<p>Add two more girls who loved Concordia! My girls just returned from 2 weeks at Lac du Bois, the French camp, and also loved it. One wants to return to French camp next year (AND go to France also, she now likes French better than English); the other had a very good time and made a great new friend, but thought it would be fun to try Spanish or Japanese camp next year (both girls will be in French 4 AP in the fall and so were pretty comfortable speaking French all day long). </p>
<p>I took the girls to the camp but they flew home on their own. From the little I saw, it looked very well run and the counselors seemed so nice (and the girls confirmed that they were). I did, however, tell people who asked that my girls were at "Camp Mosquito" in Minnesota :). I would seriously consider the 4-week credit program, I think, if time permits and homesickness is not a problem--the 2 week program is a good introduction but it is over so fast, and I have a feeling that the 4 week program is far more in-depth and may make a huge difference in language and cultural learning.</p>
<p>Both daughters are already off at their next camps--one at dance camp in Long Beach, the other in the EPGY summer writing program at Stanford. I am hearing raves about the latter already.</p>
<p>My 17-year-old will be home Saturday from 4 weeks at Mori no Ike. I've received two cards from him and one phone call when they went into town to do laundry. I sent him with stamped, addressed envelopes and cards. Is this normal? I am feeling upset with him.</p>
<p>Very normal. My 16 year old D has sent us one letter from Governor's honors - and it's a 6 week course. They're just having so much fun they don't have time to do everything, let alone keep us updated. I'm just glad she's having such a great time.</p>
<p>Just as a slight dissenting voice, both my boys went to Concordia Language Village for a 2-week program a few years ago, and they both hated the experience. They were younger than the 16/17-year-olds you're talking about here, but really they had almost nothing good to say about it. They were happy to leave and relieved to get home. Both had spent time away from home at camps before, but for some reason Concordia just did not click with either of them. Your Mileage Will Vary.</p>
<p>My daughter was 13 last summer when she went to Mori No Ike for the two week program. I heard from her not once! She called from the airport on the way home absolutely raving about it. She is returning this year for the four week program - starts on July 25. She will be a freshman in high school in the fall. Let me know how your son liked itl</p>
<p>I already know he loved it. They take them to town after two weeks so they can do laundry and he called me. I asked if he could actually speak and write Japanese and he answered with all the patience he could muster, "Yeah." I'll tell you details if I can learn any! Have you visited the website to look at the pictures? They're tiny but may give you a better idea. Also, after two weeks, they sent home grades and evaluations.</p>
<p>One of my daughters (the prolific writer) wrote us 2 letters. The other I heard not one word from. I did get just a bit anxious as the time came for them to fly home (their first plane trip without an adult in tow), and I called to see if they were okay and to confirm that they were on the airport list. The counselor called back the same day to report that they were both fine. They were so happy when they got off the plane that I realized they hadn't written much because they were just having too much fun with new friends. So to me, the lack of communication was a good sign--that they were having fun and not really homesick.</p>
<p>My daughter noted that it was the first place she was been where dead mosquitoes are used as wall decorations. Triple yuck. There are multiple cans of insert repellent on the rails right outside of the cabins....</p>
<p>They now expect 4-course meals and civilized family dinner conversations--because that is what they had every day there! Quite a standard to live up to.</p>
<p>mootmom--I absolutely agree. Never have found anything yet that is everything for everyone. I know that my 19 year old son would not have enjoyed it at any point in his life. Actually, I never was able to convince him to try a "camp" of any kind. As I noted, my younger daughter's friend found the German camp to be tolerable but nothing great, whereas my own two girls unabashedly LOVED it. And there are a lot of kids and staff that go back year after year, so for the right person, it is pretty special. Maybe it helps to enjoy singing really silly songs and acting out goofy skits? And I'm sure that some kids click with the counselors whereas others just don't. Perhaps it also helps if one is not to bothered by heat and mosquitoes? I never saw any airplane sized bugs there myself. But, I have to say the fact that in the midwest the flies bite as well is another annoyance. But hey, I'm back home in CA, don't have to deal with those dang bugs anymore! </p>
<p>Patient, glad to hear your girls had a good time!</p>
<p>Oh yes, I got one letter from each of my girls. But the older one did write eight or ten to the boyfriend . . .</p>
<p>I'm not a parent, but as a rising senior who's completed the program, I'd recommend the HAS program to anyone. Its not your typical go for a week type camp though. You ahve to apply for the program, get accepted, then complete 13 online lessons. The program culminates with an all expense paid trip to Houston for a week where scholars tour the jsc facilities, work together on team presentations, and do fun physics related experiments together.</p>
