Consider summer camps at colleges--for all parents:

[Michelle in MO]

I'm probably posting "news" that many of you already know, sort of like saying, "I've discovered fire!" when---you already know about fire.

 

At any rate, though, I want to mention to all parents out there, both parents of h.s.-aged kids and younger kids, to consider camps on college campuses.

 

We sent two of our girls to Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, IL, for a Creative Writing Camp, and our youngest to Science Camp-Junior. The camps lasted for one week, and the instructors at both camps were top-notch. I really appreciated how the high school kids were treated like adults. (For example, my oldest struggles sometimes with asthma, and she was allowed to keep and carry her medication and inhaler with her.) The activities were all age-appropriate, and the staff and counselors were excellent.

 

The Creative Writing Camp was held at the same campus where a university shooting took place in either January or February. A graduate student shot approximately 6 other students before killing himself. I was understandably concerned about safety, but both my husband and father reassured me that, after security upgrades on campus, it would probably be the safest place in the country to send the kids. Indeed, the campus has made serious security upgrades all around.

 

There are all kinds of summer camps at college campuses around the country. There are music camps (see these at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, which I might add is one of the most beautiful college campuses I've ever seen!) Here's a veterinary camp at Fresno State University. Here's a forensics camp at Ohio Northern University. Here's a Cambridge Latin Camp in New Jersey.

 

We've never sent our kids to these other camps, so I can't personally vouch for them. But, I have to share that this Creative Writing Camp was an eye-opener for both my husband and I. We had never before considered sending our kids to camps on college campuses. We're going to be on the lookout for more of these types of experiences for our kids in the future.

 

I hope this information helps someone else!

[Robin in Tx]

An acquaintance of mine sends her high school soon to Texas A&M at Galveston's Sea Camp (a Marine Biology camp). She says it is wonderful and her son loves it. She recommends it highly.

[kidzr1st]

We have a local community college offering a CSI camp all day for 1 week, including field trips, for only $150! The other colleges in my area were charging $300 plus/week for their camps - too much for me :(

[Michelle in MO]

expensive! The CSI camp for $150.00 sounds like a pretty good deal, though!

[Michelle in MO]

An acquaintance of mine sends her high school soon to Texas A&M at Galveston's Sea Camp (a Marine Biology camp). She says it is wonderful and her son loves it. She recommends it highly.

 

about becoming a marine biologist, although lately the "hard sciences" (chemistry, etc.) are not her favorite subject. Still, something like this would be great, I think! Thanks for sharing this info.

[Robin in Tx]

Michelle, here is a link to their camp for "high achieving" students (i.e. serious camp related to career interest):

 

http://www.tamug.edu/seacamp/newweb/TAG.html

 

They have one for marine biology, marine engineering, veterinary medicine and premed. Expensive, though. There are other, not so demanding, camps as well.

[April in CA]

Michele, I have ben intrigued by the idea of summer camps on college campuses, but I don't know how to find them. did you just google the things your kids were interested in ? My guys are interested in engineering. It may be too late for this summer, but I would love to find out how to discover these things. Any tips? And how is your daughter's asthma doing? My older son recently had an attack that sent him to the ER and we are trying to find the right combo of meds - right now he is very fatigued - I don't know if that is from the inhaled steroid or Singulair or what - very confusing, especially since he was asymptomatic for years.

Blessings,

April

[NancyL]

I tried to offer my kids the opportunity to go to a camp where it wasn't on a college campus, so they could have an outdoors experience. Those kinds of camps are getting harder to find as many lose their properties when the land is sold. The good thing is that they don't mingle with the public on their way to meals, etc. However, I had my older one (High school age) try a sports camp and it was really nice because the team members were counselors and they spoke about college and college life. The coach monitored them closely and they were good sports and nice to the kids. (Wyoming) He said that they started sleeping in a sorority house (his wife's an alum) because the dorms were too loud with all the other programs going on and the kids were really tired and needed their sleep. My d. said it really helped when it was time to go to college because you had some frame of reference when it was time to test drive the college campuses. Also, the kids need to have experience away from home so they're not too homesick. The downside is the food isn't very good anymore on the campuses.

