Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments CTY Summer Session for DS8

I've been meaning to share our son's CTY experience, and have decided that tonight -- with overdue tax returns on my desk -- is a perfect time.

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DS8 participated in the JHU/CTY Talent Search last December, qualifying for both Math/Science and Humanities courses. After a few nights of reading through the descriptions with him, he selected a variety of courses from both categories, carefully avoiding anything that overtly involved mathematics.

He was assigned to his first choice, Introduction to Robotics, although I secretly hoped he would end up with a class closer to home. He shared the news with his teachers at school and was quite excited about the upcoming summer.

Finishing 5th grade this year, he enrolled in the "Baby CTY," which is for 2nd-6th graders, attending the residential program for 5th & 6th graders at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA (near Ventura). The other option for him (my 1st choice of location) was Stanford University in Palo Alto, but the Robotics course was not offered there.

I don't recall how much I shared with my lovely wife during the planning stage, but I distinctly remember her reaction when she first learned that this was a three-week residential camp. I think, perhaps... perchance, that I may have glossed over the three-week issue, but worked to reassure her that he would be just fine. I also pleaded with her to keep her anxieties muted, as DS would certainly feed off of them, turning his excited anticipation into anxious trepidation.

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CTY has clearly got everything down to a science, and I was impressed at the paperwork flow and information sharing throughout the months leading up to the camp. I called & emailed CTY a few times with questions and always received prompt & helpful responses. My son read through the info packets multiple times, promising to learn all the rules and sharing little tidbits that he picked up along the way. (No flashlights?)

Well... almost down to a science. Apparently they don't look at age until they assign roommates, which doesn't happen until about a week before the camp. I know this because that's when I received "the call."

"The call" came from one of the lead coordinators back east who seemed a little bit concerned about our son's age (8y9m). I assumed if age was going to be an issue, certainly someone would raise it much earlier in the process. Nope. The computer only looked at grade assignments and SCAT qualifications. Age didn't come into play until roommate and classmate selections.

I gave her the short-version of our son's schooling, explaining that with two grade skips, he'd always been the youngest by far, and that nobody has ever had an issue with it, least of all him.

According to her, he was the youngest at this session... with the next youngest being nearly 14mos older than him. (WTH? Seriously?!?) Apparently they didn't have many kids his age participating in CTY's residential programs in general.

Great -- what a bombshell to drop the week before the start. And double-great, she left one voice message on DW's phone... just when mom was really starting to get anxious -- this didn't help at all. And, honestly, it got me a bit worked up too. I was thinking that if CTY -- an organization that deals with these kids all the time -- if CTY was "cautious" about his participation, well, then, what the heck was I thinking by going through with this? So... I just tried to keep my panic all to myself, as there was nothing I could do about it at this point. Besides, we needed to finish packing.

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Packing was an exciting affair, with mom adding countless items throughout the day... and with me coming behind her during the night thinning out the luggage. (We found a great list on-line from former CTYers that offered some good suggestions to go along with the "official" recommended items.) The night before our departure, mom went through the incredible process of labeling everything he packed, so now he'll have indelible reminders of his summer every time he puts on a pair of BVDs!

We drove to Thousand Oaks the night before so that we could have a fresh start @ check-in, and at the hotel we unpacked & repacked all his bags with him so he'd know what all was in them. We arrived on campus a little before registration began and enjoyed talking with some of the other parents as well as the CTY staff. DS even met the CTY site director and chatted for a few minutes. (And subsequently enjoyed being on a first-name basis with him for the duration!)

After registration, we hustled over to the dorms and hauled his luggage to his room. We met his Resident Adviser (RA) and then went out to lunch that CTY provided for all the parents. Back at the dorms for last-minute admonitions about showering and teeth-brushing, we got to meet his roommate and his family. (Everyone we met seemed just fantastic.) Afterward, we turned DS loose with his RA (the official hand-off) and then stayed in the background to sit & watch for a bit before the parent orientation. Much to our relief, DS jumped right into the middle of things with the other boys, and -- a true example of his confidence -- totally forgot we were even in the room. *whew*

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We then attended a short orientation, where they introduced all the teachers and staff, and then later, parents & teachers had an opportunity to meet. Our son's instructors had a small crowd of similarly anxious & curious parents. We listened to all the other questions and then when the others had left, we introduced ourselves as DS's parents. "Oh, that student," he remarked. He showed us the class roster, where DS's row was highlighted in yellow and his age circled in red. And, in the moment that he flashed the roster, I quickly scanned the age column and saw that the rest of the class was comprised mostly of 11s with a handful of 10s. And one 8yo. Oh my.

