Anonymous wrote:Was anyone at smithsonian camp this year? Would love some reviews

My kid’s doing a week now. Last summer it was her favorite camp which is why we signed up again. It’s less great this year, but I think that’s because the CITs assigned to my kid’s group spend more time flirting with each other than doing things with the kids.

Anonymous wrote:Kids had a great experience at Lowell this year. I thought they were aging out and this would be our last year, but they want to go back. Great news for my convenience, not so much for my pocketbook.

+1

Just finished five weeks at Baroody Camp (Grace Episcopal location). My 6 yo enjoyed it. It seems well organized and the staff are friendly. The playground is in the shade, which is a huge plus too.

Surprisingly many parents I talked to didn't know Baroody runs summer camps, even though they are a big vendor of after school enrichment in NoVA area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was disappointed in TIC camp. They didn't do much tech at all, and for the price, that's disappointing. They didnt have enough tech supplies to go around yet sold themselves as a tech camp.

That's really disappointing. Which tech did your kid do?

I am not PP but my kid did digital music the last session of TIC and I don't disagree with the sentiment. He liked robotics last year much better. That said, he had a great time at TIC again... and I was really nervous going in because two friends he did it with last year were not going this year so he was on his own. So I count it as a win even if the tech elements weren't fantastic.

DS is neurotypical but while I wouldn't say he struggles to make friends, he tends to not make much effort to invest in relationships that he knows are short term (this is foreign to me... I want to be friends with everyone... I think it's partly an introvert/extrovert thing). We went to the open house on the last day and I was impressed with the relationships he'd built with other campers and counselors, and the general camp spirit. They do some Color Wars type competition and it seemed like the kids got really into it. He'll likely go back next year and he's talking about being a counselor there when he's old enough.

I had a kid in TIC robotics at the VA site and he had a good time. I didn't hear any complaints about the tech portion, but will note that he was at the bottom of his age bracket. I agree that the kids all seemed very happy and excited at the open house.

I'm the PP you quoted. My DS was also at the VA site. I forgot to mention that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was disappointed in TIC camp. They didn't do much tech at all, and for the price, that's disappointing. They didnt have enough tech supplies to go around yet sold themselves as a tech camp.

That's really disappointing. Which tech did your kid do?

I am not PP but my kid did digital music the last session of TIC and I don't disagree with the sentiment. He liked robotics last year much better. That said, he had a great time at TIC again... and I was really nervous going in because two friends he did it with last year were not going this year so he was on his own. So I count it as a win even if the tech elements weren't fantastic.

DS is neurotypical but while I wouldn't say he struggles to make friends, he tends to not make much effort to invest in relationships that he knows are short term (this is foreign to me... I want to be friends with everyone... I think it's partly an introvert/extrovert thing). We went to the open house on the last day and I was impressed with the relationships he'd built with other campers and counselors, and the general camp spirit. They do some Color Wars type competition and it seemed like the kids got really into it. He'll likely go back next year and he's talking about being a counselor there when he's old enough.

I had a kid in TIC robotics at the VA site and he had a good time. I didn't hear any complaints about the tech portion, but will note that he was at the bottom of his age bracket. I agree that the kids all seemed very happy and excited at the open house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was disappointed in TIC camp. They didn't do much tech at all, and for the price, that's disappointing. They didnt have enough tech supplies to go around yet sold themselves as a tech camp.

That's really disappointing. Which tech did your kid do?

I am not PP but my kid did digital music the last session of TIC and I don't disagree with the sentiment. He liked robotics last year much better. That said, he had a great time at TIC again... and I was really nervous going in because two friends he did it with last year were not going this year so he was on his own. So I count it as a win even if the tech elements weren't fantastic.

DS is neurotypical but while I wouldn't say he struggles to make friends, he tends to not make much effort to invest in relationships that he knows are short term (this is foreign to me... I want to be friends with everyone... I think it's partly an introvert/extrovert thing). We went to the open house on the last day and I was impressed with the relationships he'd built with other campers and counselors, and the general camp spirit. They do some Color Wars type competition and it seemed like the kids got really into it. He'll likely go back next year and he's talking about being a counselor there when he's old enough.

Anonymous wrote:My kid was disappointed in TIC camp. They didn't do much tech at all, and for the price, that's disappointing. They didnt have enough tech supplies to go around yet sold themselves as a tech camp.

That's really disappointing. Which tech did your kid do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 10-year-old has been at Burgundy Farms camp all summer and has had a great time. New classes every two weeks and especially liked the MakerSpace camp they did this year. She also reports the daily swimming classes are fun and the once-a-week inflatable waterslide is the best. I'm a little disappointed they weren't able to get their photo app to work this year, but that's a small thing.

Do you know if they have bus service?

Yes, they do--my kids took it from Eastern Market but I think there are other stops too.

Any day camps your kids loved in NOVA?

My kid (13 yo boy) loved Eagles Nest in western NC. It’s a long haul to get down there (8-9 hours’ drive), but the camp is a really unique, lovely place. It’s smaller - only about 120 kids/session, co-ed, and very progressive. Kids choose their classes, which are the usual mix of outdoor stuff, arts, and sports. My kid is *extremely* reserved and came home absolutely glowing - they do a really good job of fostering community (through cabins, mixed-age “table families” for meals, teams, etc). I can’t recommend it highly enough.

My kid was disappointed in TIC camp. They didn't do much tech at all, and for the price, that's disappointing. They didnt have enough tech supplies to go around yet sold themselves as a tech camp.

Anonymous wrote:My 10 y.o. really liked May Flather, where she attended her first sleepaway camp (six days)
It's a Girl Scout camp.

Nice. Mine enjoyed Winona, also for the first time.

Anonymous wrote:My kids have done a few weeks at SSSA camps. This is their third year. They have done some sport camps and some academic camps. They love it! Transportation is so easy, they just really have their act together.

I didn’t see anything on the website about transportation for summer camp. Do you know what the routes are?

My kids spent multiple weeks at Sandy Spring so I thought I’d follow up on some of the other Sandy Spring posts by others. I think the counselor makes a big difference and it’s hard to know if you will get a good one. One child had a great summer last year and was excited to go back to the same cabin and so many of the same workshops and complained much more this year. Lots of changes to the schedule, times they weren’t at the right place at the right time or even ending up at a workshop at the wrong time so no teacher was waiting. It was disappointing. She wants to go back but I’m going to mix in other camps moreso next year. My junior camper seemed to have a nice and organized counselor but they don’t get to pick their workshops at that age and just do a sampler- but weirdly they don’t change the sampler week to week so they were stuck doing like some outdoor living thing (which my kid hated) once a week every week. And they never tried several workshops that were my older child’s favorite (but other cabins did). I know my kids went more weeks than some other kids but there were several others they knew from last year and from school who also did many weeks so I thought it was weird they didn’t try to make it more interesting. Several theme weeks had really fun activities (my kids love Olympic week and Maryland week) but others seemed more phoned in.

TLDR- good but not good for most of the summer. Will do maybe 3-4 weeks next summer.

Another Jewish camp - Camp Ramah Day Camp. My kid who struggles sometimes to be comfortable in these settings was super happy from day. She participated in all kinds of activities that are hard for her and she really grew and made friends.