How it all began
Mark, a serial entrepreneur, founded Lighthouse Camps in 2018, because he found that Taiwan lacked quality STEM programs for his two young children. Even though there were coding programs for kids in Taiwan, he found that after sending his children to these offerings, they were really “cram” schools in disguise--very didactic and top down. Even though there were coding programs for kids in Taiwan, he found that after sending his children to these offerings, they were really “cram” schools in disguise--very didactic and top down.
When he sent his older son to a coding class for the first time, each kid was handed a laptop computer and sat in a typical classroom setting. The instructor then started projecting MIT’s scratch junior website on to the screen and proceeded to try to lecture to the classroom of four year-olds. The straw that broke the camel’s back, the moment that prompted Mark’s call to action, was when his daughter would bawl her eyes out every time it was time to go to Lego class. When Mark finally accompanied his daughter to class, he finally understood why. Rather than giving the kids a chance to explore, the instructor asked the children (3 years old) to copy block-by-block the Lego set that he had built.
To learn more about STEM for kids, Mark first invested in a Singaporean coding school for kids. Seeing firsthand that a quality program made a world of difference, Lighthouse’s first coding classes involved flying in instructors from Singapore to run its coding classes for kids.
As Mark and the Lighthouse team became more acquainted with K-6 education, Mark began to expand beyond STEM to offer a broader offering, incorporating best practices that he had observed from taking his two kids to summer camps in the U.S. and Japan.
When he sent his older son to a coding class for the first time, each kid was handed a laptop computer and sat in a typical classroom setting. The instructor then started projecting MIT’s scratch junior website on to the screen and proceeded to try to lecture to the classroom of four year-olds. The straw that broke the camel’s back, the moment that prompted Mark’s call to action, was when his daughter would bawl her eyes out every time it was time to go to Lego class. When Mark finally accompanied his daughter to class, he finally understood why. Rather than giving the kids a chance to explore, the instructor asked the children (3 years old) to copy block-by-block the Lego set that he had built.
To learn more about STEM for kids, Mark first invested in a Singaporean coding school for kids. Seeing firsthand that a quality program made a world of difference, Lighthouse’s first coding classes involved flying in instructors from Singapore to run its coding classes for kids.
As Mark and the Lighthouse team became more acquainted with K-6 education, Mark began to expand beyond STEM to offer a broader offering, incorporating best practices that he had observed from taking his two kids to summer camps in the U.S. and Japan.
Among the programs we feature:
- Gifted and Talented Education
- Programming/Coding
- Math (AMC 8, AMC 10, competition math, etc.)
- Language Arts
- Spanish, French & German
- Chinese for Heritage Learners
- Tennis Camp (Indoor)
Why Us?
Our philosophy is centered on facilitating kids to express their creativity, to be curious, to think critically, and above all, to not be afraid of making mistakes and to keep trying. We let the children be themselves, be inspired and develop unique ideas.