Did you love the camp(s) your child(ren) attended this summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD attended a MathTree camp for two weeks and it was horrific. She cried every day and NO ONE told us.

How old was your DD? After you found out, did she tell you what she disliked about it? We were thinking of this for our DS8. He really likes math and has a real facility for it. His teacher recommended MathTree as a good enrichment camp, but we hadn't heard anything about it from anyone who attended. Could you please describe what made her unhappy with it?

DD was 7 when she attended. She said that the camp teacher spent most of her time focused on the older kids and pretty much ignored her. The camp teacher told me (after the camp was done) that DD needed "too much individual attention". The camp teacher was (IMHO) *VERY* condescending to the younger (less than 4th grade) kids.

Thanks for following up. I'm sorry she had such a bad experience. I'll look for other options based on your experience.

[Anonymous]

Glad I made someone laugh with the swinging di*** story!

But honestly, reading this thread is depressing. These are little kids - why is it so hard to find places that treat them well? Between this and the post about violence at Janney and elsewhere, I'm quite concerned. What does this say about our society?

[Anonymous]

It says that a lot of schools and camps are trying to make some easy money. They hire young kids w/ little experience (and common sense) and put them in charge while charging parents a pretty penny. Families now rely in camps for daycare in the summer since many moms now work.

[kfchamberlain]

I found this discussion very helpful. On paper there is a Beauvoir program that looks perfect for my son. Did anyone out there really like Beauvoir?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It says that a lot of schools and camps are trying to make some easy money. They hire young kids w/ little experience (and common sense) and put them in charge while charging parents a pretty penny. Families now rely in camps for daycare in the summer since many moms now work.

Many of these camps are not subject to licensing visits as preschools and daycare centers are, either, so you can't find reports online about them.

[Anonymous]

My daughter loved sleep away camp at Camp Potomac Woods. It is a Girl Scouts camp but girls do not need to be Girl Scouts to go to camp. She took the bus to/from camp as well and had a blast! She hopes to go again this year -- registration is by lottery.

[Anonymous]

kfchamberlain wrote:I found this discussion very helpful. On paper there is a Beauvoir program that looks perfect for my son. Did anyone out there really like Beauvoir?

Beauvoir is good (not great). My kids liked it, mainly because of the swimming.

[Anonymous]

Here is a question from a parent of a preschooler who has never been to camp. What type of license do camps have? Is their an accreditation for camps? Can you check on violations like daycare centers?

[Anonymous]

RE Beauvoir - Agree with PP that it is good, not great. My DS didn't hate it, but definitely didn't want to go back. It seemed like a Stepford type atmosphere - kind of sucked the life out of him. Maybe that's okay during the school year but was pretty boring in the summer.

RE Calleva - My DS loves Calleva. He's gone for a week or two a summer for several years (would do more but it is expensive). I would definitely recommend it for older kids. I dont remember what age they start but 1st or 2nd grade would be the earliest I'd do it. It is definitely an active outdoorsy camp, not an art project type camp. Yes they go on the bus, but it seemed fine to me (in fact last year one of the busses was a repurposed ski area bus). But it is rustic. I think they are outside all day - not even sure how much of a camp building there is. There is also an overnight one night per week (usually thursday).

[Anonymous]

My 2 kids did Beauvoir last summer and really liked it (much better than St. Patricks which one did the 2 years before). St. Patricks definitely had younger counselors and was more unstructured.

My younger DS was 3 and he liked the structure -- it was a little more like his preschool with a real teacher in his classroom, not a college student. My older DS did the science camp and is insisting on doing it again.

[Anonymous]

Green Acres camp has been great for us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't recommend WIS for very young children. It's a madhouse.

I'd have to disagree with this. My 4 year old attended WIS summer camp this year and loved it!

My three-year-old attended. Her teachers were terrible and barely even said hello to the children in the morning (they were not affiliated with WIS during the regular school year). And the playground was really chaotic and crowded with a mix of older and younger kids. No one knew my child's name on the playground - there was one aide watching dozens of kids. My child was scared of the older kids.