My 14 yo daughter is doing the Monterrey Middlebury Language camp (college campus)right now--they are immersion with 3 hours of instruction plus homework per day. The only minus is the food is all fried she says. But they get dorm rooms and all that so its a nice experience, I think.

[Michelle in MO]

Michele, I have ben intrigued by the idea of summer camps on college campuses, but I don't know how to find them. did you just google the things your kids were interested in ? My guys are interested in engineering. It may be too late for this summer, but I would love to find out how to discover these things. Any tips? And how is your daughter's asthma doing? My older son recently had an attack that sent him to the ER and we are trying to find the right combo of meds - right now he is very fatigued - I don't know if that is from the inhaled steroid or Singulair or what - very confusing, especially since he was asymptomatic for years.

Blessings,

April

 

college campuses until this past winter. Last year all three of my girls attended a Bible camp. It's not that it was bad, but it was definitely geared towards high school students and they were treated like high school students (and, perhaps that was necessary). I guess I was looking for a little "more" in terms of camp experiences, and so was my husband.

 

So, this past winter my husband simply got on the internet and did Google searches for "writing camps" and came up with this one at Northern Illinois University. Then he noticed that they also had the Science Camp-Junior, which was right up our little one's alley. Plus---all three camps took place over the same week in June!

 

I called and asked questions of the coordinator of all of the summer camp programs. He was very helpful in answering every question and concern. My biggest concern was that I didn't want the older two in a huge dormitory room. I know that sounds stupid, but my oldest hated the huge "everyone in one cabin staying up until all hours of the night" atmosphere. Yes, they had smaller dorm rooms---two kids per room. Now, the dorm rooms were very basic, but it didn't seem like my girls minded. The boys were kept in a separate area of the dormitory from the girls. No kids of the opposite sex were allowed to visit your dorm room unless a counselor was nearby and the doors were kept open. The only restriction that wasn't really enforced was the 11 p.m. lights out rule. Some kids were up quite a bit later, and this really bugged my oldest, although it didn't stop her from sleeping.

 

As far as her asthma, my oldest does OK with the inhaler and daily allergy medication. I had just gotten her allergy prescription refilled and we stuck it in her bag at the last minute as we were packing. The trouble was, my oldest couldn't find it all week (but then, she's often not good about finding these things!) and by that Wednesday, she was struggling. She did have an asthma attack that day---the worst she's ever had! She had to be transported by ambulance to the local hospital! My middle daughter was frantic, trying to find her older sister's inhaler! Obviously, my oldest should have made more efforts to find her regular allergy medicine, and to keep her inhaler on her at all times! It aggravated me that she didn't---but after that she definitely kept it close by in the backpack the kids were provided with. The camp staff kept in contact with us, and all turned out well.

 

I think the thing I appreciated about this whole experience is the fact that the kids were treated more like adults, i.e., things like the kids could keep their medications in their bags and on their person without that being confiscated. As you well know, being the parent of a kid who has asthma, that's an important factor! To me it's silly to take away the medication of a responsible kid. (On the other hand, mine wasn't exactly responsible in not keeping the inhaler in her pocket and in not bothering to look very hard for her regular allergy medicine. :blush: ) But, I guess high schools do this regularly, and so did the camp last summer, for fear of other kids getting into the medicine.

 

But---back to answering your first question: yes, we basically found out about this camp on the internet, did a lot of follow up phone calls to determine whether or not it would be the right fit for our family, and signed them up from there. You might just try a Google search for "engineering camps" and see what locations and opportunities come up. It seems like there are literally hundreds of summer camps on college campuses across America. I would have to say our experience at this camp was great!

 

P.S. I hope you get the medication thing figured out for your son! For our daughter, I think her problem was simply not being responsible about taking her own medication!

[Michelle in MO]

Michelle, here is a link to their camp for "high achieving" students (i.e. serious camp related to career interest):

 

http://www.tamug.edu/seacamp/newweb/TAG.html

 

They have one for marine biology, marine engineering, veterinary medicine and premed. Expensive, though. There are other, not so demanding, camps as well.

