DPR Camps: Pool field trips for 4 year olds? Nervous.
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I’ll start by saying I’m a pretty free range parent, generally. I’m actually super fine with the laid back, medium supervision vibe of DPR Camps, that I know other parents don’t care for. A little chaos and running around with a mixed age group of kids sounds great.
But swimming is different! The #1 cause of death for kids 1-5 is drowning. We’re very careful about this, and so far have only taken our kids (both under 5) to pools or other bodies of water ourselves. We wouldn’t even let our beloved nanny take them (though they got a lot of mileage out of the splash pads). Well, our oldest is 4 and doing DPR camp for most of the summer, and I just found out they take a weekly trip to a pool. This makes me so nervous! A 1:4 or 1:5 staff ratio does not feel adequate for this! My kid cannot swim (he’s taken a few sessions of lessons, but no concrete skills yet). I feel a little trapped. Is this safe? I did some googling and couldn’t find any instances of DPR camp drownings. I cannot take a day off work every week all summer to keep him home and at this stage finding an alternative arrangement seems impossible. What would you do? Am I overreacting here? |
Anonymous
|
My kids always had to take a swim test. If he can't swim, they won't allow him to leave the shallow end. My only concern would be if he is very short.
It's always worth asking what they do for the small non-swimmers and how they keep them safe. Just remember, this camp has been running for awhile, and has any one drowned? |
Anonymous
| OP here - in asking around, it seems that they take them to Banneker pool to the kiddie side so the max depth is about 2 feet. So that makes me feel better - he’ll at least be able to stand. But this still does not feel like adequate supervision to me. How does someone keep a careful eye on 4-5 preschoolers running around a pool? If one slips and falls under the water, how on earth would someone notice fast enough? |
Anonymous
| Do you know which pool? I was nervous about this too, but they took our kids to upshur and only let the little ones go in the kiddie pool. My older kid got to go in the bigger pool but I think they made him wear a life vest or something. All I can remember is that he complained they were too strict (which was fine by me since I was similarly nervous!) |
Anonymous
I think Banneker is more like a splash pad for the little kids and might be fenced off from the rest of the pool. Very shallow. The actual pool is pretty deep and I highly doubt they would take preschoolers in. |
Anonymous
|
Different camp and 5yo here. Can sort of swim but not a "swimmer" yet. I was also caught off guard by this. Same as yours, off-site weekly field trip to a pool. No alternative besides keeping them home. It's an enormous camp and not that many counselors, I don't really see how they can be monitoring everyone and with kids there's a lot of egging friends on to join them in other parts of the pool, horseplay and climbing etc. We go to the pool all the time but always with a parent present.
Not sure yet what to do - keeping DD home will be a bummer for her and sucks from a childcare/$ perspective. |
Anonymous
| They bus or walk them to the city pool which has lifeguards. It is typically specially held such that it is just the camp kids there. They will keep it safe by remaining in the shallow end and wearing life jackets. DPR camp programming can be uneven, sometimes surprisingly very good but ymmv depending on the site and staff that year, and 4 is still little where you may be better off using a comprehensive daycare program for summer childcare. But a pool trip is one of the more special/engaging activities that they do. Feel free to chat with the staff during camp about the swimming day for some reassurance with respect to your child not knowing how to swim. |
Anonymous
| I’m also a pretty non-chalant parent but safety around water is a non negotiable and I don’t think I would be comfortable with my under 5yo going swimming with a DPR camp. If your mom spidey sense is kicking in, find a babysitter for those days. I have two friends whose kids have had extremely close calls while in the water with their own families…you’re not overreacting. |
Anonymous
| I kept my kid home from swim camp days at that age or went to chaperone. |
Anonymous
|
I would not be comfortable with that.
I worked at camps in high school and college. I was at one camp that had a near drowning, and then didn't change their supervision practices at all, and had a very close call that I caught the next summer. I was at a pool once where the lifeguard was reading a book, and when I complained to their supervisor they argued that there were enough adults in the pool that someone would notice. I'm not a helicopter mom in general, but there is no way my kid would be on that trip. |
Anonymous
| My daughter is at little explorers and she says they all get life jackets before going into the water. |
Anonymous
I take my kids to Upshur pool a lot and it is definitely not the case that the DPR camp gets the pool to themselves. They do however make them wear vests. |
Anonymous
|
Your child is fine. They have enough supervision and keep a close eye on the non-swimmers because they know it is a danger. My kids camps at that age tested the kids. Kids who couldn't swim wore a life vest in the pool and could not leave the shallow end.
|
Anonymous
| MCRD not DPR, and 5-/6-year-olds not 4, but we along with lifeguards gave the kids swim tests and the ones who didn’t pass were limited to the baby pool and the roped off shallow end. Every counselor was in the pool with the kids at all times. |
Anonymous
| I think you’re right to be concerned. |