<p>My fourth child, DS#2 is now at his third summer program. He has been the third in the family to attend summer programs every year. (DD#2 had two practices daily for 2 sports in the summer, so that was her summer program!) And we, the children and I have both been thrilled with their experiences.</p>
<p>I know I have posted about this before, but I did carefully research each program before they went. What I did come to realize was that if the program was federally, state, university or grant-funded the program was always subject to audits of all kinds. Audits for money, course curriculm, curfews, activities, testing, grading and participant feedback. With such tight control of ensuring the program's mission was accomplished it was rare if ever, anyone was sent home, broke laws or was even disrespectful.</p>
<p>Granted most programs were based in the hard sciences with federal funding (NIH) or graduate programs run through large universities (ie Duke, UNC School of Medicine, MIT), or private grants/research (National Cancer Institute). But again we did research thouroughly, and the kiddos gained valuable new experiences, college credits and life-long skills. But none were ones we paid for, either the tuition/room/board was covered or the kiddos were paid for their research.</p>
<p>Good luck to all with kiddos still in their programs.</p>
<p>Kat</p>