Local News

12:09 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2005

By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News

Wendy McGahey and her 5-year-old daughter sat patiently under a shade tree on the quiet Tarrant County College campus in Hurst.

Suddenly, students burst from buildings, flooding the courtyard while lugging backpacks.

Mrs. McGahey greeted her two sons with typical mom questions: "Did you find your classes OK? What did you learn today?" Her boys, ages 9 and 10, aren't college students yet. But for three weeks in the summer, they invade the classrooms in the popular College for Kids program. They spend mornings trekking around the campus to pre-algebra, paleontology and stock market classes.

RON BASELICE/DMN

Jacqueline Langford helps Emily Collins, 8, with her apple dumplings at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake.

"It's definitely not the summer that we grew up with," said Mrs. McGahey, a North Richland Hills resident. "There wasn't a lot of learning computers when we were kids."

Welcome to the new summer vacation.

It's a time in some communities that has become a hybrid extension of the school year.

With more camps, programs and enrichment activities than ever, many children are spending the bulk of summer in structured or academic programs – and less time riding bikes or running in the sprinkler.

As more moms and dads both work full time, city and school district programs keep kids entertained in a safe environment in the summer. Some parents, like those in Southlake Carroll, requested additional academic programs in the summer.

But with some schools starting in early August, the glut of summer opportunities can overwhelm families and leave little time for sleeping late and playing with friends.

Kelsey Crawford, 9, of Southlake spends her summer in a school district camp and other camps and classes for basketball, golf and cooking. She also takes tae kwon do lessons.

She said she enjoys summer but sometimes wishes she had more time to take it all in.

"I'd like to practice my basketball or my diving," she said. "I don't always have the time to practice what I've learned in the camps."

Academic summer programs are joining traditional parks and recreation day camps and residential youth camps. Many local school districts are ready with enrichment academies during the summer that are branded fun academics.

Grapevine-Colleyville, for instance, offers more than 40 summer enrichment programs for $75 each. Southlake Carroll started its Dragon Academy this year, with $80 classes attended by about 250 to 300 students.

Larger districts such as Dallas and Fort Worth offer art and cultural programs that cost slightly less or are free. DISD partners with the city and other community groups to offer summer arts programs.

College for Kids at Tarrant County College sites costs $160 for four classes that run for three weeks. More than 500 people signed up on the first day of registration in April.

The program, started in 1981, enrolled 400 more children this year than last. Enrollment has increased by almost 1,000 students in 10 years.

Alvin Rosenfeld, author of The Over-scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap, said as more classes are created, more parents feel pressured to take them.

Dr. Rosenfeld said for some families, summer adds to a busy and stressful school year. "This is something that society is telling us to do," he said. "Every moment must be filled productively. That compulsion – that's the story."

He said many parents fear that their children will fail in life if they're not enrolled in activities.

"If you ask most kids, they'd say they would like some time to relax," he said. "People have lost faith in themselves as parents. They've become so anxious. It's a real public health issue."

Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute, a research group in New York City, said summer can be an even more stressful time for working parents who don't get a summer vacation from work. And summer activities are key to surviving their kid's break from school.

"We have an idealistic view of what summer should be," she said. "Summer is supposed to be a down time but for working parents, it's not."

Kenneth Gold, who wrote School's In: The History of Summer Education in American Public Schools, said summer used to include more teaching – and summer vacation as we know it didn't always exist.

Over time, more schools carved out July and August as a natural place for a summer break, Dr. Gold said, as educators strived to standardize urban and rural school schedules.

Dr. Gold said a concern that summer schooling would "oversaturate" teachers and students helped usher in summer vacation.

Today, he said, parents want summer programs that are educational but don't feel like school.

Dwight Pinnix has spent 27 years helping working and low-income families bridge summer months through Irving Parks and Recreation programs.

Many of the kids attend his 10-week summer camp from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. They swim, watch movies and visit local attractions like The Science Place and the zoo.

He said many parents want a challenging program for children where they are safe, not bored and can be with friends.

Mr. Pinnix said he grew up playing sandlot baseball in the summer. Now, he said, parents are more cautious.

"We have to give parents affordable, organized things for their kids where they're not overscheduled," he said. "We still have some kids who sleep in and just show up at the rec centers to shoot pool or play basketball. That never changes."

Mrs. McGahey of North Richland Hills tries to keep her kids' summer more like her childhood.

But she juggles dueling realities: Keeping summer low-key can be difficult when kids compare notes about their summer activities once school starts.

So she enrolls her kids in some fun academic classes. Then balances the rest of their days at the pool or at the movie theater or at home playing games.

Alene Kaufman of Southlake grows wistful recalling her childhood spent playing outside all day with friends. But, she adds, the world is a different place for her son.

"None of this playing baseball in the street until midnight," she said.

Mrs. Kaufman looks for activities to keep her high-energy son, Vasiliy, 10, busy in the summer. She says she doesn't want to overbook him, but he's got many interests.

So Vasiliy takes diving and reading classes. He's on the swim team and will attend a basketball camp and a school camp late in July. He's at the piano bench by 8 a.m. and has signed up for two cooking classes as well.

In his spare time, he fishes, roller-blades and plays computer games.

"I'm signed up for a lot of stuff that's fun, but sometimes I like to just play with my friends, too," he said.

At the new Bahama Beach water park in south Oak Cliff, kids scream as a giant urn of water tips and douses them. The $5 million facility opened this summer and has given families an affordable, traditional summer option. Parents, youth group leaders and park officials said swimming in the summer never gets old.

Nathaniel Lee said he wants to give his two children the kind of summers he had, filled with church camp, a family vacation and plenty of down time. He said having affordable options are important, too, because summer can get expensive."During the school year, you can tell that they're tired and restless," he said. "They need a break and a time to just be a kid."

Ms. Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute said summer can be an ideal time to build on children's interests – and help working parents have fun. But she also cautioned that kids need a balance between scheduled events and "hang-around time."

"Going out for ice cream, making pancakes on Saturday morning, staying in your pajamas and playing games," she said. "When I ask kids what they'll remember about their childhood it's not the trips or the camps, it's the smaller family moments that stay with them."

E-mail lfox@dallasnews.com