<p>I am curious what all of your bs kids are doing over the summer. Does anyone have great programs/ideas to suggest? I know they need to rest and refresh, but 3 months is a long time to get that accomplished. How important is it for them to participate in the (often very expensive!) summer programs I have read about on CC in terms of college apps? I know some of you are experienced in that area, and I am curious what colleges look for in the summer activity section.</p>
<p>I am considering the same. My daughter was in a Duke TIP summer camp last year and she will do it again this year. But it is only a 3 week program. I would like to hear summer camp ideas from other parents to fill in for the rest of the summer.</p>
<p>Last summer my oldest son attended the International Summer School of Scotland (ISSOS) in St. Andrews. (Followed up by travels through Scotland and England.)
<a href=“http://www.summerschoolscotland.com/[/url]”>http://www.summerschoolscotland.com/</a></p>
<p>This summer ISSOS is offering programs at Cambridge as well. He had a great experience - it is very international with quotas on each nationality. He was one of about 5 American students out of roughly 200. He studied debate and film. The learning was good, but the relationships made with friends of other cultures was the most significant. It didn’t take him long to realize that the Americans were the only ones who were not fluent in at least one other language…</p>
<p>Which has led to this summer’s program - the Middlebury Monterey Language Academy. A four week immersion program. They offer a variety of languages held at top liberal arts colleges around the country - east coast, west coast, and even the south.
[Middlebury-Monterey</a> Language Academy](<a href=“http://mmla.middlebury.edu/]Middlebury-Monterey”>http://mmla.middlebury.edu/)</p>
<p>I always wonder how BS parents can handle sending their kids away for summer programs. I mean they are already gone 8-9 months at school and now even more time away from home over the summer. Don’t the kids want to be home? Don’t the parents want to spend some time with their kids?</p>
<p>Raiderade - usually they are very independent kids who want to continue to challenge themselves in some way. Also, a lot of parents work full time and so having the teenager at home may not lead to a productive use of time. </p>
<p>We manage it by taking a family vacation of a few weeks together. Sometimes on the front or back end - or both!- of the summer program destination. As my husband likes to say - all that togetherness and you get ‘caught up’ real fast. :)</p>
<p>Wow–those programs sound wonderful. As teachers, we can’t fund programs like that, but we’re lucky enough to be home with our kids in the summer, and we do really enjoy just spending time together. </p>
<p>Also on the plate this summer: working (my son has already lined up work with a local carpenter), exercising (summer training with former ps sports teams is a nice way to connect with old friends), a week of family reunion/vacation time, and maybe one or two inexpensive week-long camps–probably band camp, boy scout camp, or sports camp. And lots of time just doing family stuff–watching movies, biking, going to the coffee shop–I can’t wait!</p>
<p>I expect colleges are interested in seeing kids using their time productively–I don’t think it has to be expensive.</p>
<p>Exploration summer programs, or Explo, is good. Also the JHU CTY summer camps look good (haven’t been though). If you’re interested in tennis, Nike Tennis Camps at various colleges across the nation, (Amherst College, Stanford, UT Austin, etc.). I’m going there, and for a lot of them they have an adult option.</p>
<p>A one week vacation of “togetherness” = 3 months, or an entire year? I find that pretty hard to believe.</p>
<p>summer programs at colleges are popular like summer@brown, Harvard’s pre college program, and i think Yale has one too. also, sports camps at these colleges. Princeton has a lot. as an ex-ctyer i see cty as more for middle schoolers than high school. but bs kids DO attend the program.</p>
<p>@mamakiwi, i’m sure Middlebury Monterey Language Academy is good, but have you considered Concordia Language Villages?<br>
I go there every summer for a month for German and its a wonderful program with a lot of kids from the NE and CA boarding schools.</p>
<p>Honestly the summer programs at the Ivy League schools, like Harvard’s, are just for money making purposes. Is it really worth it to pay $10,000 for a month during the summer to take like 2 classes? In my opinion, they are quite overrated. You could have a great summer experience for much less at other programs or you could spend your time holding down a summer job. If I were a college admission officer, I’d be much more willing to recommend the student who worked his/her way through high school versus spending their time in expensive summer programs. Just my opinon on summer activities.</p>
<p>With D at BS during the year we definitely want her closer to home for summer. There’s plenty of ways to pursue interests locally–volunteer in an interest, get a job, help at a hospital, charity, etc. The college and other structured programs are exactly what we don’t want since she has so much of that during the school year. BTW, 2010 has a point, if that’s the driver about college AOs–they are generally not impressed with the college enhancement programs, IMO.</p>
