Our daughter did a couple of the Academic Explorations sessions when too young to do the Intensive Studies. The final year there she met a girl who is now her best friend.
They roomed together last summer for the Intensive Studies completing two sessions back to back. They studied Logic: Principles of Reasoning the first session and Mathematical Logic the second. They enjoyed both classes.
Our daughter has had a blast and has made many other friends with whom she is still in touch with. The program traditions vary depending on the campus and the kids have a lot of fun with them. There are lots of insider jokes, canon songs and a jolly good time is had by most. She will not do 2 session back to back again this year as she missed being able to 'just have a summer'.
The Humanities program has been getting less traditionally academic over the years e.g. Classical Greek and Latin are no longer offered which sucks because the best way to learn a language is with intense immersion - and a lot more fun can be had with fellow geeks in and out of the classroom.
However they still offer some fantastic classes - our daughter is looking forward to doing it again this year and tackling the Fast Paced High School Chemistry.
Gifted kids whose residential areas and B&M schools are less geek intensive will likely find their 'tribe' there. The campus is very secure so for the only time in a given year your kid will be surrounded by peers that want to grok things. This was very clear last year at the campus bookstore buying the course books, we were surrounded by kids whose glee was palpable to be going 'back to school'. This was just after the start of summer recess when most kids experience glee for the opposite reason!
The only downside of the program is its cost but I have heard that they do offer assistance to families in straitened circumstances so that their talented kids can still attend.
Last edited by madeinuk; 02/02/18 09:49 AM.
