The girls have toured the Eiffel Tower and ogled the stone majesties of the Pantheon. They have swooned over the Jonas Brothers, giggled over wax likenesses of their parents and romped with friends at Camp David, all in the span of two blissfully school-free months.

Welcome to Sasha and Malia Obama's fabulous summer vacation, a hodgepodge of foreign travel, concerts, birthday parties and just plain fun carefully organized by the president and first lady. (The first lady has dubbed it Camp Obama.)

But President Obama and his wife, Michelle, have also tried to ensure that this first summer in the White House is about more than lighthearted fare. They have incorporated history lessons, community service and healthy eating and exercise into their daughters' time off, offering yet another glimpse of the parenting style behind the walls at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Obamas discussed the slave trade with their girls during a visit to a slave port in Ghana. They focused on volunteering at Fort McNair in Virginia, where the girls helped stuff backpacks with books and toys for the children of military families....