February 21, 2003

Under Pressure From Parents, Camps Add No-Fun Options By LISA GUBERNICK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL When Cameron Fischer heads off to Camp Winadu this summer, he can look forward to water-skiing, baseball -- and working on his fractions. "This will make sure he won't forget what he learned last year," says his mom, Leslie Fischer, who's signing the fifth-grader up for the camp's new academic program, the Edge. There's bad news in Bunk 10. The latest trend in sleepaway camp? School. With camp sign-up season now in full swing, a growing number of anxious parents are registering their children for new, no-fun options, from SAT-prep courses to "math enrichment." According to the American Camping Association, the number of member camps offering academics has grown by about 15% over the past two years; at some camps, as many as half the kids are expected to take part. The programs "have become part of the cost of doing business," says Laurel Barrie, a New York-based camp consultant. "It's what the parents want." Of course, many camps have always offered tutoring on request, and some children signed up for special academic programs. But only recently have algebra and Spanish verbs intruded on the idyllic world of sleepaway camp. The move is part of the industry's stepped-up efforts to please parents by offering everything from daily e-mail to bring-Mom-and-Dad-along sessions. No wonder: These days camp can run as much as $8,500 for the summer. And with school and college pressures running high, fewer families are willing to let Junior spend three months goofing off. Lauri Mufson wasn't. The Philadelphia mom shelled out an extra $500 (that's on top of the $6,500 regular tuition) last summer for her daughter Haley to take part in Pine Forest Camp's special SAT course. For that, she got 18 hours of drills, plus four practice tests (as well as tennis and water-skiing at the camp in rural Pennsylvania). "Anywhere you can get an extra edge, it's a good idea," says Ms. Mufson. Still, she concedes, "there's no way I'll get her to do it again." Summer study: A camper hits the books at Maine Teen Camp. The academic strategy may be particularly important for camps now, with both the bad economy and the prospect of war already threatening a slow summer ahead. Indeed, after a half-decade of steady growth, camp attendance is expected to level off at about four million this summer, says Jeffrey Solomon, executive director of the National Camp Association. The programs are most common at camps on the East Coast, where more kids tend to do a whole -- and expensive -- summer away. Why not just put the kids in real summer school? For families where Mom and Dad both work, or for single parents, camp "has become a necessity," says Mr. Solomon. "It's round-the-clock care." Overstuffed Kids But while parents may be fans, kids of course grumble about the programs -- and they're not the only ones complaining. Some antiacademic camp directors say the programs not only take time away from traditional outdoor pursuits, but add to already-high costs and make finding counselors tougher. And some child-rearing experts think they're a bad idea, too. "Kids are being stuffed like geese," says Alvin Rosenfeld, author of "The Over-Scheduled Child." "Summer should be their time." That's probably why many of the camps are trying to sugarcoat the offerings, sometimes literally. At Camp Winadu, the new academic-enrichment program will use sports themes to teach math and reading. A typical question: Calculate how long it takes a baseball pitched at 90 miles per hour to reach home base. (About half the campers are expected to sign up this summer, says director Shelley Weiner). And while candy and soda are usually banned at Maine's Camp Vega, girls who took part in the off-campus tutoring program last summer got to stop at a local stand for Cokes and snacks. The classes "ended up being pretty fun," says 10-year-old Alexandra Flinchum. Other programs are more intense. At SuperCamp, based in Oceanside, Calif., kids will spend 60% of their time on academics, including something called "quantum learning" (translation: note taking and organization). Maine Teen Camp has not one but two lakes and offers campers hiking trips in the White Mountains and rafting trips down the Kennebec River. But participants in the new College Bound program will spend most of their three weeks at camp taking SAT drills and working on their college essays -- as well as hitting college campuses for visits. Parents will even be sent their kids' practice tests so they can track any progress. "The important thing is for kids to be ready when the tests hit," says director Bob Briskin. Pricey Counselors But fitting academics into already-packed schedules can be tough -- kids who want to take Camp Med-O-Lark's new intensive Spanish classes will have to forgo the water-skiing, horseback riding and mountain biking that are offered at the same time. And it's not always easy to find counselors who can teach as well as build a campfire. That means some camps are having to pay as much as three times the going rate for counselors (as much as $5,000 for the summer). Camp Winadu's Mr. Weiner is even offering a $500 "finder's fee" for the right recruit. And not everyone's jumping on the trend. Tripp Lake, an all-girls camp in Southern Maine, doesn't offer academic classes and has no plans to add them, says director Leslie Levy. "We still have 16-year-old girls coming back to camp," she says, "and they don't want SAT tutoring; they want to bond with each other." She may have a point: This summer's session is already fully booked. Write to Lisa Gubernick at lisa.gubernick@wsj.com