2009
let’s defend the things we say
maura @ 10:41 pm
Last night I deep-ended on researching day camps for Gus for this summer. After all, it is almost March, time to get on the ball! Because I am a bad parent have a life I did not stand in line at the crack of dawn last month to try to get him into the science camp that he loved but that is way too popular for its own good. But a fellow parent’s camp query earlier this week has sent me searching for options for this year of the crazy long summer (TEN weeks! Because Labor Day is so late and school doesn’t start til after! Aiieee!!!).
And I’m coming up short. All of the camps I’ve found are either:
a. too much semi-structured arts & craftsy schoolyard gamesy hanging out time
b. too much time on a bus going from place to place (this is less of an issue for us than for some parents, but I do see the dilemma)
c. too focused on one thing, which is usually sports (and only sports esp. will not work for Gus)
d. too expensive, too schedule-inflexible, too far away, etc. etc. etc.
All of this has got me thinking of my ideal summer camp for Gus. Why can’t there be lots of different activities, so that kids can try new stuff? Why can’t there be some nerdy stuff that involves science and nature? Why can’t there be a balance of physical and mental activities? (And at this point it occurred to me that I am kind of talking about Gus’s school, although I do think camp should be more physical and less mental than school.)
SO. Here’s my camp wishlist. Think of it as the mauraweb! summer camp, not coming soon to a city near you!
8:30-9:00am: drop-off (conveniently located less than a 15 minute walk from our apt)
9:00-9:45am: on alternate days: arts & crafts, music (pick any instrument you want, even drums [Gus’s choice] or french horn [mine]), drama (kids who don’t want to act can sing in the chorus or paint scenery)
9:45-10:30am: something sporty: karate, tumbling, fencing, trampoline, tennis, rock climbing (these are the things I think Gus might like; your kid can do something else if you want!)
10:30-11:15am: swimming
11:15am-noon: change clothes, lunch
noon-12:45pm: drawing & writing, computers (programming, “educational” games)
12:45-1:30pm: something sciencey (experiments), naturey (dissecting stuff) or historical (reconstructing past stuff)
1:30-2:15pm: something somewhat less sporty like horseback riding or archery or croquet or lawn bowling or horseshoes
2:15-3:00pm: maybe a choice between more swimming (recreational, while the morning is instructional?) and playground
3:00-3:45pm: snack, games, reading, pickup
This day is probably not possible, esp. since I’ve left no time for the children to transition from one activity to the next. And children are known for their easygoing transitions (snort).
6 comments on “let’s defend the things we say”
Kind of bored this morning so I found a link: http://www.ymcanyc.org/index.php?id=97
Hee, lawn bowling! I can picture Things One & Two beaning each other with bocce balls. Ow.
Yeah, I need to look at the Y camps, there are 2 kind of near us. The old standby that we’ve used for the past 2 yrs is really fine, and does have a flexible schedule. I’m going to take 3 wks of vacation this summer in 1 week chunks, so the schedule is an issue this year. The AMNH has great camps but it’s only 9-3 and would take Jonathan about 3 hrs on the subway total to do it, so he would only have about 5 minutes to work! Which is not enough.
That’s more than I work!
Y camps here are weekly. I think the NY brochure indicated they were, too. That’s kind of nice because if you hate it, well, it’s only a week! And if you like it, you can go back next week! And if your mom takes a week off, go the week after!
[…] early January, so it’s time for my annual summer camp freakout. I meant to write a big long post about our trip to Disneyworld over the holidays, but I’m […]
Do you guys have a ymca nearby with day camps? Max is spending at least 1 week at ours. They do one big trip (Reds game, zoo, …) on Fridays, the rest of the week is swimming, games and the theme of the week (pirates, USA, e.g.), plus there are specialty camps (drama, aquatics, soccer, science, etc.). They have before/after care for those who need it.
He’s also going back to museum camp (in the Hall of Justice bldg.).
I don’t want to Max him out (no pun intended) so we might just do these 3 and maybe some more swimming lessons.