Berkeley Parents Network: Sarah's Science Camp

Berkeley Parents Network

Sarah's Science Camp

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Summer Camps & School Breaks > Sarah's Science Camp

www.sarahscience.com

April 2008

Re: Summer camp for 4 1/2 year old?
The two best options that I found were Sarah's Science (pain to drive to) and the Emeryville gymnastics Head over Heels. HOH has a 4 year old (half-day, I think camp). Sarah is just flexible and will leave it to you to decide if your kid's ready. It's an outdoor camp. We were looking for somehting for my son to do because he hated his pre-school. We recruited some friends to go with him and he loved camp -- complained that we hadn't signed up for enough weeks. I picked him up daily at 3pm and he was asleep at 3:01 in the car. good luck

Oct 2007

Re: Winter break camp for two boys in Oakland
See Sarah's science camps (www.sarahscience.com) for the Inventor's Workshop during Winter Break. We've taken a spring break camp from her and were very impressed - adults working there and really novel projects. The other bonus is that you can do single days and don't have to do full weeks and they have Oakland and Berkeley locations. Anon

April 2007

My 6.5 y.o. granddaughter, who lives in Sacramento, spent her Spring Break with us in Berkeley. She attended Sarah Science Camp(SSC)at Black Pine Circle -- with a Thursday field trip to Bollinger Canyon. The focus of the 5-day program* was the ecosystem of the Chaparral. I can't recommend SSC highly enough! Sarah is a gifted teacher, warm, nurturing, and inspirational. The counseling staff I met were friendly, attentive, responsive, and enthusiastic. Maya was as excited to go on Friday as she'd been on Monday; she brought home interesting and illuminating science projects which she ably explained to us. I understand the preponderance of children are in the 5-8 y.o. age range, though I believe the program accepts children up to 12 y.o. Maya's already enrolled to attend one of the SSC summer sessions which will be held at Tilden Park. More info available at www.sarahscience.com. *children can register for anywhere from 1-5 days; before and after care is available. Bobbie

Nov 2006

My son's teacher heard about a winter break Young Inventors Camp that we both thought would be great for my very creative 8 year old, but she has lost the brochure and can't remember who runs it. I can't find anything similar. Does anyone know about a winter break (or summer!) program for young inventors? Mom of a would-be inventor Liz

You might be thinking of Sarah's Science winter camp; this year's theme is Inventor's Workshop. Check out www.sarahscience.com Anon

I'm sure she was talking about Sarah's Science Winter Camp. The theme this year is ''Inventor's Workshop'' My son has been goin to Sarah's Science camps for years and he loves them. Sarah is fabulous, and the best thing she does (aside from inspiring a love of science and learning) is hire really great counselors. Check out the website at www.sarahscience.com or call 510-581- 3739

June 2006

Re: Looking for a Great Camp
Try Sarah's Science (run by This Land is Your Land). A nice outdoor science camp with one day of swimming at Lake Anza/ week. You can sign up for one week or more. And (unlike many camps in the East Bay...) they offer before care and after care for a small fee; which makes it possible for us commuting parents to send our kids there. I'm sure you can find them on the web or in the phone book under Sarah's Science or under This Land is Your Land. They also run a similar camp in Oakland. Mom

April 2006

Hello -- We're about to move out to the Bay Area and I'm looking for a camp for my daughter. I've read about This Land is Your Land/Sarah's Science on the site, and it sounds like it would work very well for her. But the reviews on the website are somewhat dated and seem to get more mixed over time. Any recent experiences, especially with the Berkeley camp? How good would they be at integrating a child who knows no one? How do they balance being outside and science? How good is it overall? how would you compare the Berkeley and Oakland camps? Thanks! leslie

