approach impressed my son the most. According to him the topics are interesting and funny. I am very happy and will continue to enroll him for Spring and Summer schools.
Regrards,Plamena Doynnova