Monkey Bizness University was created in 2015 to specifically cater to kids ages 4 to 8 years old. To help you as a parent better understand what you can expect from one of our courses, let me first tell you why we created them.
I am the parent of three great kids, ages 9, 5, and 2. As my nine-year-old has grown up, we have enrolled him in various summer courses. As he has gotten older, the quality of the courses has gotten better. However, when he was younger, we noticed several issues with these classes.
First, these courses are mostly non-existent for kids under the age of 6. Some of this has to do with the attention span of the child, but often it has to do with the design of the course. Having been around kids of this age group, I firmly believe that if the design of the enrichment course is engaging, you don’t need to worry about the child’s attention span.
Once our child was old enough to start attending Lego, Star Wars, or space courses, we were often disappointed with the instructors. More than any other single aspect of the course, the enthusiasm of the instructor and their ability to relate to children is the most important factor. I actually sat through a Lego course with my child where the instructor spent a portion of their class replying to emails and texts on her phone.
Lastly, our desire was for our child to actually learn something in the course. After all, they are called enrichment courses for a reason. We are realistic with this expectation, we don’t expect our child to do calculus at its’ conclusion. Many of the courses we have enrolled our child in appear to be nothing more than high-priced child care. In our first course, Monkey Island, kids learn how to read maps, use a compass, distinguish between herbivores and carnivores, build bridges and shelter, and much more. They do this all through adventure based learning.
With our first course, Monkey Island, we wanted to design an adventure that uses our facilities unique equipment as well as gives children a chance to problem solve and discover new things. During the adventure, kids have activities that are both fun and educational each day. Each day builds on the previous one until the final day, when the kids see if they can get off the island.
New for this year, we are introducing our second course, where kids will get the chance to live out some of their favorite stories. For instance, how could the three little pigs design their houses better to stay safe from the big bad wolf? Can they help design a beanstalk that would support the giant’s weight as he comes down? Can they design a chair strong enough so it won’t break under the weight of Goldilocks?
We invite your child to come on an adventure with us this summer. We take pride in our classes and in your trust to help your child grow and learn through adventure. We have limited seating available this summer, so to sign up, go to www.monkeybizness.com/monkey-bizness-university.