Avoid the pit of foreign summer camps

Summer vacation is coming, can children get high? Wrong, in recent years, with the hot summer training, children have become the busiest people in summer vacation. However, compared with the past, more and more families now choose to let their children attend overseas summer camps.

It is inevitable to participate in overseas summer camps to gain knowledge. Adapting to a strange environment, practicing English communication skills, making friends with foreign children and cultivating children's abilities in all aspects have become valuable assets left by overseas summer camps.

Under agitation, there will inevitably be more and more problems, such as how parents choose high-quality summer camps, how to avoid the common "pits" of summer camps, and the choice direction of summer camps, which have become knowledge.

In short, it is good to attend summer camp, but you can't choose the right one blindly, and children will benefit from it. Wrong choice, wrong choice, waste of money, thankless.

Children have to find some jobs during the summer vacation.

In most memories of post-70s and post-80s, summer vacation is happy and carefree, especially in the early education stage. Speaking of holidays, it is often the beginning of "herding sheep". I finished my homework for a summer vacation. All right, do what you like.

Today's children can no longer have such "freedom". "The more holidays, the busier. I walk around the children every day and send them to the training class. I am not idle this summer vacation! " This is the voice of most parents today. Watching parents complain, but on holidays, everyone is still willing to pay for sending their children to various classes.

Some data reveal how ambitious China's parents are, and the proportion of children's education consumption in China's household consumption expenditure is increasing. According to the Consumer Report of China Business Education Counseling Market, the income of the national extracurricular counseling market will reach 475,654,38+billion yuan in 2065,438+0, and it is estimated that it will exceed 560 billion yuan in 2026,543+0, and the demand for extracurricular education will create an income growth of 1000 billion yuan.

The Report on the Consumption Power of China Business Education Counseling Market shows that with the development of social economy, the education market is expanding year by year. On the one hand, the family's investment in children's education is increasing; On the other hand, personalized and diversified educational needs have emerged, and on-campus education can no longer meet the needs of many parents for child training. Off-campus business education provides a wider range of subdivided education services and is active in the education market in China.

Overseas summer camps have become "fragrant"

Due to the busy summer vacation, parents began to worry about how to "charge" their children. The "Eighteen Martial Arts" of Qinqi calligraphy and painting are very attractive. Nowadays, it is almost "standard" for children to master one of them. There are also many parents who pay attention to cultivating their children's comprehensive adaptability. So it is not surprising that overseas summer camps have become more and more popular in recent years.

What about overseas summer camps? Is it worth it for the children? Recently, Xinhua News Agency reported that parents still approve of overseas summer camps. A parent said in an interview, "Comparing the education between China and the United States with a short summer camp may give you a glimpse of the whole leopard. But as a mother, I still have some experience. First, American parents are more open-minded. They left after seeing the children off in the morning, but it was often China's parents who delayed leaving. Of course, there are also factors that make them feel uneasy about joining a foreign camp. Second, American children have strong independence and good physical fitness. From the design of equipment for children, American children get more exercise, and they generally have strong climbing ability. Children in China don't often come into contact with wild camps, so they feel that their physical strength is high and their climbing ability needs to be improved. Third, the purpose of participating in the camp is not only to learn English, but more importantly, to let children see a world different from the original living environment, learn to live in harmony with nature, adapt to dealing with different people and broaden their horizons. Before leaving, the parents of Ya Dun, the child's new American friend, said to me,' Maybe see you next year.' If there is an opportunity, I think I will choose a similar summer camp for my children in the future holidays. "

In some media reports, overseas summer camps have many advantages. Overseas summer camps are different from overseas travel. Overseas summer camps pay attention to personal experience, travel in different environments, explore the world with their own legs and feel the world with their own eyes.

Besides experience, growth is a valuable asset. Children go to strange places of different cultures, stay away from familiar parents, meet unfamiliar host family members, teachers and classmates, and use unfamiliar languages. From timidity at the beginning to bold communication with others, the growth of children's own experience is immeasurable.