<p>Our experience with the Summer at Brown was a grave disapointment. It made us wonder what sort of moral upbringing these teenagers have at home. My d said the experience was traumatic for her both personally and academically. Fortunately she did find two nice students on her floor which helped. I would think twice before being blinded by the Ivy League name and putting your teenager into an environment that condones rampant sexual behavior among teenagers, (if they didn't they would have had adequate supervision and not 1 RA for 18-20 students,co-ed dorms, curfews not enforced etc.) By the way, some of the students are under 16-but I guess that doesn't matter in the state of RI. The motto of "fully experiencing college life" was not a lesson in independence-it was a lesson in debauchery. My advice, if you are a parent that wants not only academic excellence, i.e, trained staff and "real" teachers, please think twice before making a hasty decision and research the college program. Don't believe the shiny brochures and empty promises on the websites. I regret not doing this, I placed my trust in a name-big mistake.</p>
<p>OK..please don't blast me....My daughter just came back from a National Student Leadership Conference on health care and medicine held at U of Maryland. It was 11 days long and she LOVED it. There were decent enough classes and seminars on issues related to health care and medicine with trips to Walter Reed Medical Center, Georgetown School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. AND there were a bunch of sightseeing trips into DC. My daughter was in the 8th grade the year of 9/11 and didn't get to go on the "class trip to DC" so this fulfilled that too. DD came back having made a bunch of friends from all over the country. She also thinks it would be a great job to work for NSLC in the summers when she is in college. Yes, it was expensive, and NO it is not prestigious, but it was fun and worthwhile for my kid. She was especially pleased to have been selected as one of 10 (out of 300) students to receive the leadership award for her small study group (a certificate and a stethoscope).</p>
<p>It can be difficult to know ahead of time exactly what types of students and supervision a summer program includes. Also, the types of students can vary year to year. Broad-based summer school programs (even at the big names like Brown) aren't particularily selective for academic ability or interests, so it seems the student body can be a hodge-podge of kids. We've aimed for programs that were focused on specific interests- a science program for one and a creative writing program for the other. The creative writing program is at the University of Iowa (Iowa Young Writers' Studio) and they had strict sign-in/sign-out rules, segregated male and female floors with NO permission for opposite sex visiting in dorm rooms or even dorm floors. This allowed a level of protection and safety that we were comfortable with. I've heard similar reports as your experience at Brown from those whose children went to generic summer school at Harvard and Stanford. I hope your daughter realizes that she will meet plenty of students who share her values in college, and that she is now prepared for the many who do not.</p>
<p>Raichel,
The opposite end of the spectrum is the summer pre-college program at Johns Hopkins. My S is there now and loves it. He is taking Hopkins classes with Hopkins professors and is getting college credit. All similar to Brown's summer program. However, JHU is much more conservative in its environment and there rules. No drinking or smoking (anything on or off campus), separate men's and women's dorm and noone from the opposite sex may enter the dorm building other than RA's, and a strict midnight in your room (not dorm) curfew. All these rules may be a bit overboard, but it makes one's parents more at ease, and they are under 18.<br>
When I dropped my S off I was speaking to an RA from New Hampshire and asked him why he didn't attend his local Ivy, he said "I didn't want to go to a party school!"</p>
<p>My son is a rising senior. He's at the Iowa program now. I won't get the full details til he gets back, but he's really enjoying the writing. Their time in the evening seems to be unstructured and unsupervised which may be appropriate for his age. His previous summers were at JHU/CTY and there was more supervision.</p>
<p>JHU/CTY is very structured, with all adult supervision, for middle school aged students. My S is also a rising Senior (17) and the pre-college program gives the students a lot of leeway, with all RA's current JHU students. However the rules are more strict than many other programs. My S went to the YSP (Young Scholars Program) at U. Md. last year and they were less strict than JHU, but both programs appear to be more structured and conservative than what Raichel's D experienced at Brown.</p>
<p>My daughter went to Oxford in the Oxbridge program, did Shaekspeare and had the best time of her life. She had a role in Richard III, all the kids were brilliant! Of course, other summer programs seem to pale in comparison. I highly recommend this and wold appreciate recommendations for other precollege drama programs. She is a junior and does not want to be in NYC (who knows why!)</p>