Many summer camps have no before care/after care options...

[Anonymous]

I am shopping for summer camps, and I see many decent camps that I like start at 9am & ends at noon or 3pm. Are those summer camps not designed for full time working parents, but targeted stay at home parents or families with nannies/carpool? Most of them have no before care/after care options. A few of them offer added before care or after care options, and it added up almost double of weekly camp tuition. What is considered reasonable range of weekly summer camp for full day (8am to 5pm/6pm)? A lot of them are in $500-$600 weekly range for a kindergartner, is it considered on expensive or reasonable price? We are in Montgomery county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am shopping for summer camps, and I see many decent camps that I like start at 9am & ends at noon or 3pm. Are those summer camps not designed for full time working parents, but targeted stay at home parents or families with nannies/carpool? Most of them have no before care/after care options. A few of them offer added before care or after care options, and it added up almost double of weekly camp tuition. What is considered reasonable range of weekly summer camp for full day (8am to 5pm/6pm)? A lot of them are in $500-$600 weekly range for a kindergartner, is it considered on expensive or reasonable price? We are in Montgomery county.

Summer camps generally are a replacement for "school hours." They figure that parents will continue whatever they did before for aftercare, etc. during hte school year.

[Anonymous]

Definitely on the expensive end IMO, especially if after care is not included. Where are you looking? I've found most camps offer after care. Even if their core published hours are until 3pm, there's an aftercare add-on listed somewhere that goes to 5-6pm.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, that's the cost of camp. You can try county camps, which are cheaper, or hire a sitter for the hours you need care. But yes, it's brutally expensive.

[Anonymous]

I found that further out in Montgomery County, camps are less likely to have before/aftercare, and that when they do, they are very basic. I commented on another thread that my kid did a MoCo camp that basically had them just sitting at a table in a gym during aftercare. I think you have to look in DC or at least closer in, and also at larger camps, to find options that work for working parents.

[Anonymous]

Check out the Montgomery County parks and rec camps. They are full day and much cheaper. Your pricing is in line with what most private camps charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am shopping for summer camps, and I see many decent camps that I like start at 9am & ends at noon or 3pm. Are those summer camps not designed for full time working parents, but targeted stay at home parents or families with nannies/carpool? Most of them have no before care/after care options. A few of them offer added before care or after care options, and it added up almost double of weekly camp tuition. What is considered reasonable range of weekly summer camp for full day (8am to 5pm/6pm)? A lot of them are in $500-$600 weekly range for a kindergartner, is it considered on expensive or reasonable price? We are in Montgomery county.

Summer camps generally are a replacement for "school hours." They figure that parents will continue whatever they did before for aftercare, etc. during hte school year.

But many working parents used after care provided at the school, so OP’s surprise that that is not offered by many camps makes perfect sense even with what you said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am shopping for summer camps, and I see many decent camps that I like start at 9am & ends at noon or 3pm. Are those summer camps not designed for full time working parents, but targeted stay at home parents or families with nannies/carpool? Most of them have no before care/after care options. A few of them offer added before care or after care options, and it added up almost double of weekly camp tuition. What is considered reasonable range of weekly summer camp for full day (8am to 5pm/6pm)? A lot of them are in $500-$600 weekly range for a kindergartner, is it considered on expensive or reasonable price? We are in Montgomery county.

Summer camps generally are a replacement for "school hours." They figure that parents will continue whatever they did before for aftercare, etc. during hte school year.

But many working parents used after care provided at the school, so OP’s surprise that that is not offered by many camps makes perfect sense even with what you said.

+1 We're in Arlington and most working parents IME use the school extended day program. I think the only camp we've ever looked at/used that had no aftercare option was the local nature center.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's very frustrating. We are thinking about a summer nanny for this reason. Last summer I tried the SACC summer camp and the before/after care at Fairfax County camps, and was disappointed with both. Even when the camps were awesome, having to start and end by sitting in a loud crowded gym with a bunch of strangers soured the experience.

[Anonymous]

The Y camps in Reston all have Pre and After care for free. I am not sure if other Y camps have the same policy. I will say that many of the camps we look at have the pre and after care options as an add on. We are fortunate enough that we don't need those hours.

I do know some families who hire a college student who will pick the child up from camp at 3 and stay until 7 or 8. The College kid makes dinner for the kid(s).

[Anonymous]

Most camps in MoCo do offer before/aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Y camps in Reston all have Pre and After care for free. I am not sure if other Y camps have the same policy. I will say that many of the camps we look at have the pre and after care options as an add on. We are fortunate enough that we don't need those hours.

I do know some families who hire a college student who will pick the child up from camp at 3 and stay until 7 or 8. The College kid makes dinner for the kid(s).

PP here. The after care that we have seen at the Y is normally unstructured play time at either Lake Fairfax or at the Y building itself. They use the after care room and take the kids to the gym, if they are at the Y. If they are at Lake Fairfax they just chill in the large Pavilion area and play what they want. There are some board games for kids, lots of balls and the like for sports. Some kids are reading.

[Anonymous]

Where are you looking? I've only seen one camp that doesn't have an option for working parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am shopping for summer camps, and I see many decent camps that I like start at 9am & ends at noon or 3pm. Are those summer camps not designed for full time working parents, but targeted stay at home parents or families with nannies/carpool? Most of them have no before care/after care options. A few of them offer added before care or after care options, and it added up almost double of weekly camp tuition. What is considered reasonable range of weekly summer camp for full day (8am to 5pm/6pm)? A lot of them are in $500-$600 weekly range for a kindergartner, is it considered on expensive or reasonable price? We are in Montgomery county.

Summer camps generally are a replacement for "school hours." They figure that parents will continue whatever they did before for aftercare, etc. during hte school year.

But many working parents used after care provided at the school, so OP’s surprise that that is not offered by many camps makes perfect sense even with what you said.

Bar-T and Kids after Hours (both major providers of after care at schools during the school year) offer full day camps at schools throughout the county.

[Anonymous]

A few of them offer added before care or after care options, and it added up almost double of weekly camp tuition. What is considered reasonable range of weekly summer camp for full day (8am to 5pm/6pm)? A lot of them are in $500-$600 weekly range for a kindergartner, is it considered on expensive or reasonable price?

I'm in Fairfax County but that's about right here. The camp will be ~$450 a week plus $120 to $150 additional for aftercare.