2016 Summer Camp Recommendations and Reviews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are loving Kids After Hours Traveling Teens Program. They come home exhausted and happy every day.

My son also did a week of this this summer and loved it. He also loves the regular KAH camp and is enjoying it again this year. I just can't say enough good things about KAH. For the Travelin Teens, my 10-year old (going into 5th grade) was part of the "JV" group. The counselors paid some extra attention and kept closer hold on them than they do for the "Varsity" group. The basic KAH includes lots of activities, outside time, water play, field trips, etc. My son comes home tired and dirty pretty much every day.

How's the supervision by the camp on these field trips? I've sent my daughter on a few county camps with field trips and she reported minimal supervision (and I don't send her any more)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"On the downside, and this is for all camps--I'm quite tired of 3pm being considered a "full day". For those of us with 2 working parents, the added cost of aftercare and the pain of it only going til 6 is very frustrating. "

+1. It's just a way to make the base cost seem less. Since the sticker tag gets separated from the real cost of using the program.

I'm a former camp manager, though I didn't set hours or prices for my camp. 3pm was "full day" because that's what the kids are used to with school. For an active camp--which most are--the kids were ready to go home/have the downtime of aftercare by 3:30, when the pickup period ended. Most of our campers went home by 3:30, though we did have 2-10 in aftercare until 6, depending on the week. The time is for consistency of schedule, not to pad the price.

I this were true then you wouldn't charge so much for the 2 hours extra that can sometimes be close to between 1/3 and 1/2 the cost of the camp fee.

PP. Like I said, I didn't set the price, but at my camp it certainly wasn't as high as that. (Different institutions obviously have different prices.) The factors that go into setting the price include paying staff--not only directly supervising staff, but also admin who needs to stick around, the cost of keeping the building open with AC, etc. I'm a working parent myself (obviously, since I had to stick around after all of the aftercare kids left), so I get it!

[Anonymous]

We have been happy at Beauvoir for two years in a row -- 5yo-6yo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are loving Kids After Hours Traveling Teens Program. They come home exhausted and happy every day.

My son also did a week of this this summer and loved it. He also loves the regular KAH camp and is enjoying it again this year. I just can't say enough good things about KAH. For the Travelin Teens, my 10-year old (going into 5th grade) was part of the "JV" group. The counselors paid some extra attention and kept closer hold on them than they do for the "Varsity" group. The basic KAH includes lots of activities, outside time, water play, field trips, etc. My son comes home tired and dirty pretty much every day.

How's the supervision by the camp on these field trips? I've sent my daughter on a few county camps with field trips and she reported minimal supervision (and I don't send her any more)

The kids are definitely given more independence but usually stay with their group/counselor depending on the trip. It also depends on your definition of minimal supervision, how old is your dd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are loving Kids After Hours Traveling Teens Program. They come home exhausted and happy every day.

My son also did a week of this this summer and loved it. He also loves the regular KAH camp and is enjoying it again this year. I just can't say enough good things about KAH. For the Travelin Teens, my 10-year old (going into 5th grade) was part of the "JV" group. The counselors paid some extra attention and kept closer hold on them than they do for the "Varsity" group. The basic KAH includes lots of activities, outside time, water play, field trips, etc. My son comes home tired and dirty pretty much every day.

How's the supervision by the camp on these field trips? I've sent my daughter on a few county camps with field trips and she reported minimal supervision (and I don't send her any more)

The kids are definitely given more independence but usually stay with their group/counselor depending on the trip. It also depends on your definition of minimal supervision, how old is your dd?

At the time of these camps where they'd do field trips, she was about 7. Trips to a lake, she said counselors were hanging out amongst themselves, kids could do/go where they wanted. This is from a 7 year old, so of course I'll take with a grain of salt. Maybe I'll attempt again when's she older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are trying Burgundy Farms for the first year this year. The first week got good reviews from both of my boys (6 and 4).

wow that is young!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are loving Kids After Hours Traveling Teens Program. They come home exhausted and happy every day.

My son also did a week of this this summer and loved it. He also loves the regular KAH camp and is enjoying it again this year. I just can't say enough good things about KAH. For the Travelin Teens, my 10-year old (going into 5th grade) was part of the "JV" group. The counselors paid some extra attention and kept closer hold on them than they do for the "Varsity" group. The basic KAH includes lots of activities, outside time, water play, field trips, etc. My son comes home tired and dirty pretty much every day.

How's the supervision by the camp on these field trips? I've sent my daughter on a few county camps with field trips and she reported minimal supervision (and I don't send her any more)

The kids are definitely given more independence but usually stay with their group/counselor depending on the trip. It also depends on your definition of minimal supervision, how old is your dd?

At the time of these camps where they'd do field trips, she was about 7. Trips to a lake, she said counselors were hanging out amongst themselves, kids could do/go where they wanted. This is from a 7 year old, so of course I'll take with a grain of salt. Maybe I'll attempt again when's she older.