So I gave my best abbreviated, "He's always been the youngest," speech and implored the teacher to NOT make an issue out of his age, and most importantly, to cut him no slack whatsoever. "Push him," I said. "Keep him challenged." We talked a bit more about what DS enjoys IRL, and left extremely comfortable with the head instructor and his TA.

DW & I then enjoyed a long, angst-ridden drive home.

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We had given our son a new cell phone to use, and I'm glad we did, because the in-room phones weren't working. We followed CTY's advice and did not initiate any contact with DS, understanding that the RAs would be suggesting kids not call until the 3rd night. DW & DS, however, sent short texts each night and morning (phones were only allowed in the rooms), which I think was just enough to maintain her sanity, and by extension, mine.

After the first call, DS called just a few more times during camp and was always breathlessly excited. His texts were usually short, although sometimes a bit longer & humorous, as he would share snippets of the day's adventures. (DW saved all their messages from the camp... the perpetual archivist that she is.)

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The kids spent about five hours in class each day and then the rest of the time were kept busy with many other activities, both social & physical. (The All-Camp Capture-the-Flag game was one DS's favorite games.) They were given some down time each day and then longer chunks on the weekends, when they could just relax and get to know their dorm mates better. Our son's dorm had a ping-pong table, which was pretty much the center of all non-organized activity.

Even now, several weeks after the end of camp, DS is still sharing experiences we hadn't heard about earlier -- so it's clear that CTY kept these kids busy with a capital B!

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I was extremely impressed with the security measures employed... nothing too overt, but certainly tightly controlled. At least one CTY staff member was with the kids at all times, including (especially?) as they went to and from classrooms during the day. The kids were on campus with scores of college-age kids there for summer session, orientations, etc., but DS said he was never nervous for a moment. There was even a big wrestling tournament that various groups of CTY kids got to watch -- an unplanned, yet excellent diversion! My wife, a notorious worry-wort cautious mother, had to say that she felt totally comfortable about the safety and security of our DS -- and that's saying a lot.

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The three weeks zoomed by (at least for me) and we were soon headed back to fetch our child, curious what we would find. Would he have any tattoos? Would his hair be blue? Would he still have hair? (OK...we'd read too many comments about the older CTY kids!)

What we met at the door of the dorm was this mop-headed kid who was a taller, dirtier, version of the child we'd deposited three weeks prior.

And the first thing out of his mouth after, "Hi Mom, Hi Dad!" was -- "Can I buy something out of the vending machines?"

Hilarious. The dorms have these fully-stocked snack & soda machines in the rec rooms... but the kids were forbidden to use them during camp. They could buy candy & sodas at the bookstore, but for whatever reason these machines were off-limits.

Well... let me tell you, our son became a hero to all the other boys when they saw him at the vending machine. Several came running up to him, begging him to buy them something. "No can do," he said., "Go ask so-and-so (the RA)." Absolutely hilarious.

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We got the last of his things packed and out to the vehicle. Afterward, we had lunch in the cafeteria with the kids, and went to a very nice closing ceremony, where several of the classes shared samples of their work. At the end of the day, the instructors had very brief (10min) conferences with parents, where they shared short video clips, writing samples and other work product. When we'd finished the conference, DS said good-bye to some friends & his RAs, and we headed home.

We did our best not to bombard DS with the millions of questions we had -- we just let him share when he wanted (although once he started on one story, we'd gently goad him into telling us some more!). I remember the summers when I was young and returning home after similar lengths of time away, and knew that he'd have plenty to say about things after he fully digested all that had transpired.

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Bottom line, he thoroughly enjoyed himself in every respect and is looking forward to next year; he plans to take Flight Science (another one not offered at Stanford... drat!).

He brushed his teeth regularly, showered occasionally, ate more than enough food and generally stayed out of trouble.

