Summer Activities for International Teen

[Anonymous]

I have been asked by a family member to host her 15 year old daughter for the summer. The teen will be here on a B-2 tourist visa and is not a citizen.

I'd like to place her in a school program, camp or some activity for at least part of the time that she'll be here but I'm not even sure where to begin for non-citizens. Any suggestions? She'll be here for two months (July and August).

[Anonymous]

Where are you geographically?
Does she speak English?
Does she have any particular interests?
Some camps require proof of immunization. Can she provide that if necessary?

[Anonymous]

We are in a similar situation, and our guest will be taking an English course at WIS.

[Anonymous]

They like to shop and go dancing. At least that was the experience with our two exchange students!

[Anonymous]

Make sure that they stay in touch with other exchange students from the program as it helps with the homesickness.

[Anonymous]

OP here. She is from Guyana and does speak English. She is also learning French and Spanish so she's open to language courses but wants to study engineering.

[Anonymous]

Turn off your wi-fi for a few days so she can't surf the internet and has to interact with people. She will become homesick by being online the whole time and thinking that she is missing stuff. Out of sight/out of mind.

Go to the mall and the pool. Find other teenagers.

Unless you live in PW county, I don't think we check for citizenship in a camp. You do need a school form to prove immunization, but I'm sure her visa would do the same task.

If you are in VA I would look at the camps at George Mason, many science focused, also looked at the Fairfax Collegent camps.

[Anonymous]

My 15 year old stepson took a few week-long art camps for teens last summer at the Corcoran. He took classes in cartooning and drawing; there are others on fashion design, etc. The classes were 3-4 hours, either in morning or afternoon sessions. It was expensive, but he loved them.

[Anonymous]

As a foreigner living in this country for years on a visa, I can tell you proof of citizenship is never required for anything. However, proof of residency may be required to pay lower fees for certain courses in community college or county classes.

I would just enroll her in whatever she wants - engineering sounds fascinating.

[Anonymous]

You might try looking at the colleges and universities for STEM offerings for high schoolers.

Some camps might have some leeway on the age cutoffs:
http://www.romansrobots.com
http://childsci.org/camp
http://www.booleangirl.org/camps.php

for something completely different:
http://www.culinariacookingschool.com

[Anonymous]

In your situation we sent a teen to TIC camp with our own, younger child. It was OK, but the international girl was one of the oldest there.

[Anonymous]

International Language School - for whatever languages you might need

she could train to be a camp counsellor but that might be a bit late in the day for her

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a similar situation, and our guest will be taking an English course at WIS.

That's definitely a good idea if she needs to work on her English.

Look for classes at the TechShop maker space in Arlington: http://www.techshop.ws/arlington.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that they stay in touch with other exchange students from the program as it helps with the homesickness.

[Anonymous]

Consider an evening bike tour of DC. Preschoolers couldn't go but you could get sitter or divide and conquer. Nats or Os game would be a must do. I think all ages enjoy the Aquarium in B'more. Sandy Springs Park in md for zip lining and ropes course if not afraid of heights.