Welcome to “Le Club EFBA” Winter Edition
Winter is arriving, and you know what that means… Le Club EFBA Winter Edition is back! We are offering two sessions of Virtual French Winter Camps from Dec 20 to Dec 30, 2021 to help provide opportunities for continued French learning during school breaks. Both weeks will have a completely different theme, so campers will have a chance to explore multiple interests!
EFBA is pleased to offer two exciting winter camp activities, to instill wonder and appreciation during this magical time of the year. Virtual French Winter Camps allow us to ensure that our programs remain accessible to those seeking French education, no matter their location. Our virtual activities are produced by our team of experts, and we can’t wait for your child(ren) to have a wonderful time growing their French skills, while connecting with others!
We want children to have fun, speak French, be engaged, and move, yet we don’t want to keep them for hours in front of a screen. We know your children need a fun break from school!
Le Club EFBA will run for 2.5 hours each day in the mornings from 10 am to 12:30 pm PDT (Mondays to Thursdays).
Virtual French Winter Camp Counselors will lead different live activities in French through Zoom in a laid-back and engaging format.
Because each child has different skills and interest, we offer a full schedule of diverse activities. Our play-based focus allows children to take pleasure in the language, discover new games and abilities, and meet and make friends with peers and counselors.
A typical day usually involves:
- Welcome and greetings (including ice-breaker games on Monday)
- Cultural Corner: a daily 30-minute class about French language and cultural knowledge related to the weekly theme
- Singing and story time to stimulate the imagination and discover new horizons
- Arts and crafts (supply lists will be communicated in advance to ensure that your child has everything they need)
- Self-expression activities like theater and miming
- Active games that make participants move (at-home treasure hunts, dance, etc.)
- Cooperative games to help children create social connections and work together with their peers
HEALTHY CONNECTIONS
Campers of “Le Club EFBA” will be organized in different “virtual bunks,” allowing children of similar ages to connect with each other and spend time together collaborating, learning, and laughing. Our virtual bunks are a safe and consistent way for campers to interact with a peer group, camp staff, and stay connected at camp during this time of uncertainty.
To encourage and optimize interaction between campers and camp counselors, each bunk is limited to a maximum of 10 campers. Because collaborating is important, we are offering the possibility for campers to register and be in the same bunk as their best friends (must be indicated at the time of registration and subject to comparable proficiency level and availability). We will create bunks based on age and prior friendships:
- 1 bunk for children ages 5 to 7
- 1 bunk for children ages 8 to 10
- 1 bunk for teenagers ages 11 to 15 – SOLD OUT
INSPIRING ROLE MODELS
Each bunk will be led by 2 camp counselors – 1 activity leader and 1 facilitator to support background technical aspects. This is also to prevent any cyber bullying during virtual activities and ensure that shy campers are also comfortable and motivated to participate.
Registrations for our 2021 winter programs are closed. Return during back to school 2022 for updates!
“Le Club EFBA” will take place for 2 weeks from Dec 20 to Dec 30, 2021:
- Week 1 – Monday, Dec 20, to Thursday, Dec 23, 10 am to 12:30 pm PDT – REGISTRATION CLOSED
- Week 2 – Monday, Dec 27, to Thursday, Dec 27, 10 am to 12:30 pm PDT – REGISTRATION CLOSED
PRICE
- PER WEEK
THIS YEAR’S CULTURAL THEMES
Mission first!
In these difficult and unprecedented times, in spite of everything going on, we want to help your family and bring joy to children. We are running Virtual French Winter Camps without any margin. This is not sustainable in the long run because we need to pay living wages and invest in the safety and quality of our infrastructure. We ask that in time you donate to our nonprofit to support our mission.
EDUCATIONAL GOALS
Like EFBA in-person camps, Le Club EFBA is a French immersion language camp. Our goal is to introduce campers to as many positive experiences as possible, even in a virtual format. We hope that our Virtual French Winter Camps foster creativity and individuality in each camper, encourages an awareness of themselves and others, and opens their mind to the world.
Le Club EFBA is built on four critical learning outcomes:
1. We want campers to be active and move!
Child psychologists have shown that movement is proven to soothe anxiety and fight depression, and not just in adults. Our activities are designed to get our campers moving.
2. We want campers to generate French language!
Campers won’t be staring passively at their screen in our virtual activities. They will be encouraged to interact with their camp counselors in French. That is why we are limiting the number of campers per bunk to 10. That is also why we require campers to have prior knowledge of diFrench, so that everyone feels included and can participate. Don’t forget to turn on your child’s camera!
3. We want campers to create social and emotional connections with their peers and camp counselors!
Our virtual camp program is designed to encourage interaction and socialization among Virtual French Winter Camps participants. This can be challenging in an online setting, which is why we are offering the opportunity for campers to register with their friends. There will also be plenty of opportunities for campers to make new friends and create new bonds. Our team is innovating and adapting activities that will help campers find virtual campmates, and we hope they will be able to play together in-person soon!
4. We want campers to enhance their cultural knowledge!
We will be offering a daily 30-minute general culture class. This class, designed by EFBA teachers, will deepen children’s understanding of the weekly cultural theme and meet specific educational goals around history, science, art, and the environment, among others. We strongly believe in the power of general culture to help us open up to others and better understand the world. Join us for our Virtual French Winter Camps!
Important notes:
- Like all our other programs, the virtual camp is run in full immersion.
- Different from the in-person camp format, campers need to have a prior knowledge of French (2 year minimum ). An assessment will be required f0r students not enrolled in our classes for 2021-2022. Schedule a free assessment by emailing us.
Please do not register your child if they do not have the minimum required level of French. You can register them in a beginner class in our Online Winter Classes instead.
- Our virtual camp is open to children with learning differences. We ask parents and guardians to register your child in advance – at least 3 weeks before virtual camp starts – so our team can provide reasonable accommodations.
- We will create an EFBA account for each camper to facilitate virtual camp management, and we will take all precautionary measures to ensure high security in a virtual environment.
Parents and guardians, please take a moment to read your welcome packet for virtual camps before joining “Le Club EFBA”!
In your welcome packet you will find tips to help your child have a great experience in virtual camp. The welcome packet was also made to address your common questions and technical issues.
The welcome packet will be emailed to families upon registration!
Useful links
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