Whats really great for extracurricular education for TEENAGERS? Please recommend

[Land Shark]

Can I get the input of DU on any camps, retreats, video courses, leadership development, tutoring, or even self-study books for teenagers? To advance them in computers, politics, or anything...

What's really great for teenagers and why?

I have two teenagers, one girl and one boy, and I'd like to send them in some interesting directions. If it matters they are very good students so far.

What's really great for teenagers in your mind? And why?

[underahedgerow]

1. Wouldn't it depend on what they're interested in?

The single best thing I ever did for my daughter was take her to Europe when she was 10. By then we'd already seen much of the US and had spent a lot of time in Mexico.

I firmly believe that genuine traveling to distant lands opens our eyes... Not canned holidays, but experiences filled with trains, buses, driving, flying, eating locally, walking, seeing great museums and historic sites. Mexico is a great start, especially the Yucatan, south of Cancun. The local life is colorful and charming, the jungles are phenomenal and the day trips are fantastic.

Those experiences changed her life, literally. And mine obviously. I moved us to Europe 2 years later, which really just changed everything for both of us, but that's another story.

Summer camps were social, expensive and fun, but that didn't do much for her development.

It's more about what motivates them, what their passions and interests are. These can be fluid things... What interests us at 12 is much different than what we like when we're 17.

There are many volunteer experiences for teens to be had as well. Where the kids are shipped off for a month or so to regions where help is needed, many throughout South America, and they do all sorts of things, like build housing, water pipes and animal rescue. I've seen more than a few kids really blossom after such experiences. It just helps them become more independent and connects a few of those brain cells that hadn't connected before.

[Land Shark]

2. Partly, yes, but they are interested in almost everything

But I love hearing everyone's best ideas, like yours, whether or not they would be matching up with interests on my kids. They will turn 15 and 17 in the summer, to become a freshman and junior. My soon to be junior went on a class trip to Europe last summer and loved it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Amigos International takes 16 and up

http://amigosinternational.org

Many hospitals have summer volunteer programs if your kids are interested in going into healthcare.

[lunatica]

4. when I was 17 I discovered Science Fiction. I've been a fan

for life. I'm 68 now.

I truly love the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and many more. If they get hooked it will take all Summer and many years to come.

Here is info and the authors of what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Science_Fiction

A lot of things back then which were science fiction are now facts of life.

[Laffy Kat]

5. Travel.

I honestly believe there is nothing that cultivates independence, curiosity, interest in other cultures, language, and self-reliance better than international travel. Go with them at first, then let them go with a group of their peers or just each other. Negotiating airports, subways, bus and train schedules touches on everything from math and spatial relationships to interpersonal communication. You can't go wrong. Just my two cents.

[Land Shark]

6. Agreed. Thanks for your input. Nt

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. Here's a link and some thoughts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_youth_organizations

Everyone knows about Scouting (Boy/Girl Scouts). I think the Junior ROTC program is school based but I don't know how widespread. I've heard of Kids for Peace. There's Civil Air Patrol. The CYO is a Catholic thing through churches. The Young Marines are in some areas. As far as I know Junior Achievement is still around.

Knowing your general location and any special interests would help.

[mrmpa]

8. I'm a history buff...........

if there's a local historical society in your area, they should have activities for young people. In some urban areas there are historical preservation organizations that welcome the input of all, no matter the age.

The local Boys & Girls Club for activities for all ages. In the summer if they are not involved in their own sporting activity, they can volunteer or learn to officiate (which offers a chance to earn money).

Along with the history stuff, if they are interested in learning about their community, a walk through a larger cemetery in their area allows one to learn a lot. e.g. the names of founding citizens, a cluster of deaths around the same time can lead to research that leads to learning about disease and the lack of health care during certain times, etc.

[The Second Stone]

9. Well, when I was 12, I discovered my penis

and we've been best friends ever since.

[msanthrope]

10. Get those kids volunteering. Good for them, good for college resumes. nt

[KentuckyWoman]

11. Youth for Understanding.

Either hosting an exchange student or sending one of yours to be one. We did both. We had a 6 month exchange student from Hong Kong live with us on the farm in Kentucky. The summer between 10th and 11th grade I went to Dublin. My parents were worried sick since the Irish were still fighting a lot then.

They also have programs inside the US. City kids to the country. Country kids to the city. Rich suburban kids to poor black schools and vice versa.

Opens the heart and the mind.

[Land Shark]

13. Thanks for your suggestion Kentucky woman! nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Music camp.

I was a serious classical musician and went to several summer music camps. They were at different colleges and we stayed in the dorms and ate dorm food. Fiddled and sang all day and worked up concerts of standard classical repertory. Had a great time. I still love music.

The main thing it did was reassure me that there were other "weird" kids out there who were nuts about classical music, and they were all over the country. The biggest one I went to was Midwestern Music Camp at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. That was five weeks long, with a different conductor each week and two concerts every Saturday--one orchestra concert and one choir concert. So that was 10 concerts. Ten different conductors.

That's what I was into.

