I know we’re all being humorous here, but ski’s post above is exactly why it was so important to us to allow our kid to just be a kid and do as he pleased over the summer – we knew he’d never get that time back. We didn’t know he’d end up in the military, but because he did, we’re even more happy he had those unstructured summers. And so is he.
I love the idea of the kids sitting at home ( or outside) and doing nothing all Summer. They spend weeks doing this. But they also spend weeks doing other things. One week camps have worked well for us. In fact, kids always want to go back ( so be careful it they are spendy and you think it’s one and done). Hoping they can weave together laying about, working and doing something productive each Summer.
I admit it: Your kids are obviously SOOOOOO much brighter than GolfKiddo… Gomer Pyle needs to play catch up to your kids from elite schools and from your so PC Berkeley schoools…We spend part of our summer trying to make up for the poor education we received down here in the swamp…there was very little opportunity to take classes or even the type of middle school science that your kids were able to ace…my kid needs chemistry. It would be nice to actually get support on this thread instead of snark.
- FWIW @carpoolingma ....I do know of a marine biology course in June if you are interested. You can PM me. Merry Christmas!
FWIW…,we expect more from some of you.
I don’t see any summer academic camps in my son’s future, but I wish I did see something! This past summer it was difficult to find things for him to do - traditional camps in our area end at age 13. Last summer all I could find were athletic camps (not a bad thing!) but their age cutoff is 14. What do you do with a 15 year old who is too young to work and too old to do anything else? DH and I work full time, we can’t be driving him all over creation. I not against a couple weeks of R&R, but would prefer his brain not turn to mush over the summer.
@Golfgr8 I wonder if Khan Academy AP Chemistry would help.
Older girl did a few (2?) summers of working in a research lab via a family friend contact.
Younger girl worked as a dishwasher one summer, back-packed through Europe another.
Usually, our electricity bill goes very high up in summer and that is not because of A/C. Those gaming desktops can really eat up electricity.
When I looked for summer jobs for kids, many were community service types, some with pay.
County youth corps - 14 yr+ - maintain trails (i.e. dig dirt, move rocks, etc) and get some pay - S2 was excited at the prospect of earning hard cash but the program became too competitive and he was not chosen.
Camp counselor - e.g. boyscout camp.
Community/rec. centers - helping seniors, life guards at pools.
Libraries - reading buddies for young children, etc.
positions at the Science/insect museums, summer camps, animal shelters and petting zoos.
There are many jobs for children if you look. Our school even had a summer job fair. The schedules are not great for working parents but there are uber/lyft these days.
Back to academic ones, many universities have outreach type programs for high school kids.
Googling local TAG gifted and talented websites may give leads.
Thanks @Payn4word ! I have found some summer programs at Wesleyan, Northwestern, Davidson, Wake Forest…some are for students age 16 and above…these programs are $$$ …I know a couple of the boarding schools have summer programs but they are very $$ and not sure kiddo wants to spend part of the summer at another BS…we are looking at Duke TIP and CTY…kiddo will be trying out for a job at the local Y day camp - if they take kiddo’s age level…even for caddies here they want you to be at least 16…planning on working during the day for half of the summer and hopefully will take a community college course in intro to chem at night. It is getting more difficult to find paid summer jobs down here for kids age 15.
@Golfgr8 we have had experience with both the Duke TIP and Vanderbilt PTY programs. Both are great, but our family has strongly preferred the Vanderbilt program for a few reasons which I would be happy to chat with you about if you would like.
See if there are State and Public university opportunities/programs which may be of lower cost.
And maybe find a senior in high school or college students who can tutor your child. Reviewing Honors Chemistry may be all that is necessary for your DC. The thing is the student needs to do the work. Sitting at lectures do very little toward learning in science and math. The student needs to invest three times more in time than the actual lecture time by reading the text and doing the exercises. The work can be guided either by on-line lectures, tutoring or a class, but the student work, i.e. motivation is essential.
DS2 did CTY Chemistry camps after 5th and 7th grade as he liked Chemistry. He enjoyed them. We haven’t looked at doing CTY programs since then.
No kid’s brain is going to turn to mush over the summer if s/he doesn’t participate in any structured programs. If your kids want to do camps, programs, or work great. If not, that’s great, too. My point was targeted to parents who worry about their kids falling behind somehow if they opt for R&R. They won’t. My opinion is that the caliber of kids who attend the schools mentioned here will benefit as much from three months of sleep as they will from any other activity. Just don’t stress about what they do or don’t do over the summer. They’ll pick up just fine come September.
I don’t see snark here. A difference of opinion does not equal snark.
My son actually started an application process to be a CIT at a local camp this summer. CITs are not paid, but there are lots of kids who apply, so there is no guarantee that he will be accepted. Thank you for the other suggestions, I’ll look into some other ideas from your list. Although his “working” hours would matter - we have to be able to get him there and back. Maybe we can carpool if something works out. I’m not so into the idea of Uber for a 15 year old. I think they actually have a policy against taking unaccompanied teens.
As for brain mush - my concern there is if he sits in his room for hours and plays computer games all summer. I swear the kid forgets how to converse properly when he’s been on the computer for an extended period of time. I could actually live with him going to the pool or the local amusement park on most days, provided he gets a ride from friends.
In any case, I would have @Golfgr8 Kiddo investigate what options of preparing or not preparing for AP Chem would suit him/her best and decide rather than parents deciding.
I investigated and provided options for kids but they were the ones making decisions post middle school. Obviously doing nothing but eat, sleep and videogame was the preferred choice for many breaks shown by my electricity bills.
I meant no snark…I will say that this forum is very intimidating at times, and I do sometimes have feelings of inadequacy for not having had my child participate in college programs, BS programs, special smart kid programs, etc etc. I was so glad in many ways we did not find this forum at the beginning of our first application process, because I probably would’ve told DS he was not even close to being a candidate after reading some of these kids’ chance me threads.
So, although there was dry humor in my statement…it wasn’t far off of what I feel at times. And I am thankful for people like @ChoatieMom for validating our approach to things, as it is quite often not as popular as others.
If more is expected of me, then I’m afraid many will be sorely disappointed.
2buuzn03: I love you just the way you are! 
Arrrgh, @buuzn03. We were composing at the same time and my braggy post seems in terrible taste after your humble one. 
You’re great in my book, too.
Let’s get back to miscellaneous ramblings, shall we?
Yeah, I am waiting till my boys’ strategic thinking and leadership skills developed on various raids on MMORPGs will someday amount to something. They have also been developing marketing skills while collecting and trading rare game items earned by hundreds hours of playing. And sometimes game companies wire DS1 couple hundred dollars for playing their games. He gets to beta test games and was invited to co-cast some big matches. Maybe he can become an esports caster on you tube.
and mine orphaned…