Education Encounters

All around amazing camp! I sent my 5yr old son for 4 weeks, half day last summer and he loved it. I plan to send him again this summer!

I highly recommend Education Encounters. My daughter is 6 years old and I sent her to the camp 4 out of 5 weeks in the summer of 2015. The staff was very good at getting the kids engaged in projects and information. My daughter generally takes a while to make friends. But she had no problem finding companions. My daughter came home with tons of history related projects and came home using new words. We got weekly reports and photographs as well. Being a working parent, I appreciated the extended hours option. Sofia learned different games like chess and yatzee. The leaders were often on the floor playing games with this kids. This tells me they take what they do seriously. I felt that my daughter was safe. This was extremely important to me given my daughters young age and the fact that this was her first time at a summer camp. I will send my daughter here in future years and my second when she is old enough.

Our grandchildren, 8 and 5, spent last week at the camp — their first time. What a wonderful place! They were totally engaged and «insisted» on going again next year. We probably sign up for two weeks next summer.

My daughter had a weekly Educational Encounter class at her school the whole school year and she loved it. Her class was called «Brought to You» and it was a different theme each time. So one week they did a marionette puppet show, spring projects, music trio performance, outdoor games, building lab, cooking project, Happy Hollow animal show, and a lego workshop. She loved the class and the teachers and will definitely do it again in the fall!

My kids have attended camps and programs with Maria since my oldest was little (she is now 15). My 12 year old tested out of the Egypt unit this year in 6^th grade because he learned so much in Egypt camp last summer. My youngest is 8 and loves camp. The themes are rich and creative, not cookie cutter. My kids make connections to camp when we go anywhere: like aqueducts in southern CA remind them of Rome, and telling the Vikings at a History re-​enactment about their time in history. We wouldn’t keep coming back if this wasn’t THE destination camp for our family. It is a wonderful experience. It is just what you are looking for: real teachers teaching who know their stuff, small size, creative hands-​on projects, & kind-​hearted people.

Both of my kids have attended many EE camps over the past 3 years, and are looking forward to attending all of the camps this summer. The very first day my son walked out of camp Summer of 2012 he said, «This is my favorite, I want to come every day.» The kids are given so many opportunities to use their imagination, all while learning history and art. It’s such a safe, friendly, comfortable atmosphere.

My two children were so happy and engaged at this summer camp. It was our first experience with any summer camp (my twins were 5) and I’m so glad I chose Educational Encounters. Maria took the time to answer ALL my questions prior to me signing up and she made me feel at ease that my children would be in a great fun, caring, learning environment and they were. These teachers love to teach and it shows through their interactions with the kids and amazing projects. My children came home talking about castles and catapults, barbarians and how to spin wool. They woke up wanting to go to camp. The after school teacher Erika is awesome, she is a master at what she does. There is a variety of ages and at first I was worried about the older kids but Maria and Michael provide a great environment for all the kids. At the end I had no worries about anything.

«Castles and Catapults is my favorite camp ever.» That was my six-​year-​old son’s verdict after his first day of his first Education Encounters’ camp this summer.
My nine-​year-​old daughter is also a huge fan of Education Encounters camps. She has participated in Education Encounters camps for the past three summers, an ancient Greek themed camp in 2012, an Ancient China themed camp in 2013, and the «Castles and Catapults» camp in 2014.
Both of my kids really enjoy Education Encounters camps’ hands-​on activities. The activities are always extremely varied. This year the kids built castles, designed their own shields, learned sword fighting techniques (using pool noodles), and made medieval stew, to name just a few activities. All of the kids in the camp had the same basic curriculum, but some activities were varied according to age. For example, all of the kids did an activity with wool. For my daughter’s age group, the activity was to weave a purse, and for my son’s, it was to embroider the first letters of their names.
In addition to enjoying Education Encounters camps, my kids obviously also learn a ton of history. I’m loving hearing my kids incorporate medieval themes into their imaginative play several weeks after finishing Castles and Catapults, and my daughter still occasionally brings up things that she learned in the camps that she took over previous summers.
Maria the camp director, a credentialed teacher, is personable, flexible, and generous. My daughter was a little bit stressed when she hadn’t quite finished weaving her purse by the time camp finished on Friday afternoon, so Maria reassured her that she could just take a camp weaving needle with her and complete the project at home.
Both of my kids will definitely be returning to Education Encounters next summer.

My son Orion attended only one week, Egyptian Encounters, this summer and loved it! I particularly like the relaxed atmosphere, but emphasis on intellectual stimulation from replicating rainfall in Egypt to making a cat mummy and visiting the Egyptian museum down the road. He was truly immersed, and had time to play with a variety of Playmobil sets which he loves. I also like that there were varying age levels. The staff was friendly and very well-​informed/​inspired!

My daughter has been to both one of the after school activities and the parents night out events, and both have been wonderful. We especially like the parents night out. The times are perfect, they feed the kids, it’s very safe, and the activities are very engaging. We love it too because there are a bunch of great restaurants a stones throw from the site, so we’re not spending our time driving.

My daughter has attended two enrichment classes so far and she loves them! The teachers are always ready with fun new themes and activities. They are flexible with different ages and learning styles and always encourage individuality and creativity. During kindergarten, my daughter has developed a new passion for the arts through her art enrichment and drama enrichment classes. We’re both looking forward to what might unfold in first grade! Thanks, Maria and Nicole!