Seeking a Spanish Day Camp
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Spanish/English camp for 6-year-old
Feb 2009
My son who will be 6 in April has always been bilingual, until he started kindergarten. Now he refuses to talk to me in Spanish and I know it's bc. it's become really hard: his thoughts are in English bc. of school and friends. I will be working this summer for six weeks: end of June and July, three days a week and I was wondering if I could find a bilingual summer camp for him that would have a flexible schedule: three days a week with childcare in the afternoon. I would prefer something sports and science oriented. It doesn't have to be sports necessarily but lots of physical activity, maybe something outdoorsy, and water games and stuff like that. I prefer the physical stuff and the science content to arts and crafts, which he gets to do all year long. I appreciate any info.
Mom of not so bilingual kid anymore.
Hello! Allow me to recommend Camp Lango , our Spanish immersion day camp, to be held at Glenview Elementary in Oakland the weeks of July 20 and 27 and August 3. You're welcome to enroll for half-days, full days or extended care, and we're also happy to accept partial-week enrollments, as you describe here. Please visit www.langokids.com, or email info [at] langokids.com. Thanks!
Hi, Escuela Bilingue Internacional has just posted their summer camp sessions. They run full and half day immersion programs. My son goes to school there and is also 6 years old. The camp should be really great this summer. I don't have the information with me as they just gave it to us on Friday, but you should be able to find it on their website which is: http://www.ebinternacional.org/en/index.html Feel free to contact me if you have any questions! suzanne
Spanish immersion preschool summer programs
March 2008
I was wondering if there are any Spanish Immersion preschool programs in the summer for my 3 yr old? I'm looking in the Concord/Walnut Creek area. I'm willing to take a week-by- week program or a summer camp-type experience. Thanks Teri
Hi Teri- I recommend Viva El Espanol in Lafayette. They have Summer Camp both half day and full day, with various themes. My children currently attend their Pre-K classes and they love it.They offer free trial classes and there are always openings. The phone number is (925)962-9177 or check out www.LamorindaSpanish.com Denise
Wow - you should check out Viva El Espanol (www.lamorindaspanish.com). This is right up your alley, and they have summer camps! Their classes are year round from toddlers to adults. Tell them Mariaelena sent you. viva rocks
I saw one or two Spanish immersion schools in that area on www.contracostapreschools.com. Hope that helps! JOJ
Lango's spanish immersion program offers a variety of classes for kids age 18 mos to 9 yrs in Berkeley, Oakland, Noe Valley, Petaluma, Foster City, Walnut Creek, Millbrae, San Leandro, and Dublin. Our classes serve as a supplement to your child's preschool education and we also provide week-long summer camps in Point Richmond and Oakland. Half, full, and extended day options are available to assist those with busy schedules. Visit our website for more information at www.langokids.com or call 1-888-44-LANGO. Ashley
Seeking French or Spanish immersion program for young children
April 2007
I am interested in finding some type of alternative language immersion program in Spanish or French for toddlers and young children under the age of 10. My children are in elementary school or preschool Monday through Friday during the school year, so I would like to find something held on Saturdays and/or during the summer months during the week. Although we live in Napa, I would be willing to consider anything in the East Bay, Marin County, Sonoma County or Napa County. I appreciate your ideas. Tiffany
Hi. I highly recommend Escuela Bilingue Internacional (ebinternacional.org), a Spanish-immersion school in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. It is currently pre-k through 1st grade, with plans to expand through eighth grade. They are offering summer camps that sound really fun. My son is in the pre-k program. He loves it and so do I. EBI Mom
Summer Spanish Classes Lamorinda
June 2006
I'm looking for fun summer Spanish lessons in Moraga/Lafayette/Orinda for an elementary age child who has never studied before. I saw some classes offered through local community centers but they focus on preschool-K age kids. Any ideas? I'd love to find someplace close by where we can enroll during the school year as well.
Viva el Espanol in Lafayette is running camps this summer, as well as daily classes during the summer and throughout the school year. They have classes for all ages, including a dedicated class for elementary aged kids. My two kids ages 5 & 8 are enrolled in the ''Under the Sea'' camp this week and are loving it. They will participate in ''Bugs Life'' next week. They have been enrolled in the dialy classes all of last year. I'm very impressed by the teachers, and the curriculum involves music and art so it is very fun for the kids. Their website is www.LamorindaSpanish.com
We tried to do this last summer and it was really hard to find something that wasn't in Spain and we really wanted to stay within our general timezone for remote working. There were some schools that looked OK in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and then we found the Green School in Antigua. It's still geared towards International Students (Cambridge Certified), but it's on a coffee farm, in Spanish, etc. and they have a summer program. We didn't want to drive, so stayed in an AirBNB near there in Antigua (look up "Tom's Apartments") it's walking distance to the school but a little far out of the City Center, which was fine if you are staying longer term and remote working. It was affordable and definitely livable for a longer stay. So even though we ended up still going to the area, we didn't end up even enrolling in the camp at the Green School because they always posts the summer schedule super late (like spring I think) and the dates are always in July, not June (as far as I know). It's really stressful not having your summer nailed down until spring since everything here books so early. Also, they were inflexible on letting you go for certain weeks and not others- I think you have to commit to the whole thing. Still, this was by far the most viable option I found after a ton of research in Central and South America (even looked in Argentina at their "winter camps" over summer). Mexico City would be my top location, but I didn't see a lot there and what I did see was geared towards sports. Eager to see on this thread if anyone else has found anything else.
This is from my experience… most schools and camps are bilingual. I have yet to find an environment where the school or camp is100% in Spanish. It’s important for me for my son to be in environments where he’s learning Spanish too. Expats cater to expats and lots of them don’t even try to learn or speak Spanish.
A coworker recently told me about a camp in Pueblo that her kids went to. Based on the prices it didn’t seem like it was catering to foreigners.
Have you considered Puerto Rico?
There are plenty of summer camps with local children here. The farther away you are from San Juan and Rincon, the more Spanish speaking they will be, and the cheaper they will be. The camps geared towards mainlanders will have mainlander prices, but the local camps will be quite reasonable. My child attended an almost 5 week long baseball summer camp that was about 4 hrs/day and we paid $350 for the whole thing (including lunch, camp shirt, and baseball cap). Another camp that was held at a school was $85/week, lunch included, and every Friday was some sort of fun day (riding the trolley, someone set up a jumpy house and pop corn and cotton candy machine, etc).
If you need ideas of where to look, you can contact me. My child's Spanish definitely improved by going to camps with the local kids. The trick is to find one that doesn't have too many English speakers, or else they'll tend to want to just speak English with each other.
We have done this for a different language in past years, and continue to do this. It's an invaluable experience for the kids, for all kinds of language and cultural reasons. Maybe start by looking at local public school calendars - something education ministries may post. For example, if schools in Spain close in mid-June, camps for locals are likely to operate starting in in late June, and teachers and aides are also likely to be available then for babysitting. Schools in Argentina, conversely, may be in session for all of June, so trying to sign up your kid for a month of school, rather than camp, may be the way to go. We've found that American camps book much earlier, and have websites, and are much more formal, than camps abroad. We have shocked camp directors by trying to connect before April or May. We have arrived early in June only to find out schools are still in session and there are no camps. That said, informality, and low fees, can work to your advantage. We have sometimes paid "for the whole month" or even "for the whole summer", and still paid less than what a week would cost here. We have negotiated for kids to arrive an hour early for "private lessons" - i.e. extra hours of loose supervision in the local language. We've found that there's always something for younger elementary school kids during school breaks, but in some remote locations, older elementary kids roam or help adults, making camp unnecessary and thus unavailable.