[Land Shark]

17. Definitely can see why. Wish I had developed some musical skills

[LiberalEsto]

14. Swimming

My daughters were on swim teams from the time they could swim from one end of the pool to the other. There was a lot of fun and friendships. They went on to summer jobs as pool aides, then lifeguards, then swim instructors. One was on the high school team, coached for two summers and swam on her college team for a semester. It keeps them busy, keeps them tired, and keeps them fit. Sometimes I drove them to 4:30 am practices, and from there to school. Getting used to jumping into cold water at 6 a.m. before a meet builds self-discipline and character -- you don't see these kids whining. My older one now has a baby and intends to introduce her to swimming when she's ready.

[PufPuf23]

15. Heathkit - update on the company.

Back in the late 1960s when I was in high school I built two Heathkits: a stereo amplifier/preamplifier and an AM/FM receiver. I bought a Garrard turn table and some KLH speakers replaced several years late by the first BOSE 901 speakers. It was an awesome stereo system.

I learned much and had a great sense of accomplishment plus the ultimate "muscle car" of stereo systems. The moment that the components were first turned on and did not fizzle and spark but worked great was very cool.

Until 5 minutes ago I had no idea about the present status of Heathkit.

from wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit

Heathkit is the brand name of kits and other electronic products produced and marketed by the Heath Company. Their products over the decades have included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, robots, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and the influential Heath H-8, H-89, and H-11 hobbyist computers, which were sold in kit form for assembly by the purchaser.

Heathkit manufactured electronic kits from 1947 until 1992. After closing that business, the Heath Company continued with its products for education, and motion-sensor lighting controls. The lighting control business was sold around 2000. The company announced in 2011 that they were reentering the kit business after a 20-year hiatus but then filed for bankruptcy in 2012,[1] and under new ownership began restructuring in 2013. As of 2015 the company has a live website at www.heathkit.com with one or two kits currently listed for sale through its eBay store.

more

The great Heathkit mystery: http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/21/the-great-heathkit-mystery/

Whatever happened to Heathkit, the do-it-yourself electronics kits that used to be so popular at the dawn of the computer age?

For decades, Heathkit was a household name among those who liked to play with electronics.

From 1947 until 1992, Heathkit — which was the “brand name of kits and other electronic products produced and marketed by the Heath Company,” according to Wikipedia — was among the biggest, if not the biggest, game in town when it came to electronics kits.

Most ham radio enthusiasts and electrical engineers “of a certain age remember fondly their first Heathkit,” wrote EDN Network in May, 2013. “Everybody had at least one Heathkit.”

more

Here is the current Heathkit website: https://www.heathkit.com/heathkit.html

[mopinko]

16. how about summer on an urban farm?

i could use some free labor. i will feed them well.

srsly, how about habitat for humanity?

music or art camp is something that will serve them well for their lifetime.

[Land Shark]

18. You know, not a bad idea there

I would definitely pay to give my kids a taste of farm life for a few weeks if that could be arranged. I've never seen anything like that though.

[mopinko]

21. actually, there are quite a few urban farm internships out there.

i think a good resource for this area is either advocated for urban agriculture, which has a listserve that has opportunities from time to time, and also the chicago botanical gardens, which has a support and training program for urban farms and community gardens.
another on is growing power, which has a mission to train youth for farming jobs. they also support some smaller groups, like on called gardeneers which does school gardens.

dont know where you are, but i am sure that the nearest botanic gardens could point you in the right direction. i dont actually need a lot of help. my farm is just the right size to keep me out of trouble.
i have a couple rooms available if you send them my way. feel free to pm me if they are interested.
plus chicago is such a great city.

[Land Shark]

22. Thanks for the offer. Am near montana/ND border

[mopinko]

25. well chicago would sure open up their eyes.

the hood i live in is, i think, THE most diverse zip code in the country. if not first, close runner up. the school my kids went to counted 30-some languages spoken in homes.

we also sit on a transit hub. commuter line to downtown is 2 blocks, which connects to union station, and other commuter lines.
the howard ave cta station is a short walk. it connects the downtown trains to the suburban trains and buses. you can travel the whole area easily.

i am sure it would be easy to find other sorts of internships or jobs. the park district springs to mind. they always need camp counselors. that is a fun job.
but we have everything here.

[Yavin4]

19. Mowing my lawn. Hmmm. Hmmmm. Hmmmm.

For you comedy deprived people:

[Ptah]

20. 4-H is the nation’s largest positive youth development and youth mentoring organization

http://www.4-h.org/

[hopemountain]

23. National Outdoor Leadership School

nols.org

outstanding semester wilderness training courses - includes botany, topography, biology, expedition behavior and skills, first aid, etc..
a variety of course offerings in diverse settings: deserts, mountains, open water (kayaking, folboats), mountaineering across snow, ice, rivers, etc.

[Mendocino]

24. I was also thinking NOLS, or Outward Bound.

Pricey though. There's also volunteer programs in National Parks and Forests, maintaining trails and other work. I spent time in the Youth Conservation Corps back in the 70's. Helped to build the Shawnee Backpacking Trail in Ohio. It was one of the unique and rewarding things I ever did.

[Land Shark]

26. Agreed. I volunteered in thesca.org (student conservation association)