 

I'll take a closer look at it. I know my oldest still loves TV programs on marine biology, but I know she'd have to want to buckle down and really do the necessary math and science in order to truly prepare for that type of career.

[NancyL]

April- Re the engineering part- When I accompanied my daughter to a scholarship weekend to Illinois I. of Tech. a few years ago we had a lot of interaction with the other parents. I asked them how their student chose these areas (generally an engineering major) and many of the parent said it had to do with a summer camp program in , say architecture or engineering. Now up until that time I would have felt that these kinds of camps were only for over eager parents! But when the kids are homeschooled I think there is additional value, and I guess some of these summer instructors are willing to write letters of recommendation. I feel differently now, because if the kids come away with a sense of enjoyment about a tough major, that will help guide them. Not enough kids are going into the science fields anymore. Look into collegeconfidential.com under summer programs, most of them are all academic in nature. Many have to have a formal application, early in the year. HTH

[Michelle in MO]

I tried to offer my kids the opportunity to go to a camp where it wasn't on a college campus, so they could have an outdoors experience.* Those kinds of camps are getting harder to find as many lose their properties when the land is sold. The good thing is that they don't mingle with the public on their way to meals, etc. However, I had my older one* (High school age) try a sports camp and it was really nice because the team members were counselors and they spoke about college and college life. The coach monitored them closely and they were good sports and nice to the kids.* (Wyoming) He said that they started sleeping in a sorority house (his wife's an alum) because the dorms were too loud with all the other programs going on and the kids were really tired and needed their sleep.* My d. said it really helped when it was time to go to college because you had some frame of reference when it was time to test drive the college campuses. Also, the kids need to have experience away from home so they're not too homesick. The downside is the food isn't very good anymore on the campuses. My* 14 yo daughter is doing the Monterrey Middlebury Language camp* (college campus)right now--they are immersion with 3 hours of instruction plus homework per day. The only minus is the food is all fried she says.* But they get dorm rooms and all that so its a nice experience, I think.

Jane in NC on these boards said---college camps help give the kids a frame of reference for what campus life can be like and how the campus is laid out, etc. This is very, very useful for kids being away from home for the first time!

 

When you mentioned Middlebury Language Camp, are you talking about Middlebury College? If so, that is an excellent language school---one of the very best in the country! I hope she's enjoying her experience!

[Moira in MA]

The downside is the food isn't very good anymore on the campuses.

My 14 yodd went to a piano camp in New Hampshire. She had a fabulous time, but said the food was awful.

 

Of course she thinks our food is awful -- too stinking healthy -- but apparently the college food was much worse -- greasy and unappetizing.

[Michelle in MO]

to mentioned was that our girls met some really neat kids at this camp. They were all bright, motivated high school kids---after all, a kid has to be serious about writing (or science, engineering, art, math, music---you name it) in order to take a week out of their summer and spend it at a camp of their choice.

 

I think Nancy mentioned an additional benefit: the kids have a chance to talk to other kids in a field that they're interested in, and can ask numerous questions of teachers in that field. It gives them an opportunity to explore career choices.

 

My husband and I built our summer vacation around this camp, because we live in southeast Missouri and the camp was in northern Illinois. Nevertheless, for us it was well worth the trip and the time. I realize expense can be a big issue---especially these days with the high cost of gas. If any of you live closer to college campuses, explore their day camp options.

[April in CA]

Thank you very much, Michelle and Nancy. So glad your dd is okay after her ashtma scare!

Blessings,

April

[Kathie in VA]

I'm hoping to send my oldest to a college summer camp next year when she is old enough; it is for ages 14+ thru high school. It has quite a few very interesting camps to offer. It's at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia. This is a classical education college mainly for homeschoolers.

