Banner is better than any other day camp. I've been to I hope the work there someday all the…read morecounselors are nice. Their programs are amazing and they do will do anything for you best day camp ever thank you banner

This is possibly the most expensive day camp in the north shore. I tried to convince my son to just…read morego for half the summer to which he responded "but mom - I don't like banner day camp....i LOVE it." And this is a kid who I would have to force to attend basically all other camps so imo it's money well spent. My son (and many of his friends) seem to think this is so much more fun than any other camp they've attended. There's a lot of bells and whistles like water slides, trampball, a lake, dune buggies and a petting farm for younger kids etc. They also get to choose many of their own activities as they get older and my son absolutely loved spending his days playing basketball and participating in their sports league. For those more adventurous the adventure elective looks pretty fun too! It reminds me a lot of overnight camp, but they come home at the end of the day,which is ideal for those (like my son) who aren't ready to be away from home quite yet. I did think their daily communication paled in comparison to our last camp, but I think a lot depends on your unit leader. They have the unit leader call home every few weeks (or maybe even every week for the littles) to check in, which is amazing. It didn't seem like my unit leader knew my son that well and the call felt more like a formality, but by our last call I felt like she had a good grasp of my sons interests. We also didn't get many pictures, but I was told the other groups got way more so may have just they were getting to a more independent age. And since my son isn't little anymore and I see him daily I don't care too much about the pictures. I will say he absolutely loved his counselor and even received a letter from him in the mail, which he was so excited about. What I mostly care about is the BIG smile when he gets off the bus with so Banner gets 5 stars for that alone!

One of my grand-darlings had her birthday bash here and it was a ton of fun for all involved…read more  There are a bunch of ninja stations for the kiddos to burn up much of their energy before a birthday celebration meal.  They get 2 hours of supervised fun and it is broken up into 80 minutes of ninja stations and then 40 minutes birthday meal time.  My daughter arranged everything and I was just one of several parent/grandparent photographers/observers basically. Maggie was the welcoming receptionist and she provided a gift t-shirt to the birthday girl (part of the BD package) and got everyone signed in and made sure they had all of their waiver forms signed haha.  This place isn't cheap (ballpark $600 for the birthday package per the daughter) but it seems you get what you pay for - a clean and well maintained facility, a staffer to direct the kids' activities and help serve food, plenty of fun ninja activities to choose from, a private room (there are 2 of them) for the birthday meal, and pizza (by Viccino's, a local favorite anyway) and fruit provided from a local vendor, plates and utensils, and most importantly - a big and grand blast of a time for all the kiddo participants and us by-standers as well.  Apparently, you can also bring your own food in, but there is a healthy $25 per entree charge for doing so, and besides it's an additional hassle.  There is a downstairs and upstairs party room and both are nice and spacious.  One of my grand-darlings has been here several times as a birthday party guest, and she has always had a great time.  I didn't pay, but I still can say a big thumbs up for this place!

Had my kids birthday party here - and everyone had an amazing time. This place is great for all…read moreages, which I loved! The staff was phenomenal and went above and beyond with making sure everything went smoothly. HIGHLY recommend this place to host an event!

I was surprised to see no reviews for this camp...seems like it's a relatively new offering in the…read morearea (and a relatively small camp). I enrolled my 6 year old in the robotics camp at the St. Catherine location in Glenview and he had a great time. The counselors were friendly, the activities were stimulating and well balanced between science and sports, and he reported this was his favorite camp of the three he's attended. I will sign him up for more weeks next year.

We had a private party there today. Kids had free play, played basketball, and soccer. We also…read moreplayed kids vs. adults Dodgeball! Everyone had a blast! As usual, Coach Jamie was wonderful! A big thank you to him and his staff for helping everything run smoothly and providing a very fun filled party!

Had to share about our unfortunate experience with camp this summer. My son is five and came home…read morepractically in tears both days he attended. The camp allows a wide range of ages to participate and not enough staff to support. My son has not had exposure to every sport or game that was played. There was very little coaching that happened. My son was left feeling left out, talked of having to sit out multiple occasions during games such as dodgeball where kids twice his size were pelting him with balls. They also had a rewards system that was never explained to my son. There is no hand off at pick, and poor communication in general about daily activities-- one of the days he attended they were to do water activities which is why we signed up, but didn't. I messaged staff about missing camp one day and never got a response. After that we just stopped attending and we're never out reached by the coaches. Very disappointing experience and would not recommend for younger kids or any kid that is new to a sport.

