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Summer Camp Planning Time!


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What are your plans?

Updated as of April 26...

Camps

June 4-8 - international espionage / lego robotics (how robotics are used to spy)

June 11-15 - a camp that takes the kids around on a week of field trips to discover the global heritage of our metro center.  Includes international cooking / eating.  Also gets into currency exchange, history, etc.

June 15-17 - one girl will do scout camp (2 overnights)

June 18-22 - Spanish immersion camp - Spanish, music, art, dance, sports ....

June 25-29 - Kid 1 - Residential Musical Theater Camp; Kid 2 - "Duct tape engineer" Day Camp

June ?? to July ?? - travel (probably Iceland)

July 9-11 afternoons - 1 kid in gymnastics camp.  Other kid will probably do horse riding that week, if available.

July 10-12 mornings - half day cooking camp (international foods)

July 16-20 - Jr. Medical camp - science & health / careers

July 23-27 - Outdoor / horse camp w/ 1 overnight

July 30 - August 3 - Same outdoor / horse camp

August 6-10 - Academic (math, reading, grammar, writing, Spanish, study skills)

August 13-17 - Super Sleuths camp for kid 1, Putt-Putt Design camp for kid 2.

Weekend / Evening multi-week activities/classes:

Vision therapy for 1 kid.  Weekly plus homework.

Math - One-on-one tutoring for 1 kid - 2 hours per week all summer.  Also, workbook/computer math review for the other kid.

Reading - a 5 week course at the beginning of summer for grades 6-8 - to work on study skills, reading speed etc.  First 5 Sundays (with some homework).

Writing - One-on-one tutoring for 1 kid - 2 hours per week all summer.  Also, pen pal exchange, some scout work.

Horse riding for 1 kid - 3x per week.

Gymnastics and Ninja classes for other kid - 2-3 classes per week.

TKD for both kids - working on their black belt.  As much as we can manage.

Music lessons to be determined.

Other:

Scout badge work - household helper and home care and repair; physical fitness, sports pins; travel, maybe others.

Cooking and other life skills.

Science / engineering projects.

Books with mom - math review, living math and science books, audiobooks, read-alouds....

Summer reading clubs?

Chess, puzzles, and board games?

Volunteering.

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DD will be going to a week long Careers in Biology camp, a gifted conference, the big national Herpetology conference(coupled with a family trip to Canada) and probably doing tumbling camp at her cheer gym as well. She’ll also be writing a new Herpetology course and maybe doing some teacher training workshops.

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Added spy camp (lego robotics = spy science) first week of June.  Because one kid likes robotics and the other kid wants to be a spy.  This is at the science museum, so they will also get other goodies that a science museum offers.

 

I should note the Jr. Medical Camp is at another museum (Natural History).  The nice thing about museum camps is that they always include a variety of mind candy.

 

I am looking at a sleep-away arts camp at a nearby university (theater camp for kid 1, band camp for kid 2).  The price is pretty reasonable and it fits in our schedule.  But I'm waiting for additional info to come in, and I haven't asked the girls yet.  Last year my eldest really enjoyed an outdoor theater camp, but that organization has not posted its camp dates yet.  And honestly, they much prefer indoor camps to hot summer outdoors.  Kids these days!

 

The other option for that same week (late June) is a day camp at the art museum - but again, not enough info yet.

Edited by SKL
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OK so one kid wanted to do the residential theater camp, but the other kid said "no way" to a whole week of band camp, LOL.

 

So I found a "Duct Tape Engineer" camp for her.  Which is funny because it is so her.  She is a loon when it comes to making things out of duct tape and anything else.  I think she will love this.

 

I added a part-time afternoon cooking camp (international food theme) for 3 days after we return from our July 4 travels.  That leaves mornings free in case there is a morning sports camp or whatever that hasn't been advertised yet.  Or just for lying around.

 

The last week of summer - for some reason there are few organizations that offer camp that week.  In the past we have found a half-day arts camp, but it is kind of inconvenient.  Local horse camp is nice but it isn't usually full-time and it isn't always open.  Then again, maybe I should leave it open for more academic review ... anyhoo, there is time to decide.

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What are your plans?

 

Updated: I went ahead and signed up for a few more camps.

 

June 4-8 - international espionage / lego robotics (how robotics are used to spy)

 

June 11-15 - a camp that takes the kids around on a week of field trips to discover the global heritage of our metro center. Includes international cooking / eating. Also gets into currency exchange, history, etc.

 

June 18-22 - culture camp for adoptees from Central America. Geography, Spanish, music, art, dance, sports ....

 

June 25-29 - Kid 1 - Residential Musical Theater Camp; Kid 2 - "Duct tape engineer" Day Camp

 

June ?? to July ?? - travel (probably Iceland)

 

July 10-12 - half day cooking camp (international foods) - p.m.

 

July 16-20 - Jr. Medical camp - science & health / careers

 

July 23-27 - Outdoor / horse camp w/ 1 overnight

July 30 - August 3 - Same outdoor / horse camp

 

August 6-10 - Academic (math, reading, grammar, writing, Spanish, study skills)

 

August 13 - ?? - open

 

 

I am not 100% sure of our travel and work schedule, but I hope to have most of it wrapped up in the very near future.

 

There is talk of them helping design and teach at a 1-week horse camp at a property we are rehabbing, but I am not sure it will happen, or if so, when.

 

I included a week of academic crunch this year, to take some of the "brain drain" pressure off of me.

 

If available, one kid can go to sleep-away theater (and possibly scout) camp. The other kid can go to science or horse camp. I also wanted to look into the music lessons they have at the nearby career center.

 

I might have a driver this summer, so I could maybe consider some half-day camps such as cooking school.

 

Outside of the working day, I will probably have them do Sylvan Edge and some library programs similar to last year. Gymnastics, horse riding, and TKD. Music practice. Hopefully some "afterschooling."

 

Can I come live with you?

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I haven't seen any local catalogues come out yet--bummer! They sure would be a welcome sight in this dreary February! We are planning a trip to Philly. Also, a trip to see the corraling of the wild ponies on the Eastern shore of MD. Probably a beach trip as well. The biggest trip will be to Costa Rica! Yippee!

 

After plotting all that on the summer calendar, I will plug in some camps. My daughter loves Camp Invention. I'd like to entice her into a photography camp. Arty math, straight up art, cooking, sewing, and coding camps are possibilities. I'd like her to do an outdoors camp--hiking, swimming, kayaking, orienteering, archery, etc. Swim & dive lessons plus possibly ice skating lessons are on my radar.

 

We like to be outdoors during the summer months so ropes courses, hiking, kayaking and paddle boarding plus camping are on my list. I want to introduce her to horseback riding. Local parks, nature centers, amusement parks, and museums are great things to do on a whim. O! Live Shakespeare! That has been on my list for some time and I am determined it will happen this summer!

 

In terms of 'mom work' I will finally teach her to read & write Spanish. We will (continue) to do science (amping it up, baby!) and history. I will keep plugging away on her French literacy. We will do tons of read alouds and keep sharp on our math with lots of rich math talks and games. I want to explore ideas of her making $$--a kid business. A tech project too is another idea. We will hang in our backyard a lot--gardening and watching the wildlife. We will spend lots of time at the local pool. We will ride bikes too!

 

I am sure there are more things floating around in my head so I will probably come back to add &/or edit this post. Thanks SO much for starting this thread as I needed to clarify my thoughts. Long live summer!

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I haven't seen any local catalogues come out yet--bummer! They sure would be a welcome sight in this dreary February!

 

Have you done searches online?  Our best camps tend to start advertising and taking registrations online in January / early February.  Some of the best camps are already filled!  I learned my lesson a few years ago when we were left with the most lame and inconvenient camps because I waited until Spring.

 

I am annoyed with the camps that haven't posted yet.  I keep checking every day.

 

So far I've only found 3 real options for the last full week of summer break.  Not sure why most of the camps close by early August.  The options aren't all that exciting and they are expensive.  But, they do sound like they would develop mental skills, without being paper-and-pencil academics.  They are:

  • Super Sleuths - detective camp using STEM and problem solving somehow.
  • Grocery Games - team is given a list of groceries and has to come up with recipes to use them up.
  • Putt-putt design - what it sounds like.

If nothing better gets posted in the near future, I will probably go with Super Sleuths for my Ninja and Grocery Games for the one who is a more confident cook.

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I haven't seen any local catalogues come out yet--bummer! They sure would be a welcome sight in this dreary February! We are planning a trip to Philly. Also, a trip to see the corraling of the wild ponies on the Eastern shore of MD. Probably a beach trip as well. The biggest trip will be to Costa Rica! Yippee!

 

After plotting all that on the summer calendar, I will plug in some camps. My daughter loves Camp Invention. I'd like to entice her into a photography camp. Arty math, straight up art, cooking, sewing, and coding camps are possibilities. I'd like her to do an outdoors camp--hiking, swimming, kayaking, orienteering, archery, etc. Swim & dive lessons plus possibly ice skating lessons are on my radar.

 

We like to be outdoors during the summer months so ropes courses, hiking, kayaking and paddle boarding plus camping are on my list. I want to introduce her to horseback riding. Local parks, nature centers, amusement parks, and museums are great things to do on a whim. O! Live Shakespeare! That has been on my list for some time and I am determined it will happen this summer!

 

In terms of 'mom work' I will finally teach her to read & write Spanish. We will (continue) to do science (amping it up, baby!) and history. I will keep plugging away on her French literacy. We will do tons of read alouds and keep sharp on our math with lots of rich math talks and games. I want to explore ideas of her making $$--a kid business. A tech project too is another idea. We will hang in our backyard a lot--gardening and watching the wildlife. We will spend lots of time at the local pool. We will ride bikes too!

 

I am sure there are more things floating around in my head so I will probably come back to add &/or edit this post. Thanks SO much for starting this thread as I needed to clarify my thoughts. Long live summer!

 

My kids are going to Camp Invention for the second year this year. This year the theme fits both of them! Robots for my son and Puppies/Veterinarian stuff for my daughter!

The hardest part is that it ends at 3p and I have to figure out if I leave work early or if I get a second layer of care to handle the rest of the day each day.
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My kids are going to Camp Invention for the second year this year. This year the theme fits both of them! Robots for my son and Puppies/Veterinarian stuff for my daughter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JUh4a_QalY The hardest part is that it ends at 3p and I have to figure out if I leave work early or if I get a second layer of care to handle the rest of the day each day.

Ooo, I like those themes! My daughter will dig them too I'm sure! They don't post the dates at our school unt much later (say April) when all snow is past & they know for certain when the school year's over, etc. It can delay other camps or we've had to pass it up all together becasue it conflicted with travel plans. It's on my radar though!

Edited by Earthmerlin
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Have you done searches online? Our best camps tend to start advertising and taking registrations online in January / early February. Some of the best camps are already filled! I learned my lesson a few years ago when we were left with the most lame and inconvenient camps because I waited until Spring.

 

I am annoyed with the camps that haven't posted yet. I keep checking every day.

 

So far I've only found 3 real options for the last full week of summer break. Not sure why most of the camps close by early August. The options aren't all that exciting and they are expensive. But, they do sound like they would develop mental skills, without being paper-and-pencil academics. They are:

  • Super Sleuths - detective camp using STEM and problem solving somehow.
  • Grocery Games - team is given a list of groceries and has to come up with recipes to use them up.
  • Putt-putt design - what it sounds like.
If nothing better gets posted in the near future, I will probably go with Super Sleuths for my Ninja and Grocery Games for the one who is a more confident cook.

Yeah, you're right. I'll look online this weekend. I'm also on their e-mail lists and so get alerts but I could always check myself. The Costa Rica trip will determine everything else & we're not quite ready to solidify that--probably mid-March. Plus I want to see what some of her friends are doing this summer so she can perhaps enroll with them. There are a lot of moving pieces so while summer is fun overall pulling it together can involve a bit of maneuvering, no??

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Yeah, you're right. I'll look online this weekend. I'm also on their e-mail lists and so get alerts but I could always check myself. The Costa Rica trip will determine everything else & we're not quite ready to solidify that--probably mid-March. Plus I want to see what some of her friends are doing this summer so she can perhaps enroll with them. There are a lot of moving pieces so while summer is fun overall pulling it together can involve a bit of maneuvering, no??

 

Absolutely yes.  :)  This is my 6th year doing this, so I've learned that waiting has more cons than pros, at least for me as a single mom who works full time and needs full-time programs for the whole summer.

 

On the positive side, this planning is making me think about summer and fun stuff, which is a good thing to think about in February!

 

I have some uncertainty too, as the government puts out a huge application at random times each year.  Last year they did it so the deadline was mid-June.  Sometimes it's August, which really really sucks if you're trying to travel or have fun.  We haven't bought our Iceland tickets due to the uncertainty.  But due to various work demands, it's unlikely we could take a long trip any time other than early July.  So I went ahead and booked camps for the rest of the summer.  Theoretically I could get a refund from most of them if it comes to that.

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OK, signed the kids up for the final week of camps.  My youngest surprised me and chose putt-putt design rather than cooking.  Whatever floats yr boat.  :P  It's possible that those camps may be cancelled if they don't get enough interest.  I won't know that until May.  :/

 

Still open is one week of mornings, and a couple of partial weeks.  Most likely these will be filled with horse riding for one kid.  For the other, maybe track camp if that happens the same time as last year.  Or maybe a gymnastics camp.

 

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UPDATED! 

 

We won't have any camps this summer but rather programs that will run through all summer holidays.

Of course there will be lots of changes yet, but so far I think it will look something like that:

 

DS10

Robotics - 1 morning/week

Tennis - 3 mornings/week

French club - 1 morning/week

Piano

more tennis, gymnastics, swimming and chess.

 

DS8 

Science club - 2 mornings/week

Sailing - 2 mornings/week

Arts with granny

Swimming, diving, gymnastics and chess

 

And as usual lots of sun, sea and time with their granny, unfortunately with the only one as from this year :(

 

Edited by rushhush08
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  • 2 weeks later...

DD (she will be 10 in a week):

 

*Animal camp at the local no kill animal shelter

*Math Camp

*Camp Invention

*6 week summer program at a local school for children with special learning needs- she will be doing academic work with some amazing teachers, along with swimming, horse back riding, tennis, and other fun activities. She did this camp last summer and absolutely *loved* it. Highlight of her summer!

 

DD6:

 

*Spanish Immersion Camp (3 weeks)
*Camp Invention

I'd like to find her one or two more camps to do, but most camps she wants to do she isn't old enough for..she is my advanced child and a lot of camps for her age are too "babyish" for her..she loves nature, but the only nature camp she's be interested in doesn't start until after she's 7 or 8..so we will see. 

 

DS15:

 

*Spanish Immersion program at the end of summer.

We have been considering a high school Ecuador trip for him, but we aren't sure yet, mainly due to costs and it might be better to wait until next summer vs this summer, to give him a year to mature a little bit. Maybe he will do volunteer work and get a summer job..just not 100% sure on his summer plans yet. I'd like to get him out and away from the house as much as possible though..summer time is just a chance for me to unwind a bit from the school year, and the kids to get out and have some fun and amazing experiences. We don't usually travel in the summer, as we do that in the "off season".

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well it is confirmed that Miss A will do 10 weeks of vision therapy this summer.  She didn't want to do it because it is a time suck, but I told her I wouldn't give her a bunch of homework to do during those weeks, so she liked that.

 

I found a reading program that will mostly work with our schedule.  It's 5 Sundays.  We will miss 1 or 2 of the classes when we travel, but they say you can make them up either in person or online.  They have to read 1 book and they will work on stuff like reading speed and efficient use of textbooks.  My kids could use that.

 

I'm trying to balance the tension between avoiding the summer brain drain and my kids' opinion that summer break is supposed to be a break.  (And lots of people encourage my kids in that attitude.)  I think I've included about the right amount of academics in the schedule, though I might shore it up at home during weeks when they don't have much at camp.  (Though the camps are generally pretty stimulating.)

 

Should I sign up for the library writing club like I did last year?  The kids enjoyed that.  I'll see what they offer.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On February 15, 2018 at 5:52 AM, Earthmerlin said:

I haven't seen any local catalogues come out yet--bummer! They sure would be a welcome sight in this dreary February! We are planning a trip to Philly. Also, a trip to see the corraling of the wild ponies on the Eastern shore of MD. Probably a beach trip as well. The biggest trip will be to Costa Rica! Yippee!

 

After plotting all that on the summer calendar, I will plug in some camps. My daughter loves Camp Invention. I'd like to entice her into a photography camp. Arty math, straight up art, cooking, sewing, and coding camps are possibilities. I'd like her to do an outdoors camp--hiking, swimming, kayaking, orienteering, archery, etc. Swim & dive lessons plus possibly ice skating lessons are on my radar.

 

We like to be outdoors during the summer months so ropes courses, hiking, kayaking and paddle boarding plus camping are on my list. I want to introduce her to horseback riding. Local parks, nature centers, amusement parks, and museums are great things to do on a whim. O! Live Shakespeare! That has been on my list for some time and I am determined it will happen this summer!

 

In terms of 'mom work' I will finally teach her to read & write Spanish. We will (continue) to do science (amping it up, baby!) and history. I will keep plugging away on her French literacy. We will do tons of read alouds and keep sharp on our math with lots of rich math talks and games. I want to explore ideas of her making $$--a kid business. A tech project too is another idea. We will hang in our backyard a lot--gardening and watching the wildlife. We will spend lots of time at the local pool. We will ride bikes too!

 

I am sure there are more things floating around in my head so I will probably come back to add &/or edit this post. Thanks SO much for starting this thread as I needed to clarify my thoughts. Long live summer!

Now that summer seems closer than ever I am looking forward to just doing at-home stuff & day trips plus bigger travel. My child specifically asked NOT to do any camps--has anyone's kid done the same? She's a homebody & wants lots of leisure time after being scheduled so much during the academic year. If you stay mostly at home during break, what do you fill your time with? I'm looking forward to having her all to myself (LOL) but we will definitely be active nonetheless-both physically & cognitively. 

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Neither of my kids are doing any camps.  Camp is extremely expensive around here and there's nothing they really want to do.  Dd has even decided not to do swim team this summer.

We are going to be doing a lot of hikes with a local homeschool hiking group, swim and kayak at the lake, continue doing some school (math and reading), the 4-H fair in July, and just relax.  We've had a very busy year since I started teaching classes so it will be good to just chill.

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I keep thinking that sometime in the future, I will let my kids have some weeks really free in the summer.  So far I haven't decided that this is the year.  For one thing, there are so many cool things available.  For another, I work at home and having putzers, rasslers, and mess-makers around me all day might push me over the edge.  ?

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We have changed all our plans in the end ?

Mornings - the beach & activities in the evenings

 

Ds10

French at the French Alliance (2times per week×3hrs)

Tennis - 4 times per week by 2 hrs + 2 hrs of physical training

Swimming - 5hrs per week 

Piano - twice per week

Chess - once per week plus tournaments

Plus lots of reading (we already bought 30 books for summer which he wants to read ))) , programming(python) online, a course kf creative writing online, lots of maths and robotics with brother at home.

 

Ds8

Swimming - 5 hrs + 2 hrs of physical training

Karate - twice per week

Chess - once per week

Plus Japanese with a tutor, arts with grandma and auntie(they stay with us all summer again ? ) programming with Minecraft online, Beast academy online, a creative writing course online, reading and robotics with brother.

Short trips,  to Sicily in August and  France in September. 

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