 

http://www.phc.edu/teencamps/

 

--just wanted to share --

 

hth

[Yolanda in Mass]

It certainly sounds like there are some wonderful camps out there for our teens but please make absolutely certain it's not just high-priced day care for teens with working parents. My older son did a couple of camps when he was much younger (13-14) locally and I found that it was basically a place for working parents to send their kids all day to be taken care of. Colleges and other organizations have found a great way to make money off of parents who want either enrichment or day care. At this year's homeschool conference, a rep from a very well-known Christian college told me that their summer camps are really just advertising. (Then please pay me to go, don't charge me!) He told me this after I spoke at length with him about his school and their distance learning offerings. I couldn't believe he admitted this to me although I had had my strong suspicions due to the lack of substance in the information I had requested.

 

Yolanda

[Jane in NC]

Montreat College is a tiny school in the NC mountains. Their summer camps (Climbe program) combine classroom opportunities with backpacking. My son's camp, Climate Awareness, began with team building exercises then moved to instruction in weather and climate from a college professor. They toured the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Climatic Data Center in Asheville, then were dropped off with their backpacks, sleepings bags, food, etc. at the top of Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the eastern US. Their descent took several days over which they took regular weather measurements, studying how topography influences weather. Before dismissal, the students gave a presentation to their parents on what they learned, again working with a college prof on integrating their collected data.

 

Their first two nights were on campus where the kids had the dorm experience. They were learning to use their backpacking stoves, so I believe they may have been cooking most of their own meals even when not on the trail. Back on campus the last day, they were treated to the all you can eat college facility where the big hit was ice cream after days of dehydrated food.

 

Montreat is gorgeous! My son hopes to do another camp there next summer.

 

Jane

[Michelle in MO]

It certainly sounds like there are some wonderful camps out there for our teens but please make absolutely certain it's not just high-priced day care for teens with working parents. My older son did a couple of camps when he was much younger (13-14) locally and I found that it was basically a place for working parents to send their kids all day to be taken care of. Colleges and other organizations have found a great way to make money off of parents who want either enrichment or day care. At this year's homeschool conference, a rep from a very well-known Christian college told me that their summer camps are really just advertising. (Then please pay me to go, don't charge me!) He told me this after I spoke at length with him about his school and their distance learning offerings. I couldn't believe he admitted this to me although I had had my strong suspicions due to the lack of substance in the information I had requested.

 

Yolanda

 

but the camp at Northern Illinois University did not seem to be structured that way. It may have been a form of advertising, in a sense, although most colleges want to advertise their facilities and unique opportunities to prospective students and parents.

 

We actually found this situation (day care type camp) at a local Christian camp; we sent the girls to it last year (we're Christians, so I'm not complaining about the fact that it was geared in that direction), but it really seemed to be more of a social camp than anything else, and it did seem like a lot of parents dropped their kids off so that they could get a week off themselves (the camp is very inexpensive). My middle and youngest girls wanted to do it again this summer, but my oldest didn't care for the experience (plus, like I mentioned before, she didn't like the "14 kids in a cabin" type atmosphere). We said OK to the middle daughter and youngest daughter going again, but we look at it more as a social opportunity than anything else.

 

I haven't tried the music camps at St. Olaf College in Northfield, but I'm going to research that one for next summer. For one thing, I'm fairly familiar with St. Olaf, having grown up in Minnesota myself. The St. Olaf Choir is second almost to none in terms of top college choirs in the country---they are phenomenal! St. Olaf has, in general, an excellent music program. Plus, it's a beautiful campus---older stone buildings, overgrown with ivy, lots of trees, benches, plenty of grass. It's stunning!

[Pamela H in Texas]

The engineering camps here are only $25 for the week!

[sarah in tenn]

I will revisit these ideas in a few years.

:auto:

sarah

[Anne/Ankara]

I feel like I'm a walking advertisement for university camps-- this year, my kids are now doing the University of Pittsburgh Biotechnology camp on regenerative medicine, the Johns Hopkins University CTY camp on biology, and the Robert Morris Univesity Engineering CAD/CAM camp. They are all very fun and enjoyable experiences, with excellent teachers and laboratory experience. Highly recommended! I think most major universities have such summer camps nowadays.