In Peques and Más we bring an interview with Maria de Lara, the creator of Lara GO! Maria has been Professor in the United States, where she learned the advantages of the American education system and was able to train in the most innovative methodologies in second language education. In Spain he has always worked in the sector he knows best: education. The experience accumulated during her professional career led her to undertake her personal project: Lara GO! Learning Abroad, Reaching Ahead.
María presents us in the interview How have you built with your experience in the United States, Lara GO!, and explains what needs it solves for children, adolescents and young Spaniards who go abroad. And it is that their knowledge of the situation outside Spain is a guarantee of success to offer the best educational experiences beyond our borders.
What is LARA GO!
Lara GO! It is a personal project that has the vocation of facilitating exclusive immersion experiences in summer camps in the United States so that children and young people can learn or improve their level of English. In front of other organizations, I offer a very individualized service, transfer to a limited number of children, travel with them and stay in the United States all summer, supervising that everything works correctly to guarantee very positive experiences.
What kind of training is offered to students
Thanks to my knowledge of the education sector in the United States, I have been able to make a very careful selection of the camps I work with. I have focused on selecting the best programs with the best facilities, but especially on choosing those that place special emphasis on the development of children's social skills (leadership, communication and participation) as well as on increasing self-esteem and development of personality (promotion of the sense of responsibility and greater adaptability).
In addition, for a Spanish child, attending a camp in the United States is an immersion in the unique American culture. In our camps, the communication vehicle is only English and this means that children not only enjoy all the benefits mentioned, but also strengthen their language skills, which will provide them with the ability to communicate in English for the rest of their lives.
Why would children have to go to a camp like those offered by LARA GO!
Numerous studies in second language acquisition have shown that the ability to learn languages decreases dramatically from the age of 17. This means that we must take advantage of the period of 8 to 17 years to "give" a second language to our children. There is no better way to learn a language than in an immersion environment in which the child is enjoying surrounded by American children and soaking up their culture while practicing their favorite hobbies and learning without realizing it. And it also establishes friendships that can last a lifetime.
This, without forgetting the innumerable “side effects” of leaving home and finding themselves in a different environment: development of independence, improvement of social and interpersonal skills and improvement of the sports and artistic skills that you practice, etc.
What professional experience you bring to the project
I have lived in the United States for three years. Initially I taught French and Spanish at a Magnet School and then at the University of Charleston where I worked for two years while taking courses in the Master of Acquisition of Second Languages. I quickly realized great advantages offered by the American education system and began to think how I could make children and young people have the opportunity to benefit from them. That thought was the embryo of Lara GO!
What teachers / monitors are with the children
Lara GO! accompany the participants to the camp and throughout the summer of Lara GO! It remains in the area supervising that the programs are developed correctly and that the Spanish participants are enjoying and making the most of it.
What sports and activities can be performed
The possibilities are endless. There are sports and artistic camps. Among the first are camps that have a stronger emphasis on land sports (football, football, tennis, basketball, handball, baseball, climbing, golf, hiking, lacrosse, mountain biking, pin pong and much more) and others with a greater emphasis on water sports (sailing, windsurfing, paddle surfing, swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, mono skiing, and, once again, a long etcetera). In both cases the sports program is complemented with a host of artistic activities.
In art camps, participants can improve their artistic skills (painting, drawing, watercolor, sculpture, crafts, jewelry design, clothing design, etc.), dance (classical ballet, modern dance, pointe, jazz dance, etc. ), music (to train the voice or improve the technique in some instrument) and theater (improvisation, representation, costumes, props, etc.) Camps with a strong artistic weight, usually combine their programs with sports such as swimming, tennis or horse riding .
What ages are allowed in Lara GO!
Most camps begin to accept children from 7 or 8 years old until 15 or 16. At Lara GO! We always insist that the younger, the more easily they will learn the language and learn to be independent, two things they will never forget.
When the camp is celebrated and when to sign up
Most camps begin at the end of June and end at the beginning of August. For children who attend for the first time and prefer a 4 or 5 week option, they may also return at the end of July. Obviously, the longer they are, the more benefits they can get from their stay.
How much does it cost and what insurance does it include
The prices are very varied. It depends a lot on the camp, the program and the time you want to travel. In Lara GO! We take care of knowing the participant, understanding their hobbies, their interests, etc. in order to assess which camp suits you best. We also talk with their parents and also understand their interests and propose a proposal that fits the needs of the family. In Lara GO! We offer medical and travel insurance so that children and parents can be absolutely calm.
In what area of the United States is the camp located?
We work with camps in the New England area (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut) and Pennsylvania. All our camps are in privileged environments, without pollution, to enjoy a summer in the countryside. Most of them have wonderful private lakes in which to practice water activities.
Children and teenagers sleep in perfectly equipped wooden cabins where they cohabit with one or two supervising adult monitors. The distribution in the cabins is done by age and always ensuring that linguistic immersion occurs.
How the fear that children may have of being away from home and away from their family is resolved
Before children travel to the United States, we take care to advise their parents on how to prepare their child psychologically so that he or she goes with a positive attitude. This is important. On the other hand, in our camps the student monitor ratio is 1 to 3 so, if during the first days the child misses his family, he will be very taken care of so that this feeling is replaced by the feeling of belonging to his New family during the summer: a large group of North American children.
And here the presentation of María and her project Lara GO! We thank you for your attention, for your generosity explaining to us the project and we wish you many successes. Finally, he has left us an explanatory video with more details:
