WIS Summer Camp for a 6 y.o.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone's child attend a WIS camp last year? My daughter learns a little Spanish at her elem. scool, so I thought it might be fun for her to attend WIS for a week or two. Do you think it will be worth it for just a week or two or will she need to do a longer session to actually learn any Spanish? Also, do you know where they swim?

Wendy
www.cattiwampus.com

[Anonymous]

Two weeks probably won't give your daughter much Spanish but it's a nice camp. We sent our 3-year old to the Spanish camp at WIS last summer for 2 weeks -- he's been in Spanish-language daycare since he was a baby so he's essentially fluent, but he enjoyed the activities a lot. The teachers were really nice.

The only bad thing was the early morning drop-off was a bit disorganized -- the counselors on the playground didn't seem to be looking out much for the younger kids.

[Anonymous]

My son attended the camp as a 3 year old and as a 4 year old. I agree completely w/ the PP -- my child did enjoy the camps, but I felt as if the teen-aged counselors weren't really engaged with the children at all during the drop off and the pick up. Often times they just sat apart to themselves and socialized, and the kids engaged in parallel play with no interaction from the counselors. I think the actual teachers leading the camp are good, but they could do more in the way of training the teen counselors.

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts on Spanish program from 2009 or upcoming summer? DS is 5 and already bilingual. Applied as "advanced" for June hoping it will help him maintain current level until Communikids camp (which we LOVE) starts in July. Concerned because just heard from one WIS regular school parent that summer is glorified daycare and campus is not good for young ones (bathrooms 2 floors down)??? We are used to Communikids camp which is like preschool with teachers and structured but still play-based day.

We don't have another Spanish choice for June. So just looking for some input from others to set my expectations. TIA

[Anonymous]

Dear parents,

This is Michelle Broadie, WIS Summer Camp director. I have read with great interest the comments about our summer camp posted on this site. While I disagree with some of the comments, I do understand that not all children will have a great or even a positive experience with us, just as other children will not have a positive experience elsewhere. Drawing the all encompassing conclusion from the one time experience of one child that the entire camp is bad seems a little of a stretch. Many of our campers (over 60%) return year after year, so we must be doing something right. Some of them have been attending camp for so long that they have now graduated to counselors. Just like not all schools are great for all students, all camps are not perfect matches for all kids. Our camp, where the majority of campers are enrolled in immersion language programs, offers an additional challenge to campers, and not all of them are ready for this new experience. But most of the campers thrive and enjoy their time with us.

Over 90% of the faculty are regular WIS teachers during the regular school year, or teach in the after school enrichment program, and the only 2 or 3 teachers who are not are qualified elementary or early childhood teachers in other schools and have been associated with WIS summer camp for many years, the newest of them for 7 years. Counselors - teachers' aids - are current or former WIS students, many of them teachers' children, and in most cases we have known them since childhood.

I also read that I personally was hard to reach and not available to talk to parents. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have an open door policy from 8 am to 6 pm - no appointment necessary, come when you have a moment - at all times. Any parent who has brought his or her children to camp has seen me every single morning, opening car doors, greeting children, and walking campers to their lockers, or supervising the playground, and overseeing the dispatching of classes when the bell rings for first period. I am also highly visible every afternoon helping students into their cars at dismissal time every day.

I do recognize that the first hour in the morning from 8 am to 9 am was not as smooth as I would have liked it to be, due to the configuration of the playground which does not allow clear delineation of playing areas for different age groups. Which is why my team and I have put our ideas together and changed the way things are done at that time. I cannot address all the comments that were made, but I do want to thank parents who took the time to share their positive experience with other families, and also parents who gave me food for thought to improve our camp and offer children a better and richer experience. I can be reached at 202-243-1727 or [e-mail]. You can also check our summer camp blog at wis-ep.info.