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Just trying to look up and find summer camps (all day) in Chapel Hill/Durham area. My kids have done the YMCA camps-but are tired of them. I have 2 boys (one in middle school and one in elementary) and am trying not to break the bank! Would love to hear of experiences from others on camps that their kids liked.
Thanks
Our camp experience is in the Durham/Hillsborough area.
My kids went to Camp Riverlea last year and loved it so much. They are going back this summer for longer. In fact, it is the only camp they want to do this year (we usually do a week here, a week there type rotation). It is way north Durham, pretty much Bahama, but they have a bus that picks up at Duke Gardens so I just bring them to work with me and put them on the camp bus. There are two other bus stops they use in Durham too, so you don't have to drive all the way up to the camp.
The only camp that we have tried that we have crossed off our list is Spence's Farm where we felt that my daughter was not well-supervised. She was left behind the group alone twice and transported without her carseat once. She was only 5 years old when she went there, and we felt that more supervision was necessary at that age. Their hands-off, free-range approach might be better suited for older kids though.
We are used to paying around $275-325 per week for full-day camp (adding before/aftercare when not included in the base price). Sportsplex might be the least expensive camp on our list because they have a base price and then you can add on extras like swim lessons and other classes. There are some less expensive camp options though, such as through the Parks & Rec and the school system, at least in Orange County.
Hey, my name is Dalton, and I have worked at iD Tech at NC State in the past and am the current Lead Instructor there if you have any questions about what we do. At iD Tech at NC State, we offer a unique and specialized game development and Computer Science learning experience that campers enjoy returning to year after year. We do our best to show kids of all ages the joys of learning and creating with Computer Science. One way we do this is by capping our maximum students in a class to eight, because we're not trying to pack as many students into our camp as possible; we're trying to ensure our campers have all of the individual attention they need while still making plenty of friends with similar interests. Again, if you have any specific questions or concerns about iD Tech at NC State, I would be happy to answer them!
Have you done the Museum of Life and Science camps? I know a lot of people who have loved those. They have some in Chapel Hill as well as at the museum.
Did you do the Camp Clearwater YMCA camps? Lots of folks like those, too.
Hey, my name is Dalton, and I have worked at iD Tech at NC State in the past and am the current Lead Instructor there if you have any questions about what we do. Again, if you have any specific questions or concerns about iD Tech at NC State, I would be happy to answer them!
Hi Dalton,
If you take a look at the Yelp reviews for iD Tech over the last 18 months, they have been extremely negative. Prior to that they were very positive. Now I know that putting your faith in on-line reviews is about as good as believing Zillow's real estate estimates, but you gotta start somewhere. Here are some examples of the criticisms given:
Stanford CA - Summer 2013 - Claimed class size is an 8:1 ratio. That's because they squeeze in as many kids as they can into a classroom and then make sure there are enough adults to say that it's an 8:1 ratio. Most of the staff are college kids at their summer jobs as "counselors" who just got a crash course in whatever program they're assigned. Most are not true trained instructors.
Houston TX - Summer 2014 - Minecraft 3D Game Design: Played Minecraft all day. Used edit program to change colors of items. Poor explanation of class objectives, goals, and tools.
Stanford CA - Summer 2015: Review by 4 time camp attendee. Staff did not appear knowledgeable about the software to be used in class. Quality has gone way down in last 5 or 6 years.
Houston TX - Summer 2015 - Minecraft 3D Game Design: Only basic reskinning taught using edit program. Mostly free play. Questionable adult supervision.
Stanford CA - Summer 2015 - Minecraft Mods: Questionable adult supervision. Instructor wasted first day with IT/tool problems. Instructors not familiar with subject that they are teaching.
Belle Meade NJ - Summer 2015 - C++ Programming: Instructors not familiar with the subject that they are teaching.
These iD Tech camps are $1000 for a week (+ $500 for overnight option) and I would expect the level of instruction, topics covered, and adult supervision to be better than some $250/week camp at the YMCA.
Hopefully the OP made it to the Camp Fair at UMall (I'm sorry.."University Place") today.
I was there with several of my colleagues and we had a booth. There were hundreds of people there and dozens of summer camp options (we have 7 ourselves; one of which has already been mentioned by a previous poster here and yes; is the creme de la creme of traditional daycamps in Chapel Hill/Durham).
Hello! My name is Bram and I was the director for the iD Tech NC State location last summer and will also be directing the camp again this year. I have also been working with iD tech for 5 years and am currently a High School Technology Educator in Wake Co.
Instruction/student satisfaction: To address some of your concerns: Many instructors at iD are in fact college students, but they are college students who have at least one year of subject relevant schooling under their belt. I was an instructor when I was in college, and I did everything I could possibly do (just as countless instructors I have witnessed over the last 5 years) to make sure that all of my students learned as much as possible and that they had a fun and memorable camp experience. And guess what? They did have an awesome time! How do I know that? We have students and parents fill out camp reviews at the end of every week of camp to make sure we are doing the absolute best job possible. I directed NC State’s camp last year and I am happy to report a satisfaction rating over met or exceeded expectations for 99%+ of all my students and parents for summer 2015. Yes, sometimes parents/student expectations don’t always perfectly line up with camp for whatever reason, but we do everything humanly possible to make sure that everyone is completely satisfied.
Most courses stuff what some students learn is something like a high school coding class into a single week of camp. I have had multiple students say to me after a week at camp that they learned more at iD than they did at their school in an entire semester.
Staff to student ratio: The 1:8 instructor to student ratio is maintained at all times during instruction and throughout the camp day. Often times multiple classes take place in the same room, but the ratio is always 1:8, no matter what.
Price: Day camps are closer to $900 on average and you get $50 off if you apply before March. Different classes are different prices, so you have to double check before signing up. The added $500 for overnight is correct.
I hope this addresses some of your concerns and that you give iD a chance. I don’t think you or your child will regret it!
-Bram
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