Yongsan-gu to Operate Winter Vacation Courses for 600 Elementary Students

13 Categories Including Native English Conversation and Life Science

Yongsan-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Park Hee-young) is offering a variety of experiential courses for elementary school students during the winter vacation. The 13 courses available in January and February next year include native English conversation, life science, literacy improvement, and career experience. Over 600 participants were recruited through the Yongsan-gu Education Comprehensive Portal starting last month.

Students participating in last winter's English camp for children are attending a class. Provided by Yongsan-gu.

The district provides tailored course information for various life stages, including elementary students, through the Yongsan-gu Education Comprehensive Portal. The most popular course is the commuting-type "Winter Vacation Children's English Camp," held in partnership with Sookmyung Women's University TESOL department, starting January 6. The target group is 95 elementary students from grades 1 to 6 within the district. The camp focuses on coding and science through hands-on practice and team activities, running 7 hours a day for 2 weeks. The program, previously for grades 3 to 6, has been expanded this year to include grades 1 and 2.

The "Yongam English Experience Center Online English Camp" offers phonics and thematic reading comprehension lessons taught by native speakers via online video classes. The enrollment capacity is 108 students. This program is designed for children who find commuting difficult during vacation, such as those with working parents.

The native foreign language classroom, where practical conversation in seven languages including English and Chinese can be learned, is held on the first floor of the Yongsan Dream Tree Complex. Coding English, drama English, and Saturday programs provide opportunities to acquire English through experiential learning rather than theory.

The "Life Science Classroom," conducted with professional instructors from Ewha Womans University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, is also noteworthy. Starting January 6, the class runs once a week for a total of 10 sessions, focusing on basic science education through experiments, experiences, and inquiry that stimulate children's imagination. Classes are held on Mondays at Yongsan Elementary School, Tuesdays at Huam-dong Community Center, Wednesdays at Cheongpa Elementary School, and Thursdays at Hyochang-dong Community Center. Each class has a capacity of 18 students.

For 30 elementary students in grades 3 and 4 who are working on literacy improvement through learning Hangul characters, the 2024 Winter Vacation Reading Class "If It's Korean History" will be held. From January 13 for one week, students can enhance their vocabulary related to Korean history through themed book reading. The classes will take place at three small libraries: Byeolbat, Seobinggo-dong, and Hyochang-dong. Separately, the Yongsan Dream Tree Library has prepared a "Winter Reading Class" for 20 elementary students in grades 1 to 4.

At Yongsan Seodang, located in the annex of the Yongsan Dream Tree Complex, three classes will be organized by skill level starting January 3 to provide traditional Confucian studies and etiquette education. Students will learn Chinese characters foundational to the Korean language and improve concentration through etiquette training.

The Yongsan Career and Job Experience Support Center (Miraeya) offers winter vacation career exploration and job experience programs for elementary students in grades 5 and 6. Desired programs can be applied for through the Miraeya website.

Additionally, programs such as the winter vacation chess class (grades 1-2), picture book storytelling time with university students (grades 1-3), and the university student volunteer talent camp with Sookmyung Women's University (mentoring activities for elementary and middle school students) are also offered.

District Mayor Park Hee-young emphasized, "True happiness is spending harmonious days with family right here, right now," and added, "We will do our best to develop winter vacation programs that increase interaction with children and reduce nagging."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.