And he played constantly. Worked hard in the classroom, ran hard on the field, sustained mild injuries and participated in nearly everything else that came up. He got along great with all the other kids, had a few closer "buddies" and is absolutely chock full of stories about the whole experience.

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The week after he was home, I contacted the CTY staff in charge of the RAs and curriculum to see what they thought of this little kid in their midst. Was it a good match? Absolutely! Both people commented that his age was never an issue, and that he was as mature and social as all the other boys (or more so). He was just a little bit shorter -- that was all. The TA commented that he was a little "rambunctious" and "overly active" (their words) at the start of the session, but with an occasional reminder, did just fine in the classroom. He had no difficulties with any of the coursework, either hands-on or writing, and was at the upper-end of academic capability.

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We've told him that provided he maintains his performance at school, he will be permitted to attend next summer... but that if he doesn't take the school year seriously, he'll spend three weeks pulling weeds instead of learning about aeronautics.

[Wow. I think I lost control there, and droned on quite a bit -- even by my standards! Oh well, the tax return won't be any later tomorrow than it is today!]

Dandy, that sounds like a fantastic experience for your DS!

Wow, that sounds fantastic! Lucky DS and congrats to you parents for doing that. I think the hardest part for DH and I would be letting DS do it. Our DS is one year behind yours in age and I cannot in my wildest imagination see him doing something like that next summer. You have raised an amazing kid!! Nan

Thank you so much for sharing! My DS is a year younger than yours and wanted to do a CTY course this past summer but hadn't tested yet so I had an easy out. I'm not sure how he'd fare over 3 weeks but he's begging to go to overnight camp somewhere/anywhere for a week. To him it's the mark of a "BIG kid."

I'm very appreciative that CTY didn't just rule your son out on age alone. With a grade skipped, spring birthday kid myself, he's on the extra young side. It's frustrating to know he can do the work but get denied on age alone. Even our local Zoo camp went by birthdays- I had to push a lot to get DS grouped with his schoolmates.

I'll keep your story in the back of my mind next spring! And your wife is strong, the whole idea freaks my husband out! But he never went to camp as a child and really has no idea how good it can be for the kids' confidence, responsibility and pride.

I sensed that had CTY noticed his age early in the registration process, they may have been more resistant. As it was, we were just days away from the beginning of the camp, and there weren't too many options for them... or us. DS would have been crushed had it been called off at the last minute. (Mom, though, would have been relieved, I'm sure.)

While CTY doesn't show any age restrictions for grades 2-6, the website is clear about age limits for grade 7 & beyond... but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

Thanks for sharing the story. DD has just registered for CTY online, as a 5 year old turning 6 and going into grade 1. In NYC, there are no grade skips until HS so going early to camp wouldn't be an issue but I am glad to hear about such a great program.

And congratulations on raising such a great kid.

Ren

Thanks for that Dandy. That's the kind of account a parent wants to see, and it's not like you can find something like that on the website.

Wow, Dandy. This is such a great account of your experience. Our DS is 6, and has never been away from his parents for longer than a few days, so this seems like something that would be so far into the future. Then again, who knows? But it's so great to hear answers to all the questions us parents with younger-than-classmate kids have about this sort of camp. Your son sounds like a really wonderful kid. I'm so happy he had such a fabulous experience.

Our son deserves more credit than we do in this. I was actually surprised when he agreed to the concept when we first discussed it last fall. He's pretty quick to turn down anything new or unknown... but this time he said yes right away. I had him read through all the materials, and nothing about the experience seemed to faze him -- not even the laundry!

I wrote this, in part, because I was frustrated by not finding much of anything while contemplating this last year, and while my retelling is based on the monstrous sample of one... it's a start. I also wrote this to appease the all-powerful archivist in our home -- she's wanted some "documentation" of the experience for her scrapbooks.

I'm so glad -- and relieved -- that our son enjoyed the experience. I didn't know anything about camps like CTY when I was in school, but I'm sure I would have done whatever necessary (including applied myself in school) to participate.

Wow Dandy, I need to have DW see this. This may be an option for next year DS will just turn 9. I believ he will do great, but not to sure about DW and myself. Great informaion, and congrats to your son.