2016 Summer Camp Recommendations and Reviews

[Anonymous]

We did a French Summer Camp in Chevy Chase at the French Academy, complete immersion; and my kids loved it. As beginners they learned a lot during that week. The camp was about pirates.
Check frenchacademy.us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another happy Burgundy Farm camper here. My daughter is 4 and has seemed to have the best time. When I asked her if there were any special friends she wanted to try to have playdates with in the fall, she named her head counselor! They have been very warm and caring all summer long.

You got lucky. My 5 year old had a horrible experience at Burgundy. My sweet quiet exceptionally well behaved boy left behind his water bottle in the classroom as the counselors rushed him out the door to dump them at car line. It was 100 degrees, his face red, and sweaty, he asked the girl assigned to his group of he could get his bottle. She told him to shut up and just get it the next day. One morning he asked me to please remember to pack a fork in his lunch because he didn't like eating pasta salad with his hands. I said when have you ever eaten with your hands? He goes, yesterday you didn't put a fork in and I asked my counselor if she could please get me a fork, she told me to be quiet, there's no forks here, and eat with my hands. I brought this up to another counselor, who profusely apologized and told me that is absolutely not the case, they have plenty of disposable utensils for use by campers, but you need to walk over to another building to get them.

I find this story very hard to believe. We've been at Burgundy Camp for four years, Each class grouping has one lead counselor, who is usually an experienced teacher, and two Conselors in Training. It would be very difficult for a counselor to say something like this to a child at lunch and not be overheard by other counsellors and kids. Speaking like that to children is definitely not the norm at Burgundy. Any counselor who was known to speak like that to a child would be reprimanded. Did you talk to Hugh or anyone when your child reported it?

I'm not saying that it couldn't have happened, but given our experience across multiple grades with multiple age groupings, the fact that my children --including the very sensitive one -- have never had anything but extremely positive, loving things to say about their counsellors suggests to me that your experience is an unusual one.

Both experiences could be and are likely true. The two are not mutually exclusive... bad and good things can happen in the same place. Not PP, but it always seems silly to me when people post their experiences and others chime in essentially saying, "well, that's not my experience so it can't be true."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My boys ages 10 and 8 had a wonderful time at Steve & Kate's in Bethesda this summer. This is the only camp they don't want to go too late or leave too early. It's that much fun. They regularly bake bread (like bagettes from scratch with kosher salt - yum!), make music videos and leggo animation, play a variety of old school games, and best of all, besides their smiles at the end of the day, it's flexible for parents AND it includes a solid lunch and snacks. Success 2nd year in a row - they look forward to attending next year. The counselors are engaged and seem to enjoy being there. I can't tell you the relief it is to find a flexible camp that the kids love love love. At the end of the day, animation movies are emailed to parents. I can't recommend them enough. http://steveandkatescamp.com/locations/bethesda/

I don't see a Bethesda location listed on the website. Just wondering?

Sadly, there is no Bethesda location for Steve & Kate's this coming summer. Apparently they couldn't get a space. So for Steve & Kate's you would need to do the Hill or Alexandria locations. We're bummed because those don't work for us logistics so no Steve & Kate's this summer.

We're going to try the location on the Hill this summer, thanks to your recommendation.

[Anonymous]

are there any camp recommendations for petworth/Columbia heights/brookland area? I'm new to this as my oldest kid is 4 now; but I missed dpr signup and i'm having trouble figuring out how we would get DD all the way across town everyday.

would consider recommendations for the hill or silver spring/Takoma if fairly close in.

[Anonymous]

Creative Youth in Bethesda has a really cool sewing and fashion design camp from June to August. It's mostly ages 7-12 but there is a teen workshop available also. It's all day and they offer after care which is awesome!

[Anonymous]

I went to Camp Ozark in Arkansas for nine years, and then I was a part of the workstaff (called the L.I.T's) for one year and a counselor for two. It has undoubtedly changed my life, and I would seriously recommend sending your kids there! There are five sessions with about 1000 campers each from the age of 7-17. It's an overnight, somewhat sports camp with one, two, and three week sessions. It's co-ed with communal gendered bathouses for the younger kids and in-cabin bathrooms for middle and high school campers. There are plenty of ways to get there - I live in Texas, and I always took the bus, but you can also drive your kids personally or have them take a plane with other campers. Activities are personalized by the camper online before they go, but you can always make changes once you get there! It's got over 150 activities that are sports, crafts, or adventure based. There is a spring fed lake with six blobs (look it up if you don't know what they are). Cabins have 10-12 people. The food is great and snacks are always available in the camp store. Seriously - Camp Ozark was one of the most memorable parts of my summer. I never wanted to leave!

[Anonymous]

This is a camp in Potomac, it's for preschoolers. FYI, it is a sports camp, the kids will be tired but they LOVE it.

https://www.certifikid.com/deal/26511/135-for-msa-junior-sports-camp-for-ages-3-5-in-pot/ck

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Yes, Certifykds has lots of summer camp deals.

[Anonymous]

Check out the Moving Field Guide summer camp for ages 6-10 in Takoma Park! It runs the new additional week of summer for MoCo kids, Aug. 28- Sept. 1 with Dance Exchange. Artists and naturalists use movement and walks through nature to help kids make connections to each other and to their environment while learning about plants, animals, and stewardship for the environment.

It's only $300 for the week, plus they have generous -
including full - scholarships for anyone who needs it. http://danceexchange.org/projects/moving-field-guide/

They also just announced some Moving Field Guide camp weeks in over spring break and early summer in 2018.