<p>I remember looking at summer programs last fall when it became clear that S was a music man. I remember well looking at NEMC and now that I clear the cob webs I had also seen Kendall Betts. My reservations about NEMC are based on my experience with ballet summer programs. Warm up starts at 8AM and formal classes start at 9AM. There’s a one hour lunch break and then they are back in classes and rehearsals until 4:30. This program runs about $700 per week for boarding students. At $1,000 NEMC has a lot of recreation time and part of the instruction time is practice time. I feel the kids should be practicing on their own time. During down time D is on campus practicing her piourettes on her own time. I can’t afford to send my kids to summer camp particularly when we live in summer camp. If I pay for them to go, I want the most education for the buck. I know it would be fun but I don’t have the money to pay for fun for funsake. I know that sounds cold but I have to be pragmatic.</p>
<p>KB ended up in the cobwebs because of the age for admissions. I remember now saying to son "I found where you need to go when you’re 15."I imagine the down time is far less structured than NEC and that might be difficult when S is young. The average age of students is probably older also. He’d probably only go a week per summer until he’s older.</p>
<p>This summer he is going to University of Southern Maine for one week. Boston is four hours for us. We are in central Maine. We are between Colby College and University of Maine Orono.</p>
<p>The summer program at NEC looks interesting. Where do the kids usually stay since there isn’t any housing? Are most of the students locals? I like that individual practice is monitored.</p>
<p>What about hype? I know some ballet programs are highly competitive to get into but once you’re accepted and in the program it becomes obvious it just a money making machine with huge classes and very little instruction. I like that KB has a 4:1 ratio.</p>