Summer Enrichment Program for Girls

Archived Q&A and Reviews

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From: Jane (4/99)

In the last few years, Steve Hinshaw and his colleagues in the Psychology Dept. have run a Summer Enrichment Program for Girls, but for many years before that, it was a Summer Enrichment Program for Boys. My son attended about 4 years ago, when he was about 7, and loved it. In subsequent years he asked to go back to Boys' Camp, but he'd already been used as a research subject, so isn't eligible.

They're studying ADD and ADHD kids, and how they interact in groups. Half the kids are referred to the program as ADD/ADHD, and half are selected *not* to have ADD/ADHD.

It was held at an elementary school in North Oakland. They did a lot of normal summer camp stuff. Occasionally they would bring some of the kids to campus for part of the day for psychological testing, which my son always saw as a great adventure and a lot of fun. The adult:child ratio was about 1:1; they had a zillion psychology students (pretty unobtrusively) watching every kid all the time, keeping track of who interacted with whom, etc.. There was a system where the kids earned points for good behavior, with which they could buy things in the camp store. My son thought this was great, but he was in the control group and pretty well behaved; I'm not sure what the experience would be like for a kid who had a harder time of it.

The whole camp was very professionally run, with lots of information available for parents before, during, and after.

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From: Becky (4/99)

My daughter went to this program 2 summers ago and LOVED IT. She wishes she could go again, but they only take new girls each year. It was well worth all of the testing, etc. Do it! I would love to find another program just for girls like this one--very esteem-building and fun.

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From: James (5/99)

Our oldest daughter who is 11 attended last summer. We've sent our children to numerous camps, and this is one of the best run camps we've experienced. Our daughter loved attending. There is a good counselor to camper ratio - the girls are well-supervised and get a lot of dedicated attention from the staff. Our youngest daughter, 7, will attend this summer. We wish that we could send them each year, but the research project limits attendance to one time. The long screening and interview process is worth the time and effort.

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From: Trish (5/99)

Are you referring to the summer camp for girls with Attention Deficiency/Hyper Activity (ADHD)? Prof. Steve Hinshaw if conducting this research program. My daughter (then 7) attended the camp with a friend as control participant. They had a blast!! The camp was like no other. Well organized, well disciplined for those girls with ADHD, but all the girls got continuous positive feedback. As a parent, you will spend a lot of time filling out surveys, questionnaires, etc. I felt a little put upon while doing it but the whole experience was great in the end. It was well worth it. The girls wanted to go back the next year. In fact, this year my daughter (9 now) again wanted to go back and when I said she could only do the camp once she asked if she could be a counsellor at it when she grew up.