We doubt that anyone thinks of New York City as a summer camp mecca—but by most standards, it really is. Consider all the children’s activity centers and enrichment programs that the city is blessed with—some go on hiatus and some slow down in the summertime, offering the same programming but less of it, but many others take what they do best and build wonderful day camps around their core offerings.

Academic

Keep your kiddo’s mind fresh this August with the academic day camp offered by Drake Bennett Summer Schools. Divided into two sessions and housed at The Epiphany School, 1st-6th graders can brush up with lessons in literacy, math and science, while chess and drama pepper the afternoon hours. Or join Mathnasium for their Summer Re-Boot Camp. Specifically for 2nd-8th graders, this half-day camp is filled with math-centric games and activities.

Language

Set your kid on the fast track to becoming bilingual. Collina Italiana is offering Italian Summer in the City Camp, which includes Italian-infused music, theater, movies, cartoons and museum outings. Children as young as 3 can start learning “bonjour” and “merci” at the French Institute Alliance Française, where culture and language will be taught through stories and workshops.

The Language Workshop for Children is a great tool to get your child speaking like a native. Offering summer camps in Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese, immersion activities include costume days, arts and crafts, baking and birthday celebrations.

Media

Future video game creators will love the options in Summer Media Camp through the Museum of the Moving Image, where campers get to flex their software muscles learning animation, live action video and more. Or send your wannabe MTV VJ to New York Film Academy’s one-week Music Video Camp, designed for kids with little or no knowledge (but a passion) for the industry. And let’s not forget about summer camp at Take Two Film Academy, which will show your budding director the ins and outs of production, acting and editing. Each student gets to keep an online and DVD copy of their final product to show off to friends and family!

Nature

Wonder about wildlife? Kids ages 8-12 can get friendly with hyenas and lions at the Bronx Zoo’s Animal Kingdom Camp, where they will observe creatures up close and learn how to best protect an animal’s habitat. Taking full advantage of Prospect Park, the Park Explorers’ Camp Explorers program is ideal for the elementary school set. Be prepared to get a little dirty as this camp takes a hands-on approach to Mother Nature—think sprinklers, hill rolling and a host of field trips. And regardless of where you live, an awesome camp adventure awaits with NYC Parks Experience Summer Camp. With locations in every borough, this über-affordable camp provides structured hiking, swimming and sports.

Science

Inquisitive young minds will love the American Museum of Natural History’s Fossils and DNA Camp, where they can explore the evolutionary timeline. If your elementary school-aged child is more into constructing and electronic, the range of camp choices at Launch Math will give him or her the chance to build rockets and robots or design video games.

Budding scientists can use the city as their laboratory with the SciTech Kids Summer Camp. In Central Park, campers build solar ovens, learn about gravity thanks to the thrills of Victorian Gardens and make a few insect friends.

Visit newyorkfamily.com for even more day camp options.

By Lydie Raschka

Fifth-grade teacher Tracy Nemiroff breaks the math nerd mold.

“She’s not what you’d expect,” said parent Claudine May-Gomez. “Tiny, beautiful, little, pretty—and she loves math!”

Tracy Nemiroff is an advocate for gifted students, arguing that the challenges they face are often overlooked.

But this math lover also has a reputation for being tough.

“I demand a lot. I give them really hard problems,” Nemiroff said.

“A lot of parents complain,” May-Gomez said. “‘She’s too hard,’ ‘There’s too much homework,’ but she doesn’t care. She does what’s best for the kids.”

This does not mean letting her students fend for themselves, however. Nemiroff answers emails after school if kids need help, has them practice for state and national math tests until test taking feels like a walk in the park and defuses math anxiety with singing, dancing and rapping—like the introductory rap she performs on the first day of school:

I’m from Miami, so I’m used to the heat,

When the snow comes down, I get frozen feet.

On parents’ night, Nemiroff hands out a questionnaire. Parent Min Miller took notice. Never before had a teacher asked, “Is your child afraid of math?” Miller’s daughter, Maeve, was indeed a little afraid. She had been surprised to get 60 percent on her first math test of the year. Many gifted kids enjoy good test scores and so had Maeve, but Nemiroff is interested in chipping away at the gifted child’s tendency toward perfectionism.

“I want them to take risks, to know it’s OK to make mistakes,” she said. “It is what students do with their mistakes and struggles that defines them as learners and makes them most successful.”

Emphasis is placed on problem solving that draws on all of a child’s accumulated math knowledge. For Maeve, this teaching strategy has worked, and she’s back in the 90 percent range.

“Maeve has such confidence in math,” Miller said.

Maeve adds, “Ms. Nemiroff makes it fun, like there’s nothing to it, so you’re not scared.”

Math inventions are one way of keeping it fun. Student projects have included designs for a mathematical keyboard, an electric protractor, a digital ruler and a baseball mitt that measures speed upon impact. As a gifted child herself, Nemiroff felt “pushed to make sure I got everything right.” She wants her students to take chances.

“That’s when I see them coming alive,” she said. “That’s when I see the most progress.”

Upon graduation from Emory University, in Atlanta, Nemiroff moved to New York City with her fiancé. She taught at NEST+m for two years before a slot opened up at the Anderson School, where she’s been for three years. She is a member of MENSA, the organization for people with high IQs, and uses puzzles and problems from MENSA’s newsletters in her classroom. She is an advocate for gifted kids.

“Often gifted kids get overlooked for the challenges they go through,” she said.

“People think they have anything and everything given to them, but they have problems and pressures just like everyone else.”

In spite of the rigor of her approach, Nemiroff tries to keep math light and relevant with questions like, “Why would Derek Jeter and David Wright use the Pythagorean theorem in their work?”

This summer, her math skills will be particularly relevant and handy as she, and her fiancé, plan their wedding.

–
Tracy Nemiroff
5th grade, The Anderson School