My daughter has attended the Oakland camp since she was 5, she is now 10 and intends to go this year again at least for a few weeks. We have tried many camps and this continues to be her favorite - and we love the fact she is outside all day. The parks are fabulous and they really are out in nature (or sitting around picnic tables) all day. The science is fun, but not too hard-core, more camp project science than intense academic science. They do a couple projects a day, they sing camp songs, play games, take hikes, make lanyards - standard camp things. The councelors are also great, there is a good return rate year-to-year. My daughter has rarely gone with anyone she knows, and she doesn't care at all if she doesn't know anyone in the group. I should note she is not an overly outgoing child, but this doesn't seem to matter at this camp, she always makes friends. I don't know if you have a boy or a girl - there tends to be a few more boys than girls at the camp. happy camp parent

My son has been going to This Land is Your Land camp in Berkeley for three years. His first year was between preschool and kindergarten at Tehiyah Day School. Because Kieran didn't know any kids yet from Tehiyah, Saul and Aaron, the camp directors, made it a point to group him with other Tehiyah kids entering kindergarten and first grade. Each year, I have found the counselors to be adept at facilitating friendships as well as creating an overall happy camp experience. The way TLIYL incorporates science into the camp is fabulous and definitely fosters a love of science. After last summer's camp, my son commented that he wasn't sure that learning about science was supposed to be so much fun! Kieran hasn't done the Oakland camp, but he does go to Winter Camp run by Sarah Shaffer, and he absolutely adores her. Jane

February 2006

Re: Spring Break Camp for 5yo in Oakland
Sarah Science (aka This Land is Your Land) was fabulous last year for my slightly less than 5 year old. We made sure he went with someone he knew, but Sarah left it to us to decide if he was ready. They were great with the little guys. Had them in a small group, really attentive counselors, and the kids had a good time. As to the science, I think my son is more interested in the snacks, although he is mildly pleased with the gizmos that he brings home. This Spring break is about wetlands, which sounds great. It appears more expensive than some other camps, as it is really full day (not ending at 3:30). website is sarahscience.com. Sarah herself is very attentive to any issues which come up and really seems to make sure that the kids are having a good time. She is very enthusiastic about the science. The kids can opt out (though I think they don't by and large). The spring break is at a downtown church, with a nice playgro und. You could take your son to a Saturday Bug class (I forget what it's called) to meet Sarah and other staff, get a feel for things, in advance of the April camp. My son would happily go to their break camps and summer camps to the exclusion of most other options. Sarah is also very flexible: they encourage two weeks consecutive enrollment for the summer, but not required and some other camps pair the weeks, so you can't do the second week of one session and the first week of the next session; she was very helpful and flexible with things that came up. The ONLY negative: the snacks are pretty junky, my son fills up on them, and doesn't eat lunch. If I packed him snacks that I (but not he)prefer, they would make sure that happened, but it's not worth it to me, when all the other kids would be eating the chocolate chip-chocolate muffins or somesuch. So, I repeat my mantra: camp is supposed to be fun, he has the rest of the y ear for nutrition. aj

February 2003

I am considering sending my 7 year old son to This Land is Your Land summer camp in Tilden park. The reviews on the web site are somewhat mixed and not that current. Could anyone comment on this camp (run by Sarah Shaffer) from summer 2002? Thanks in advance. Sima

We've been doing various Sarah's Science activities off and on for several years -- sometimes winter or spring break, and sometimes afterschool programs. We did This Land is Your Land at Tilden for two or three sessions last summer. We're very happy with it. The staff is friendly and agreeable, and the atmosphere of easygoing fun and learning seems to make the kids very relaxed and sweet -- in contrast, say, to the LHS-S2 camps where everyone seems out of sorts by the end of the day. Sarah herself does not show up much at the Tilden camp, which disappointed my son, since he likes her especially (she's usually at the Redwood camp).