In addition, for many families who plan to study abroad in the future, the importance of overseas summer camps is even more obvious. Many students have participated in an overseas summer camp and fell in love with world-class universities such as Oxford University and Cambridge University. When their children return to China, their yearning for famous schools will become the driving force for their children to work hard.

Be careful of some "pits" when attending summer camp.

Overseas summer camps have many benefits for children, but in summer, parents still have a headache, that is, they are deeply afraid of falling into the "pit" of overseas summer camps. Nowadays, under the increasingly popular trend, various countries and types of summer camps have swarmed in front of parents. Among them, the quality is mixed, and a little carelessness may lead to "wasting money".

With the upsurge of summer camp becoming more and more fierce, many people blindly follow suit. Some parents saw many intermediaries slogan "immersive English conversation environment" and "experience American education", and then watched others in the circle of friends take photos of international friends for their children, gnashing their teeth and stamping their feet, and spending tens of thousands of dollars to sign up their children. In fact, children go to the United States, "traveling" is more than "learning", and the actual time to attend the course may be less than 24 hours.

According to industry insiders, at present, most of the study tours on the market tend to "just travel without learning". Many parents scrimp and save and spend tens of thousands of dollars to send their children to the so-called "elite summer camp". Except for short class hours, they visit Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Golden Gate Bridge, Avenue of Stars and Silicon Valley Company every day. Therefore, before signing up, you must know the specific content of each project in order to distinguish whether it is a cursory look at the scenic spots or a unique deep immersion and experience.

Some summer camps, in the course description, use all kinds of tall words, such as "cultivating children's future leadership" and "completely immersed in English environment" ... but the content is quietly shrinking, selling dog meat, and even "switching" ...

Some summer camps are called "American schools with classes". Think about it. A class suddenly arranged 10 China students. Which regular school would agree? Isn't this disturbing the normal class order in the school? Sometimes, those summer camps with famous school signs, such as Harvard and Stanford, are actually just renting classrooms in Harvard and Stanford, and teachers have nothing to do with these universities. Where did the summer camp teachers come from? Some schools organize their own teams to recruit summer camp teachers, and our school teachers work together with summer camp teachers. Most of the part-time summer camp teachers are young and energetic, and many of them are college students in the Department of Education. It's not that these teachers are not good, but that parents should not think that summer camps with the names of famous schools in Silicon Valley and Berkeley must be their own teachers.

In order to earn money, some summer camps have almost no restrictions on the age of children, and some start classes at the age of two or three, but most of them are in the form of "parent-child tours". According to experienced parents, it is not that children who are too young are not supported to spend tens of thousands of dollars on summer camps. After all, it has a subtle effect on the temperament cultivation and cultural edification of children. However, it is the first time for children to participate in overseas camps. It is recommended to choose a comprehensive camp with sports, adventure and art projects. Children will not feel bored and have low language communication barriers. However, it is best to control the number of China students in the same group, and it is not recommended that younger children register with friends or relatives of the same age. Once assigned to the same class, two children often play together all the time. In this case, attending the summer camp can't achieve the original desired effect.

Too expensive overseas has become a "pain point" for parents.

For parents, there are many "pits" in overseas summer camps, and their inflated prices are unacceptable to many families.

Take a summer camp with a good reputation in America as an example. Three weeks is about $2,200-$2,500. You can book your own accommodation. If parents rent a house, a month's summer camp must have a budget of at least 654.38+10,000 yuan, which is relatively high.

In fact, through the intermediary registration, the tour fee will be higher, and the price of overseas summer camps is not clear to parents. According to the report released by Ctrip, from the summer and winter vacation booking of Ctrip 20 18, the number of students enrolled to study abroad increased by 50%, and the per capita tour fee was as high as 29,000 yuan.

The price of overseas summer camps is too high, and there are many products in domestic summer camps. However, the quality of summer camps in China is mixed. At the same time, it is also an industry with no clear entry threshold, and it is often mixed.

