<p>My name is Syndee. My son will go to a boarding school for his high school in September this year. He got 94% of his SSAT. I like to find some summer camp that can benifit him to reach his goal (to go to Ivy league school when he finish high school). Any suggestions?
Thanks</p>
<p>Your goal (and his) should be to develop his interests, not to package him for an Ivy. Ask him what he wants to get out of summer camp and what his interests are, and then the posters can help you more. There is no right summer camp.</p>
<p>If he wants to do math, there are a lot of options. Same for humanities interests. If he wants to go to a traditional summer camp, that’s fine too. Going back as a counselor is a great experience (second-hand knowledge here, but still…)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/</a> </p>
<p>But let your child decide.</p>
<p>[Search</a> for Colleges and Universities, Graduate Schools, Online Degree, Private Schools - Peterson’s](<a href=“http://www.petersons.com%5DSearch”>http://www.petersons.com).</p>
<p>Whose goal?</p>
<p>If he were my son and he wanted to go away to summer camp, I’d find a traditional type of summer camp where can form friendships, play sports, fish, swim, and enjoy being a kid.</p>
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<p>Is that a statement that you wouldn’t let your child decide? I’d let my child decide. (He just did, by the way, for summer 2009. He accepted an offer to be a junior counselor at a math program he has attended before. He’s glad to have the opportunity to go back.)</p>
<p>Whose goal indeed?
Like tokenadult’s son, mine attended math camp. He would not have enjoyed going swimming (he put off learning as long as he could), fishing (ditto) or sports (ditto). He made long-lasting friendships and enjoyed HIS idea of being a kid (which is definitely not mine). S1 attended a music camp for six years and was desolated when he could no longer do so.
To each his own. Those who push for “traditional” summer camps, whatever that means, are just as controlling as those who push for summer camps that might burnish their kids’ resumes.</p>
<p>lighten up people. The idea of packaging her kid so he can get into an ivy when he hasn’t even entered high school sounds a little stuffy. Find a well balanced summer camp where he can have fun—both outside in the fresh air and inside. </p>
<p>I didn’t see the word “push” in anything I wrote. Those are your words. Did I mention anything about not letting the kid have a say? No, again those were your words.</p>
<p>Families have pretty entrenched values. Who is to say what’s best? I’m not sure strangers on a web site will, or should, try to change them.</p>
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<p>I followed my kids lead and I found a music camp for S1 and a math camp for S2. Neither were into fishing, swimming (though S1’s camp was right on a lake) or playing sports. They had tons of fun in their own way. </p>
<p>A camp where kids go fishing, swimming and playing sports is neither better nor worse than a camp where kids do math problems all day long, six days a week as my S2 did. Ask any of the kids who were crying at the end of the camp.</p>
<p>I agree with the sentiment expressed by Marite. A “traditional” (“Hello muddah, hello faddah”) camp may be nice for some – including for parents who want their young children out of their hair for a few weeks. But as the kids develop their own interests, the most appropriate one may be something that follows the kids’ interests – music, sports, *debate, *art, etc. And some will enjoy more “academic” programs such as CTD and CTY. </p>
<p>So watch your kids and give them opportunities to discover and develop their interests. And by the way, they can make lifelong friendships at a specialized camp just as much as at a Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah camp.</p>
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<li>Those are the types of camps my kids attended in high school. Much earlier than that, there were nice programs at the Y, including some that took daytrips or overnight trips to nearby lakes and trails, etc. Scouting also remains a nice multi-purpose activity that supports camps and builds self-confidence and friendships in early years.</li>
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<p>This option seems to have a mix of camping and classes: [url=<a href=“http://www.explo.org/]www.explo.org[/url”>http://www.explo.org/]www.explo.org[/url</a>]</p>
<p>S2 went to explo one summer. We sent him to Explo because he had hated the expensive camp with organized “fun” he’d attended previously. It was way too easy for him. His camp counselor suggested we send him to CTY where he spent three very happy summers before going to math camp for another three very happy summers.</p>
<p>Check out local private schools. They frequently have summer camps that have ‘high-end’ activities…I’m speaking intellectually, not price, though they can be pricey too.</p>
<p>My kids have loved Concordia Language Village summer camps (one studied Finnish, one French). It is like traditional summer camp (swim, boat, play games, sing, etc.), but in an immersion language setting. That said, when younger D had to choose between camps this summer due to budget issues, she picked a traditional canoeing trip camp she had also attended over French camp. But she did stuggle with the choice, and would have been fine with going to French camp instead.</p>
<p>Your state may have some kind of summer academic program as well; in NC, we have Governor’s School and Summer Ventures in Math and Science, although both of those are by either nomination or application obviously, and only open to sophomores/juniors.</p>
<p>I went to a pretty traditional summer camp for years and years, and turned down the opportunity to do the leaders-in-training program there to do an academic program one summer…I really regret that decision, but that’s just who I am. I didn’t find the classes in the academic program stimulating at all, was pretty much miserable the whole four weeks, and I don’t know if it really did that much to boost my app. I would have rather been out camping, going on trips, and getting dirty. But like I said, that’s just my personality…I advocate letting your kid decide what he’d like to do.</p>