Washington Apple Pi Journal, July 1986

IEDSIG NEWS
by Patricia Kirby
EDSIG Calendar
Thursday, July 24, at 7:30 p.m•• "Newsroom for
Education" by Carol Thomas.
There will be no EDSIG meeting in August.
Meeting Report
Thursday, May 23 • "Watermelon & Word Processing:
the TIC Summer Computer Camp Experience"
"Summertime ... and the keyboardin's easy ..." Wish
you could have gone to a summer computer camp-especially
where there were Apples? Or wonder what such a camp would
be like for your own children?
EDSIG was curious about computer camps, so invited for
its May 22 meeting Pi member Dr. Karen Rosenbaum, who
four years ago started the "TIC Computer Camp," on the
grounds of Mt.Vernon College in Arlington, Va. Journal
readers have probably noted the camp in recent ads. Accompanying
Karen was Rod Uveges, TIC's head teacher, plus a
videotape of campers thriving on screen and sports activities
at the day camp.
Educational Philosophy & Curriculum
"TIC is in many ways a progressive educator's dream,"
Karen commented, "because there arc no curriculum goalsthe
children set their own. As an educator, I want them to get
excited about what they arc doing, and also get some control
over things-to be masters of something."
TIC is not unstructured, however. It attempts to balance
skill-building on the one h.md and individual discovery on the
other, although the emphasis is on the laller. Karen tells
parents, "We do not claim to teach the children anything,"
but what she means is that campers will "take off' as they
get intrigued by the problems and challenges presented in the
curriculum-at the "teachable moment."
The children's discoveries are not only important to themselves
as individuals but also to each other's 1C