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The summer camp industry has become much more competitive over the past fifteen years. In order to differentiate themselves, summer camp programs have begun to offer special summer camps for community service, career-oriented internships, academic study programs, language programs combined with other interests, “tweens” and even gap year programming. These special offerings are a result of teen program directors trying to appease the wishes of the parents and the interests of their kids.

Community service also teaches your child the value of giving back. A summer camp with this in mind helps your teenager complete high school community service requirements while he or she assists in the construction of new classrooms, works with orphans, on hurricane reconstruction on the Gulf Coast or by teaching a sport to underprivileged kids in an urban setting.

There are also summer camps for “tweens”, or those kids who are between ten and twelve. Teen program directors have realized that middle school aged kids are looking for new and exciting programs as well. Now tweens have a wide variety of options open to them. There are unique language programs, marine science and sailing programs and adventure travel programs; all tailored to maturity level and educational experience.

Although learning a foreign language is not a new idea, combining it with other interests is a new occurrence. There are many language programs overseas that incorporate a home stay, where a student is matched with a host family. This can enrich the student’s experience in the form of a cultural exchange and community service. There are many activities to go along with language studies. Teens can study photography, painting or cooking while learning a language. They can study architecture while learning French. There are even programs available for teens that offer the chance to learn rare languages, like Arabic or Modern Greek here in the U.S.

For more exotic and intensive travel, now your child can live with a host family in a rural village, hike to ancient ruins and help build a school for kids, all in a four week trip. With the latest trends moving towards the more exotic, you can find teen summer camps for travel to Thailand, Senegal, Bolivia or any number of exotic and remote locations. While these programs previously were about visiting busy tourist attractions, some have transformed into study and knowledge centers. Creating a more authentic and enriching cultural experience is what their new objective is. Visit these sites for more information; www.swopnet.com/geo_rodeowriter_2000/lang_camps.html and www.tweenparent.com/articles/view/147.

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