I won't lie, county camps tend to have terrible staffing. As someone in the industry id never send my kid to a rec dept camp (worked there years ago). The group of staff for travelin teens seems to really engage with the kids. They're their counsellors but really good at being their friend without crossing the line. I'm sure when she's older you'll be more comfortable and she can actually tell you what's going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are loving Kids After Hours Traveling Teens Program. They come home exhausted and happy every day.

My son also did a week of this this summer and loved it. He also loves the regular KAH camp and is enjoying it again this year. I just can't say enough good things about KAH. For the Travelin Teens, my 10-year old (going into 5th grade) was part of the "JV" group. The counselors paid some extra attention and kept closer hold on them than they do for the "Varsity" group. The basic KAH includes lots of activities, outside time, water play, field trips, etc. My son comes home tired and dirty pretty much every day.

How's the supervision by the camp on these field trips? I've sent my daughter on a few county camps with field trips and she reported minimal supervision (and I don't send her any more)

The kids are definitely given more independence but usually stay with their group/counselor depending on the trip. It also depends on your definition of minimal supervision, how old is your dd?

At the time of these camps where they'd do field trips, she was about 7. Trips to a lake, she said counselors were hanging out amongst themselves, kids could do/go where they wanted. This is from a 7 year old, so of course I'll take with a grain of salt. Maybe I'll attempt again when's she older.

I won't lie, county camps tend to have terrible staffing. As someone in the industry id never send my kid to a rec dept camp (worked there years ago). The group of staff for travelin teens seems to really engage with the kids. They're their counsellors but really good at being their friend without crossing the line. I'm sure when she's older you'll be more comfortable and she can actually tell you what's going on.

Thanks, you kind of confirmed my suspicions in those county camps and that why we've stopped attending especially with the field trip experience. Good to hear that Kids After Hours is a good option!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any "woodsy" camps similar to Camp Sonshine or Sandy Spring (or I guess Calleva & Valley Mill but less nose bleed expensive) in VA outside the beltway?

Try Adventure Links, tho not cheap.

[Anonymous]

My rising first grader is at Knights of Columbus in Arlington and so far we love it! The kids have daily swim lessons plus two other opportunities for free swim - one during the regular camp and one during Extended Day. They seem to keep busy the rest of the day with sports, art, and music. Each Friday they have a Friday surprise, which my son loves. The counselors are great - very friendly and interactive with the kids. I've also found the camp to be well organized.

It seems to be popular with kids who live in the area. This is my son's second session and both times there were 5-10 kids he knew from either preschool, elementary school or Arlington Babe Ruth. He was nervous before he started camp and I think seeing some familiar faces has really helped. He now looks forward to going every day.

[Anonymous]

11:54 - it really depends on the camp. We have one particular county camp (Arlington) we're using for a third straight summer because my daughter loved it so much the last two years. The staff:kid ratios are extremely high and the level of supervision and organization is first rate.

At other county camps and rec classes, yeah, sometimes the supervision is a little lax. So we avoid those.

23:44 - KOC is awesome and my daughter loves it. I wish it were a little cheaper, because it's walkable from our house and it would be great to use it for many weeks. But yes, this is a camp I often recommend to my friends. We've known several other campers at every session we've used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Camp Sonshine - love love love!

Had a Pre-K & 2nd grader there last week. They had a great time and the counselors seemed very warm/enthusiastic. We've gone several years now & had a good experience each year. Normally do a few weeks, but for Pre-K it would work for a full summer.

Primary dislike: new nut-free policy (since DC lives on PB), although I realize that's a plus for many families.

+1 This is our 2nd year there. It's my kids' favorite camp. We like most everything about it.
They changed the policy on trips to the ice cream shack this year and DD was disappointed that they don't get to go every day, but I'm ok with that.

My one dislike is they have a camp store where they sell items with the camp logo and one of the week's activities is a trip to the camp store. Kid has to bring money if they want to buy something and if they want the $15 [insert item name here] and you don't want to spend $15 on _____, you then have the added experience of dealing with that with your child.

[Anonymous]

I have a question about Sidwell Soccer camp. When the weather is like it is today and the next few days do they go inside? I've heard mixed things but wanted to see if anyone had a handle on what's actually happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another for Sidwell.

Soccer seems totally brutal and I had stories of K[b]indergardeners with bloodied mouths, kids getting winded and balls knocking them in the back of the head.
[/b]
But I guess that can be fun.

Handwork camp - excellent, apparently, according to my DD.

What?! Not ok. Not ever ok for that age group.

Given the date of this post, it was probably my kid with the bloody mouth! It was an accident where another player kicked the ball into DC's face during scrimmage. It was not supposed to be part of the drill. These things happen in sports. Camp nurse treated the injury and wrote a full report. :>

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child love Spanish Summer Camp at Waterfont Academy and he is learning!!! They go out regularly on field trips, splash pads, and to the playgrounds. They have themes for each week and get the vocabulary in each of these areas and science experiments to get even more new vocabulary. Learning, fun, and safe - awesome!!!

Where is this academy- can you please send the website?

http://www.waterfrontacademy.org