Summer camp

I just realized that I need to look into summer camps in my area. I need to look into summer camps! Wow.

OK, it seems that my town has a free program, ages 6-12. Free. They have counselors, it's at a local park/playground. From what it reads on the town website, you sign up NOW and basically just drop the kids off. They don't have camp on bad weather days, since it's an outdoor program. But they also organize some trips to local fun places (that Lucky Boy and I wanted to take her to anyway), so it's not just all days at the park. Free is definitely a plus, but I'm a little curious what kind of supervision they have and what the other kids in the program will be like. I'm not too worried about the language issue, since there are many Spanish-speakers in my town. I guess I'm just taking for granted that there will always be a Spanish-speaker around when you need one.

My friends had mentioned another local program that has week-long camps. One son went to softball, and another friend's son went to soccer and his daughter went to swimming. There's a fee, but it's also run out of the local high school so it's not a HUGE fee, probably comparable to other weekly camp fees in the area. I can also ask for a scholarship, the hosting organization has a template letter for that. I'm just a little concerned with commiting to a full week (or a few weeks), without having met her or even knowing anything about her. Age? Interests? I mean, what if I sign her up for a week of swimming and it turns out she's terrified of the water and refuses to swim?

I'd really like to find a program that has 2 or 3 days a week, rather than all five days. There's another program that runs an afterschool program a friend's daughter goes to. I think my neighbor also went there, I'll have to ask her (she's now 13). I think the part-week program would be a better option for ME because it's structured, it's not ALL me, and it gives her a break rather than going all five days.

Whatever it is, we really need to get started on this NOW. We'll have a better chance of getting a scholarship if we start asking around now, and we'll probably have a better idea of what programs are available if we start visiting and asking around. It's kind of hard to plan on a summer camp when I have no idea about the child! (If we're really talking "ideal world," I'd ask my friend who has an 8-year old which camp his daughter is going to and we'd make the plans together, but then what happens if the Invisible Kid isn't close to 8?)