Summer Camp for Introverted Child

[Anonymous]

DC is in kindergarten. She's introverted. DH and I both work full time so getting anxious about putting her in a loud, crowded environment for 9 hours/day. Would appreciate summer camp recommendations for introverted child. This would be for Arlington, Vienna/Tysons, Falls Church area.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a candidate for a Montessori summer canp.

[Anonymous]

I agree on the Montessori front. Also check out Artworks in Mclean as they do summer camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a candidate for a Montessori summer canp.

I checked the websites for a few of the Montessori schools and their summer camp program seems very similar to a traditional summer camp program. Do they have less children? how are they different? Thanks, really appreciate this information.

[Anonymous]

Don't give in to shyness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't give in to shyness.

It's not "giving in" to shyness to find a camp that isn't overwhelming so that the child feels comfortable not being shy.

To the OP, I don't know Virginia so can't give specific recommendations, but what worked best for my introverted kid was finding a camp with long sessions. Too many camps around here have one week sessions to accommodate families' travel schedules, but it worked better for my child to go to camp with the same campers/counselors for several weeks (as many as you can find) in a row. Having older counselors (college students and up) was also more successful for us, as was a camp that grouped kids by age, so that my young child was not with kids much older.

[Anonymous]

Does she have any interests like gymnastics, soccer etc? Maybe try to find one that focuses on something she enjoys.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised that others recommended Montesori because those classes tend to be large (that's their business model, whoops, I mean learning model). Yes, there's a lot of independent work but the large classes might be overwhelming.

I would look for a camp that has more continuity throughout the summer. I chose Valley Mill because it has longer sessions and kids will get to know their peers rather than having to meet new kids every week.

[Anonymous]

i have one introvert and one extrovert. The extrovert is signed up for 4 different camps, including a session at Valley Mill. the introvert is only signed up for a session at Valley mill and that took some persuading.

It might be an idea OP if you got a nanny or au pair to spend time with your child over the summer - then they can do all the fun things like swimming, bicycling, going to the park, library etc without the stress of being at a summer camp.

just an idea...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i have one introvert and one extrovert. The extrovert is signed up for 4 different camps, including a session at Valley Mill. the introvert is only signed up for a session at Valley mill and that took some persuading.

It might be an idea OP if you got a nanny or au pair to spend time with your child over the summer - then they can do all the fun things like swimming, bicycling, going to the park, library etc without the stress of being at a summer camp.

just an idea...

Ideally that is what I would like to do. Last year, I interviewed someone from care.com. and a few weeks before the summer started, she decided take another job and stay at school instead of coming home for the summer. The plan last summer was to put them in camp 9-12 pm and then have a babysitter/nanny from 12-5 pm. Thank goodness, there were a few camps with spots still available. I'm nervous to go the nanny/babysitter route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i have one introvert and one extrovert. The extrovert is signed up for 4 different camps, including a session at Valley Mill. the introvert is only signed up for a session at Valley mill and that took some persuading.

It might be an idea OP if you got a nanny or au pair to spend time with your child over the summer - then they can do all the fun things like swimming, bicycling, going to the park, library etc without the stress of being at a summer camp.

just an idea...

Ideally that is what I would like to do. Last year, I interviewed someone from care.com. and a few weeks before the summer started, she decided take another job and stay at school instead of coming home for the summer. The plan last summer was to put them in camp 9-12 pm and then have a babysitter/nanny from 12-5 pm. Thank goodness, there were a few camps with spots still available. I'm nervous to go the nanny/babysitter route.

Yes I understand that. We had some babysitters through White House Nannies - I don't know if they still do this, but you pay $350 or so for the year and they make their babysitters available to you, and you pay them directly. It doesn't guarantee continuity unless you're lucky to find one who wants to work through the summer - but it might be worth looking into it.

[Anonymous]

How about Mad Science? It wasn't cheap, but my daughter did one of their camps (Arlington) last year and it was a pretty small group - about 23 kids. They spend most of the day indoors, but they'll visit a nearby playground a couple times a day to get some physical activity.

Art camp might be good, too- some of the smaller camps are pretty chill.

[Anonymous]

My introverted DD's favorite camp is at Potomac Overlook. The groups seem to be fairly small and they have some quiet, observational time in the day. However, for K-1st graders it is only a half-day.

Also look at the Olivos art camp. It is a small group that meets in the art studio at their home. http://olivosartstudio.com/artclassesforkids/summerart/

[Anonymous]

My shy, introverted kids prefer camps in large groups, I think it's because they're just more comfortable if they can blend into the background, and not have people constantly analyzing what they are doing. I would think that extroverts would prefer smaller camps because they gets lots of attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My shy, introverted kids prefer camps in large groups, I think it's because they're just more comfortable if they can blend into the background, and not have people constantly analyzing what they are doing. I would think that extroverts would prefer smaller camps because they gets lots of attention.

This is actually a very interesting perspective. My extroverted DD loves small groups because of all the attention.