<p>I agree with 2010 hopeful and erlanger. Being a BS parent and having a child who has just gone through the application process and learning from her and her classmates experiences, it is totally not necessary to do a summer program. In fact, I think it is preferable to let the kids recharge a little during the summer. The best things to do are activities that enable a child to pursue a passion whether its arts, athletics, music, volunteer work, whatever they might be interested in. Any kind of volunteer work is great and it can be done in your local community. No need to pay tons of money to do so in another country although that is fine as well. A summer job is great - whether it is some kind of internship in an area of potential college major or career interest but a minimum wage type job mowing lawns or scooping ice cream is a great learning experience and is also valued by colleges. Camp counseling is great, too.</p>
<p>I would personally recommend becoming a mentor aka Big Brother/Sister. Now that is meaningful. There are a lot of kids who have single working parents who could use someone to look up to.</p>
<p>I see what you are saying about the jobs, but for kids on the younger edge of the boarding school spectrum, not many people will give you a job. I believe the legal age is 16 and most freshman applicants are 13/14, just saying.</p>
<p>I can vouch for MMLA’s quality of experience and improvement over the course of a summer. It’s not cheap, but they do offer financial aid for qualified families…though it is limited and you must apply early in the process to be considered for it.</p>
<p>As for Harvard Summer School, I went as a junior in HS eons ago and really enjoyed it…more for the experience of living away from home with similarly motivated kids. I applied early to Harvard and was waitlisted then denied. However, I ended up at another Ivy.</p>
<p>Note that if our D ends up going to BS for high school, I think we’ll keep her at home for most of the summer for family bonding…which will probably include some local/domestic travel together.</p>
<p>Thank you! This is all great input. Of course I don’t want to “ship my son off” for the summer after he has been gone all school year, but I want him to enjoy his summer, and be productive in some way. He is too young to have a paying job, but he wants to do some volunteer work at our local food bank. I will look into Big Brothers also, although I am thinking he is too young for that. There are so many academic programs out there, but I do want him to rest over the summer, and I feel like that money might be better spent on a family trip or a just-for-fun/interest camp. I just want to do what’s best for him. Sometimes CC stresses me out when I start reading all of the threads about summer programs and college apps. Most of those programs are out of our reach financially anyway. I have seen some excellent programs that are not too expensive, but they were mostly for 16 and older (he is 15).</p>
<p>I want to do some summer volunteering and such or an internship that will weigh in for me. I live in Maryland. Where can I look at if I want to do? Suggestions.</p>
<p>Some affordable camp ideas for younger teens: our state colleges and universities often run affordable and interesting camps–sports, music, writing, theater–my kids have been doing those since junior high. Church camps can be good too, even if you’re not affiliated–our Diocese, for example, runs a very good music camp that is not much more religious than the typical Episcopal boarding school. </p>
<p>As far as work goes, we’ve always encouraged our kids to get jobs where age doesn’t matter as those jobs are usually more flexible than, say working at a fast-food joint. Any age can pet sit, do yard work, run an informal backyard day camp…and work like that leaves time for family trips and other summer adventures. </p>
<p>My younger son (12) has sold veggies and fruit from our garden once a week at our local farmers market. Last year he expanded into other backyard gardens, trading space for produce, which has worked great. He loves it, and we’re thinking that job will look great on a college application some day </p>
<p>I’m a big believer in kids having part-time jobs–builds so many skills, and volunteer work is often not very meaningful for younger kids. However, one place that I always thought would be a great place to volunteer is at the local animal shelter or vet office. They’re always looking for people to help feed and walk the animals and clean cages.</p>
<p>Well, I thought I might spend time with junior but you know–such a bore! My DH works so hard all year that he needs a break from the kids–quiet dinner parties in the garden, I can’t wait! Anyway, I found a 12 week summer program that sounds unbelievable, It’s called Don’tbeapain. The kids will practice writing college applications, practice how to be polite to the riff-raff when volunteering, and what to do with dogs that smell bad at the animal shelter.</p>
<p>hahaha, sorry I couldn’t help myself! Come on people, spend some time with your kids. This time only comes once. The best moments aren’t always planned or during fabulous vacations. Don’t you think the best universities would want the most grounded kids, kids that understand what is important in life? </p>
<p>So sad!</p>