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Curriculum
This year’s camp will include the following sessions:
- Asian Study: To provide language in
a pragmatic setting, a sampling of Mandarin combined
with an Asian food preparation element will highlight
each age group’s class. In addition, some of the
classes may explore brush painting, calligraphy,
Chinese names, the dragon boat festival, dumpling
making and eating, origami, martial arts, the monkey
king, paper cuts, pandas, mahjong, writing for
publication, the world of Grace Lin and more.
- Asian Active: Each class will
engage in their own Asian-themed activity for the week
of camp. The youngest children, The Bunnies (entering
kindergarten), will learn and perform a traditional
Chinese dance. The Monkeys (1st and 2nd graders) will
learn to perform with the Chinese Long Dragon while
the Pandas will be introduced to Asian martial arts
(3rd graders) and shadow puppets (4th graders). The
Tigers (5th and 6th graders) will learn the art of
Lion Dancing while the oldest class, The Dragons (7th
and 8th graders), will learn to cook an entire Chinese
meal with famed chef, Dorothy Huang.
- Adoption Journey: Taught by
professional therapists Em Hardy, Ph.D., and Pat
Morgan, LPC, these classes guide the students in
age-appropriate activities as they share their
adoption stories and experiences. The 1st graders will
read Star of the Week, by Darlene Friedman
while the 2nd and 3rd graders will read Kids Like
Me in China, by Ying Ying Fry. 4th graders will
read and discuss When You Were Born in China,
by Sara Dorow. The younger campers will be introduced
to the WISE Up method of dealing with adoption-related
questions as well. 5th graders will read The Red
Thread Sisters, by Carol Antoinette Peacock.
6th graders will view portions of the documentary Somewhere
Between while the 7th graders will watch the
entire film. 8th graders will create an art project
with multimedia materials that will be shared with the
other classes. All classes will feature panels of high
school, college and adult Asian adoptees who share
their experiences and engage in question and answer
sessions with the students. All classes will have an
Asian American pride component.
Special Features
- Sensei Joy Williamson and other instructors from The
Sun Dragon Martial Arts Studio will teach all camp
participants their conflict resolution/bullying
prevention workshop.
- Karaoke sing-off sessions will give volunteers the
opportunity to share their singing skills in class,
with the whole camp and at the Friday night potluck.
- Daily recess periods on the multi-age playground
will happen for all participants.
- Each participant is given a logo camp shirt with The
Year of the Horse on the front.
- Sons of China Tribe time daily at lunch: the
gentlemen of the camp may choose to eat lunch together
under the poster of Bruce Lee.
- The Monkeys will build and race small dragon boats
with an outdoor water piece.
- The Pandas will learn to make and eat dumplings.
- The Tigers will expand their understanding of
Chinese food and etiquette by having lunch with their
Mandarin teacher at a local Asian restaurant.
- The Dragons will tour the Fo Guang Shan Xiang Yun
Temple and learn about the foundational elements of
Buddhism.
Service Project
In the camp tradition of giving back to our local
community, all campers will be asked to bring a new or
gently used book for a book drive with donations made to
the Austin chapter of the Early Childhood Intervention
program, specifically the Any Baby Can Child and Family
Resource Center. The camp participants will create and
design book covers and bookmarks to accompany their
donation.
Counselors
We strive for a 1:5 ratio in all classes. We hired
college students from The University of Texas China Care
program to serve as the lead counselors and accept
applications from FCC high school students who serve as
assistant counselors. It is possible for these high
school students to earn up to 45 hours of community
service.
Teachers
Linda Cao, Yang Cao, Xiwei Chen, Melanie Chung-Sherman,
LCSW, Lucie Cunningham, Em Hardy, Ph.D., Dorothy Huang,
Wendy Kuo, Pat Morgan, LPC, Minta Stohrer, Robyn
Stringfellow, Thanh Tran, and Joy Williamson
Volunteer Opportunities
Assistance will be needed in the following areas:
registration, nurse, food (dumplings, lunches, snacks,
parents’ coffee), potluck, t-shirts, carpooling and
field trip transportation.
Camp Leadership
Rowena Fong, Ed.D, and Becky Harding are the camp
co-directors who design the curriculum and oversee the
overall camp structure and procedures.
Questions can be directed to Becky Harding.
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