Does anyone have any experience to share about sending a younger CP to Woodward? My daughter is 8, level 2, and really wants to go. She has never been to sleep away camp and although I hear wonderful things about Woodward, I also have heard their days are not entirely structured and sometimes that makes the younger kids feel homesick. Please feel free to PM with any info as well or let me know who I can contact directly. I have called the office a few times, but the receptionist doesn't have much info. Thanks!
My daughter went last summer and loved it. We planned to send her back this summer but due to other things we have going on this summer she isn't going. She is upset about it, but we do have a family cruise so she is happy about that.
My daughter was 8 last summer when she went. She went with 2 of her friends who were 10. The 10 year olds stayed in the other cabin, my daughter stayed in a mini cabin with a mini mom. She was with mostly gymnastics girls. My daughter went week 2 because we thought it would be less crowded and she would get more individual attention. I will say my daughter is very mature and indepenent for her age. I am military and have been overseas for 2 years so she became independent living with her dad and 3 brothers these past few years. My daughter hung out with her 10 year old friends and other girls from the cheer side. I dont' think she made really any connections with the girls on the gymnastics side.
My recommendation for the younger ones is send them with a friend of even numbers (odd number girls may have someone left out). What my husband did was fly with one of the moms to PA (from Florida) to drop off the girls. The third mom flew to pick up the girls. This worked out great for us.
My daughter's two friends ended up not going on the overnight horseback trip but my daughter still wanted to go. So she went on it by herself without her friends. They thought it was going to rain so they stayed in cabins instead of the teepees. The compromise is if you go on the overnight horseback trip you miss the party that night. My daughter heard such fun things about the party she said next time she will do the party. The only bad thing my daughter had to say about the entire week is she was the youngest/smallest girl on the horseback overnight trip and they gave her a horse that took off in a canter (she is not an experienced horse rider) which did result in her falling off the horse. She was okay, got back up and then they gave her a different horse (Casper I think the name was) and that horse all you had to do was say the word STOP and it would stop. Duh, they should have given her that horse to start with.
My 10 year olds didn't like some of their cabin mates as one talked/bragged about stealing items from the canteen. Their junior counselor they did not like and neither did the moms as she was not a good example for the girls. The 10 year old moms said they were surprised how close they are to the boy cabins. They are right next to each other, not on the opposite side of the lake like I think they initally thought they may be. Everyone is in close ratio to each other.
My daugther's cabin was right across from the cheer gym (cabin 2 I think was the number) so she could walk to and from the gym without an escort. The few times my husband could get her to talk on the phone she was busy getting hot chocolate or doing something with the girls. She was really too busy to talk to us (according to her). LOL.
The plan was she was going back for 2 weeks but it just didn't work out because of other conflicts with our summer schedule.
Oh and you heard right about the day not being fully structured. They have a lot of free time. I think the 10 year olds moms said they wish they had more "scheduled" in the day.