I guess I felt that no one really cared about my child there, which was sad because she was only three at the time and it was her first introduction to camp.

I wouldn't recommend it. And it doesn't have a great reputation in the neighborhood. I've heard raves about St. Patrick's and NPS' and Little Folks' camps. We'll try one of those next year.

My nephew attended WIS and HATED IT. He was 7 or 8. The "teenage" counselor played dodgeball with the kids and was throwing the ball at their faces. My nephew was hit in the face and was told... "suck it up, this is a man's game!" Needless to say my sister almost went to jail over that whole thing. It was so upsetting. I hated that camp as did everyone in my family. My nephew was miserable and my sister pulled him early.

DS attended WIS 2 summers ago - the camp itself was great but the free time before camp started on the playground was horribly supervised. For a young child, it was very difficult. He did enjoy the camp and we got some daily feedback from the teacher (it was an immersion camp)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't recommend WIS for very young children. It's a madhouse.

I'd have to disagree with this. My 4 year old attended WIS summer camp this year and loved it!

My three-year-old attended. Her teachers were terrible and barely even said hello to the children in the morning (they were not affiliated with WIS during the regular school year). And the playground was really chaotic and crowded with a mix of older and younger kids. No one knew my child's name on the playground - there was one aide watching dozens of kids. My child was scared of the older kids.

I guess I felt that no one really cared about my child there, which was sad because she was only three at the time and it was her first introduction to camp.

I wouldn't recommend it. And it doesn't have a great reputation in the neighborhood. I've heard raves about St. Patrick's and NPS' and Little Folks' camps. We'll try one of those next year.

My nephew attended WIS and HATED IT. He was 7 or 8. The "teenage" counselor played dodgeball with the kids and was throwing the ball at their faces. My nephew was hit in the face and was told... "suck it up, this is a man's game!" Needless to say my sister almost went to jail over that whole thing. It was so upsetting. I hated that camp as did everyone in my family. My nephew was miserable and my sister pulled him early.

DS attended WIS 2 summers ago - the camp itself was great but the free time before camp started on the playground was horribly supervised. For a young child, it was very difficult. He did enjoy the camp and we got some daily feedback from the teacher (it was an immersion camp)

My child HATED WIS.

[Anonymous]

My son (rising 7th grader) is too old for the summer camp program he's been in for the past 6 years and we're planning on Congressional Schools summer camp in Falls Church. Anyone have any experience with that camp? Day camp program or the Teen Travel program?

[Anonymous]

My 2 kids did Beauvoir last summer and really liked it (much better than St. Patricks which one did the 2 years before). St. Patricks definitely had younger counselors and was more unstructured.

Interesting. We had the exact opposite experience. Both of my kids did 1 year at Beavoir (different years, too) and have done one year and 3 years at St Patrick's camp. St Patrick's Camp was both of their favorite, hands down. They also love Discovery Creek and HeadFirst camps.

Beauvoir was fine but unexpceptional. They had neither a bad tiome nor a great time. The staff was on the very young side with a smattering of teachers/prefessionals and the counselors who were highschool or college aged mostly seemed bored with the whole thing. (Johnny who taught swimming was a major exception. He was phenomenal). My kids hated being stuck in the baby pool at Beauvoir which is based on age as both of them could swim well at 4 yrs. of age. Once, when I called about an issue they never could fuind anyone for me to talk to and I kept getting put into unused phone mailboxes. Ugh.

The St Patrick's Camp lit up their days and its been that way every year. There seems to be a much better balance of teachers/professional and highschool/college kid counselors and the young counselors seemed to be really in to it and loved the kids. The swimming program is the best in NWDC hands down (and we have tried lots) as the pool is right on campus, no hiking a half mile down the road, and the swimming instructors are very experienced and much older - teachers and coaches. I don't know what else made it so fantatsic for them but they just LOVE it.

I am interested in trying the Landon Camp for my older son this summer but the posts seem so mixed as do things I have heard from friends. What gives? anyone...??