Advice from others

What do foreign countries think of overseas summer camps?

America: Europe is the first choice.

According to the latest survey report of Open Doors, Europe has always been the preferred destination for American students, with more than half of them. There are nearly 40,000 American students studying in Britain, accounting for 12% of the total number, ranking first; Italy has about 35,000 people, ranking second; Spain is about 3 1.2 million, ranking third; China ranks sixth, about 1. 1 10,000. Among other countries, American students' interest in Cuba increased the most, increasing by 2 1.8% to about 4,600. Greece, India, Mexico and Australia are also the most attractive countries for American students.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is the most popular program for American students, accounting for 26% of the total, followed by business, 65,438+0%, social sciences, 7% of foreign languages and international study courses, and 6% of fine arts and applied arts.

The American Institute of International Education (IIE) encourages students to exchange and study abroad, and educators have long seen the value of international student exchange.

Britain: study tours are more common in private schools to encourage extracurricular study.

In modern British primary and secondary schools, studying abroad is not popular. Most students go abroad with their families or join tour groups during holidays, mainly for fun.

A few middle schools, especially private schools, may organize students to visit abroad during holidays, with different lengths of time and at their own expense. For example, a private school in Britain organized 44 holiday activities requiring accommodation in one year, half of which were overseas activities, lasting from 1 day to1day, and the theme of the activities included wildlife exploration, music, history, art and sports. Depending on the type and duration of the activity, the fees to be paid also range from 50 to 2,900 pounds (about 433 to 25,000 yuan).

For public school students who account for a wider proportion, activities such as going out to visit during the semester have become the main forms to enrich the daily learning experience.

Australia: Overseas study tour market heats up.

Australia is one of the popular places for overseas students to study abroad. At the same time, studying in other countries is quite popular in Australia. A recent study published by the Forum of International Councils of Australian Universities shows that the number of Australian college students studying abroad has doubled in five years. In 20 17, nearly 50,000 students went abroad for study tours, and the time ranged from two to ten weeks.

With the strengthening of economic globalization, the overseas study destinations of Australian students tend to be diversified. In 20 17, China and the United States became the most popular countries for Australian students to study abroad. About 22% of overseas students choose to go to China or the United States. In addition, 8% students choose to go to Britain, 4% to Italy, Japan, India and Canada, and 3% to Indonesia, Germany, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and France.

South Korea: Overseas study tour is no longer just needed for education.

At present, most of the study tour market in South Korea is organized and operated by study agents, media companies, travel agencies and education and training centers, and a small number of schools or government agencies directly organize study tours. The content of study tour is mostly learning languages, and the time varies from one week to eight weeks. During the study tour, students will have more than three hours of one-to-one or many-to-one language learning courses with local people every day, and then visit famous local schools, browse famous scenic spots and experience local culture.

Britain, the United States, Canada and other old English-speaking countries have always been popular destinations for Korean students to study abroad, but the cost is also high. Take the quotation of a large educational institution in South Korea as an example. The summer camp in Pennsylvania, USA costs 6.6 million won (about RMB39,000) for four weeks and 6.5438+0.32 million won (about RMB78,000) for eight weeks. The cost of the Boston Summer Camp is 6.8 million won (about 40,000 yuan) for four weeks and 6.5438+0.3 million won (about 77,000 yuan) for eight weeks. Not only that, round-trip air tickets and pocket money need to be paid extra. According to comprehensive estimation, each student needs about 6.5438+million won (about 59,000 yuan) to study abroad for one month.

Russia: Parents are hesitant about studying abroad.

With the arrival of summer vacation, some summer camp advertisements in Russia and abroad frequently come into people's sight. How to spend a meaningful summer vacation has become the most concerned issue for Russian primary and secondary school students and parents of college students at this stage.

There are not a few Russian parents who are hesitant about many study tours such as summer camps. These projects are often far from "cost-effective". However, low-cost projects usually cannot guarantee high-quality accommodation for children. In addition, security issues have also become the concern of many Russian parents.