Valley Mill
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Anonymous
| How old does a child have to be to enjoy Valley Mill? The program looks great. Would it work well for an adventurous, bold almost 6-year old girl who loves nature? |
Anonymous
| She'd be a Bee, which primarily is an add-on to accommodate younger sibs. Wait a year and she'll love it. |
Anonymous
| Their website says they take a younger group of 5 year olds who are in a mixed group. I think separate boys and girls from 7 |
Anonymous
| Are you thinking for next year? I would call this year and see if they have any open houses, parents' visiting days, or other opportunities to observe coming up. My youngest is 7 1/2 and had a blast this summer at Valley Mill. When I went to pick her up one day a couple of weeks ago, I saw some of the youngest kids in a group singing and chanting -- they were right outside the office, at the end of the day so getting ready to go home, but they sounded like they were having a blast. They were adorable. |
Anonymous
Yes, we are thinking for next year. Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my post. That's a great idea to visit! Thanks, PP! |
Anonymous
| How on the ball do you have to be to register a new camper next summer? Is this a register as soon as it opens kind of place? |
Anonymous
It sounds like she's the kind of kid that loves Valley Mill. Will she be rising K or rising first? Valley Mill is a long fun packed day, but it's exhausting. If my kid was coming from 1/2 day preschool, or a full day preschool program with a nap or quiet time, I'd probably wait a year. If she'd made an adjustment to full day, no downtime, through a year of school, then I'd say go for it. |
Anonymous
| My DD started at 5 as a Bee before starting KG and loved it! Yes she was tired but Bees aren't on the move as much so it's an easy way to start. She was coming from full time Pre-K with nap time but was only resting (vice sleeping). This is her third year and she might enjoy it more and more every year! |
Anonymous
| Valley Mill offers fall 1 day camps when MCPS is out. You could just try it for a day. |
Anonymous
We have had two summers there so far, one with just ds and the other with all three kids. Both times I registered pretty early -- and especially this year as I needed to get all three kids into the same camp at the same time. I kept getting emails from them though about registration, open houses, etc. into at least April, so I don't get the impression that all the spaces fill up by the end of January. I don't know what their total capacity is but it's a big place. |
Anonymous
| Does the transportation thing really work pretty smoothly? I'm nervous about putting a 6/7 year old on a bus. |
Anonymous
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We were worried that the bus ride would be too long, but our DS loved it. The driver and bus counselor made it really fun.
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Anonymous
There's a counselor on the bus in addition to the driver. My kids would nap on the ride home. |
Anonymous
The bus was my kid's favorite part, songs, snacks, making friends across gender and age lines. School buses are significantly safer than cars. Something like 7 times as safe. |
Anonymous
Erm I don't think you can say a bus is SEVEN times safer than a car. You can say a bike is SEVEN times less safe than a car, however. |