DC area Summer all-day camps - reactions, assessment so far?

[Anonymous]

Is it too soon to ask how you liked/are liking your kid's summer day camp? Which ones are a hit and which would you miss? How old are your kids and what camps are they happy with? We are going to have to find some options for our DD (who will be 4) next year June-Aug. I am interested primarily in finding out about DC locations that offer all day camp and are not impossible to commute to.

So far I am thinking we'll do a couple weeks at a nearby DC Rec Center, a few weeks at the DC JCC, and maybe a few weeks at a top end camp (like Sidwell or similar?) plus of course a family vacation week or two.

DD loves ballet and yoga so maybe a ballet, gym or movement camp if we kind find an all day program, or we'll hire a babysitter chaffeur.

[Anonymous]

My son (5 years old) has been attending Head First at St. Albans and he loves it! They have a ton of staff members and every encounter I have had with them has been very positive. We had no idea what to expect and this camp has proven to a big hit!

[Anonymous]

City of Alexandria REC camp for 1 week - it was so, so. Good for a week but not much longer.

[Anonymous]

ESF at Georgetown Prep is awesome!

[Anonymous]

Sidwell's Explorer and Voyagers are still big hits. Calleva's program - my 8 year old loved it. Handwork Studios - new program for us - fantastic! We added another week 8/30-9/3.

[Anonymous]

my 5 YO did a week at Headfirst Soccer at St. Alban's. Had a good time, even though she'd never played soccer before. She isn't begging to go again next year, but possibly b/c she didn't have any friends go at the same time. They spend 90% or more of their time outside. She came home exhausted, yet chattering about all the fun stuff they did. The program also really emphasizes good sportsmanship and life skills (taking care of your own stuff, etc). The aftercare seemed fine, although not many kids participated. I honestly don't know if they have a 4 YO program or not.

She is spending the rest of the time at St. Patrick's, which also has aftercare until 6 PM. She loves it there. They swim every day, although I think the 4 YOs swim just three days a week. They also have art, science, "technology". It sounds like they spend about half of the day inside. I think they start with 3 YOs.

We did a spring break camp at Ballet Petite and were not impressed. Although they promoted 9:30-2:30 as "full day", they didn't actually have a lunch break. And parents were expected to arrive at 2 to watch the performance every day. And they didn't always have staff on site at the start time. It really did not work for two working parents, and would probably be annoying to a SAHP or nanny, too.

I found that there is a two week gap between the end of camps and the start of our school. There was also a week gap between the end of our school and the start of most camps (hence the 1 week of soccer camp, not many options). You'll want to give that consideration when planning your family vacation. The camp and school schedules pretty much dictated when and how long our family vacation would be.

[Anonymous]

Loving Congressional Camp so far -- both our children (ages 6 and 8) are attending.

[Anonymous]

Washington International School has been a big hit with my 5yo. He has been in the Chinese immersion class for the past three weeks. He also swim three days a week. I know it is a hit because every night he is excited to go to bed so that the moon can go away. When the moon goes away he gets to attend his WIS camp.

[Anonymous]

Another 5 year old boy at Headfirst St. Alban's this summer. Loving it!

[Anonymous]

DD (5.5yo) is at the JCC in NOVA and she is loving it. I have a colleague with kids at the DC JCC (where one still attends preschool) and they are having a good time there as well. They do a lot of different activities each day, including swimming lessons, as well as weekly fieldtrips and a weekly entertainer at the center. I thought that she might get bored but so far they do different enough activities each day (science, cooking, arts and crafts, dramatic play), that it keeps it interesting. Also, a good chunk can be indoors if the weather has been as dreadful as it has been.