As we are coming to the close of our summer programming here at Touching Miami with Love, we reflect on the many triumphs, laughter, and learning opportunities our children and youth engaged in this Summer. After not being able to offer Summer Camp last year, we are glad to provide our students with live in-person programming in Literacy, Math, Science & Art. Offering Summer camp once again has tremendously impacted all students’ lives by allowing a safe space for them to learn and grow, especially those who only attended school virtually due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, the lack of interaction throughout the school year left many students craving social interaction and physical activity. Therefore, our instructors diligently crafted fun, relatable, and hands-on activities for every subject to keep students engaged. Some instructors used Differentiated Instruction, a student-focused approach that tailors instruction to students’ different learning needs by teaching children phonological awareness basics through chants, rhythms, and movement. Our instructors worked hard to implement these approaches to retain students’ attention and teach them different learning skills throughout their lessons. These strategies help us bridge gaps and assist our students in making adequate academic gains. Additionally, we used Reading Rockets, Scholastics, readers Theatre, and Nearpod, which are essential resources and curriculums to reach various milestones.

Furthermore, we made sure to engage in daily transformative interactive learning activities, including investigations, solving math problems in escape rooms, making zip lines for dolls in our exploration of Brazil, and many more! And all this was possible because we had a great team of staff, certified teachers, volunteers, and community partners working together to serve our children.

In addition to our instructor’s efforts, we are thankful to the many partners who joined us to make Summer Camp a success; because of their help, we offered the best programming for our children and youth. We have received support from community partners like Florida International University (FIU). The FIU’S Reading Explorers team rekindled their partnership with us to work alongside selected students needing grade-level literacy assistance. The Children’s Trust Summer 305 Program assigned four certified teachers who spent one-on-one time with our children. The Children’s Trust provided grade-level standards summer success kits to assist our students in critical areas effectively o impact learning in the upcoming school yearly.

Finally, we included weekly field trips in our program, which has provided memories that will last a lifetime for students and staff. At Pinto’s Farm, the children had the opportunity to feed and pet several farm animals, including horses and cows, and enjoyed a pony ride, while our youth zip around a racetrack on an avocado farm. The day ended with a tractor ride and an extra-large bounce house, the perfect way to end a fun-filled day. Our students are still talking about their memorable day at The Venetian Pool, where they explored the caves, grotto, natural rock cliffs, and ventured through waterfalls.
Summer camp has come to an end, but our impact continues! We know that the tools we shared with our students will positively impact their success in the upcoming school year, and we are looking forward to having them back for after-care programming.