I don't know if it would get boring for a kid to be there every week all summer. We try to do a little variety; I especially like it if they can swim every day. TLIYL swims once a week at Lake Anza. Letitia

My 6 yo son went to this camp in Roberts last summer and LOVED IT. He wants to go back this summer. As he described it ''it is more of a play in the woods camp then a science camp''. He came home dirty and happy every day. Though he was often clutching a small project, that was not the main focus for him (and the projects did not look like they took that much time). He described hikes and building wood forts and playing games with great enthusiasm. The counselors seemed very good. There was one teasing incident with a CIT but the director, Sarah, responded really well and handled it right away. So if you are looking for something academic I would not recommend it but if you are looking for outdoor fun I would. Leah

March 2002

Does anyone have any experience with a summer camp run by Sarah's Science called This Land Is Your Land? My 7 year old daughter is interested in science and I saw this camp advertised in Parents Press, but I would like a more personal recommendation. (She would be going to the Tilden Park location, but experiences at either location, or with Sarah's Science spring program, would be appreciated.) I did see the recommendations in the UC Parents archives but I was wondering if anyone has had a more recent experience. Thanks! Emily

I was the person who recommended This Land is Your Land camp in the past. We had a very good experience the first year my son went to TLIYL, but we had a much more mixed experience the second year. Sara had two camp sites, and seemed as though she had less experienced staff. The numbers seemed somewhat overwhelming for my fairly high maintenance son. We also found that the ''after-care'' had very limited supervision, with kids of all ages mixed together which led to lots of problems for my son. It also was quite expensive, costing somewhere in the range of $250 a week, including after-care that we ended up not using much of the time, because of the inadequate supervision.

On the plus side, the projects were fun and quite inventive, the outside speakers were quite good, and the kids were allowed to get as dirty as they liked in the beautiful outdoor setting. Most of the kids seemed to do pretty well, and enjoyed the freedom. Myriam

I highly recommend This Land Is Your Land summer camp. My son has really had fun at ''This Land'' for the past two summers. He enjoyed the science activities, as well as the singing at circle time, and the down time hanging out with new friends at the picnic tables. I've been really pleased with the attentiveness of the leaders. The camp's logistics are exceptionally well-run. Sarah Schaffer is amazing in dealing with all the details and she's very caring with the kids. This summer Sarah is starting ''This Land'' in Tilden and she'll still keep the one going in the Oakland Hills. Wilma

My daughter (then 6) went last summer and loved the camp, she might do it again this summer. The camp was well organized but I personally was not all that impressed with the actual counselors. However, as I said, my daughter was happy and excited about each day's events and had a great time. Sarah Shaffer has a wonderful reputation though unfortunately doesn't have the time to be at each session since the camp has grown in popularity.

March 2000

Last year I recommended somewhat sight unseen, Sarah's Science Day Camp. I ended up sending my little boy who was entering first grade for quite a bit of the summer . I was very happy I did. He'll do it again this summer, pretty much all summer. The camp was fun, educational (but not too educational!) and professionally run. My son had an incredibly good time and came home very dirty, quite tired and happy nearly every day.

The camp is located in Redwood Regional Park and the location is fabulous for the kind of projects she organizes around science. Each week has a theme and they are executed really nicely and in an age appropriate manner.... This summer she has Spy Science, Flinging Things, Weather, Circus Science, Eating Flies and Ice Cream among others.

There are some fun, not too competitive sports, swimming once a week (so you'll have to do swim lessons elsewhere), arts and crafts and other imaginative activities. It's completely outdoors, but not sports oriented, which is somewhat hard to find. Her staff is great with kids and really well trained.A lot of the counsellors come back year after year, it seems, so she's doing something really right there, too.

It's pretty expensive ($205 a week for 9-3, an additional $55 for extended care) and the location can be quite a haul from campus. (Making it to the top of the hill by 530 was an adventure!) but we found it to be money well spent. She's closed one week this summer (the week of 7/24).

As my son said, "I liked Lawrence Hall of Science Camp and Zoo Camp ok, but Sarah's Science was the best". Myriam

echo the good recommendation already received. My children went several years ago and loved it! Marie

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