If I could I would still be attending summer camp in my 30s. I'm counting down the days until my…read morenow 4.5 yr old is old enough to go to overnight camp- not because I want less chaos in my house, but little does she know that I'm planning on going with her. Or at least visiting a lot! When I first checked out Tamarak it reminded me a lot of overnight camp. Lots of greenery and just plain fun! I decided last August that I was going to enroll my daughter in their munchkin program for this summer. As this summer approached I got a little nervous because wasn't sure she was ready to leave the doors of her nurturing pre- school, take a bus to camp and stay all day long. It turns out she was more than ready and I can't imagine her having a better summer than she did at Tamarak. She loved her counselors (shout out to Faith who runs the munchkin program along with Jess, Isabel, Hillary and sam for putting up with her and many other 4 yr olds each day). She loved the activities (swimming & arts and crafts her personal faves). And most of all she loved the bus ride to and from camp, which opened her eyes (or ears) to many more music options. The price of Tamarak alone was worth getting to switch out the kiddie music in my car for Taylor swift and Katy Perry. Tamarak has open visitation. I expected to take advantage of it many times throughout the summer but between work and the rest of life just made it there once. However, I was so impressed by the camp based on that 1 visit: it was well organized, the kids were safe and it just looked like so much fun. My daughter cried when I told her she'd be going back to the "tough life of pre school in the fall" because she wants to stay at tamarak year round. I'd like to be at camp year round too, but at least she's lucky enough to have a summer at tamarak next year and beyond.

My 2 daughters went to went to Tamarak country school. We've had experience with 14 teachers and I…read morecan say, while they all offer different types of support to their students, they have all been quite good. My 2 girls have wildly different personalities one introverted and creative, the other extroverted and focused. The former needed more support from the Tamarak teachers and she received it. She is no longer afraid to speak out. She really loves school. This is a metamorphosis to me and I feel a significant portion of this change can be attributed to the teachers at Tamarak. The teachers set goals for the girls and worked with us on techniques that we could use at home to help them. The day is broken up into big group, small group and individual choice education & play. They focus on literacy, letters and math concepts as well as social aspects of learning. Both of my girls were completely prepared for kindergarten. Tamarak offers additional learning opportunities in programs like GIFT, and STARs. We took advantage of GIFT this year, which extended the day from 2 1/2 hrs to 5 hrs (lunch is included). These extra classes offer benefits. 1) It prepared my youngest for full day kindergarten (first one didn't have it and full day kindergarten was a shock to the system for her) 2) extra learning opportunities in geography, and the one that impressed me the most was public speaking and presentations. This may sound like too much...I thought it would have been, but....the kids to so well! The got to talk about something they liked doing and in this non-threatening environment....they had no problem talking to the class. The school has several outdoor play areas and an indoor gym for rainy/cold days. They care a great deal about the health of the kids, plenty of hand washing :) Lucia, the director, is a force. She is really really a great director. She is responsive to suggestion and a fabulous leader. We will be back for summer camp next summer for sure.

We highly recommend Digital Adventures with its wonderful programs, and especially the teacher…read moreMr.Jim. The classroom is engineered to be easily adopted by young kids set in a play-based environment. My 4-year-old boy can easily adapt to the new learning. Mr. Jim and the founder/staff are nice, patient and great. We are impressed by the program as the parents. It was not just us, our kid loves and rates DA the best among all his other STEM enrichments by comparison. We have also helped spread the word to our parent communities. Overall, very good program, and excellent business!

My son really enjoyed this class.. we are staying for another class now! (2hours)…read moreHighly recommend this place.. very friendly.. clean.. just positive vibes!!Love it!

My son has been at The Gardner School for nearly 15 months, since he was 12 weeks old, and I have…read morebeen nothing but impressed with all team members and staff. We absolutely love that all the teachers know him and he knows them too. Earlier this year, he was in the infant wing and the teacher that stands out there was Ms. Dori. She is so loving, and caring, and genuine with all the infants. If you have to leave your infant to go back to work, Ms. Dori's care is the one you want them to be under. Hands down. In the back half of the year, my son transitioned to toddlers. Thankfully for him, another one of his favorite teachers transitioned from infants to Toddlers, as well. Ms. Briana (or "Ana, "Ana" as she is called in our house) is so great. She puts a smile on his face every day, and he could not wait to go back to school from our vacation to see "Ana". When I pick him up from school, he never wants to leave. That is a great sign of a loving environment. Thanks to all the amazing staff for their loving kindness.

We have had such a great experience with the Gardner school so far! Ms Allison is approachable,…read morekind, and transparent. My almost 4 year old loves going to school. His teachers ms. Kassy and ms Jess are very knowledgeable and caring. He has invited them for dinner multiple times haha! We have seen so much growth in our son in the few months that he's been there. Thank you to all the staff at the Gardner school :)

Our daughter, Lily grew up at The Goddard School of Skokie, she started there at the age of 14…read moremonths, and she just graduated last month. She's more than ready for Kindergarten. She's smart, curious, artistic, funny, sensitive, and the list goes on and on. Her teachers nurtured her, they cared for her and they loved her all along the way. She sings, acts, draws, paints, plays pretend games, and she learned all these through play. Mary, and Andrew made us feel like family, the entire staff knew our names, and welcomed us with open arms, and smiley faces every morning. We all became family, we made so many wonderful friends along the way, and I don't just mean the children. The parents formed close bonds as well, we had a blast throughout these years, and we've made quite a few memories together. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for everything this program, and particularly this school and it's highly valued staff gifted us with in the past few years, and now we are onto opening new doors! Thank You all for everything, Kate, Adam and Lily

What a fantastic school for children! We have been at the school for 2.5 years and had a wonderful…read moreexperience in every way. The owners and management of the school truly care about the children and families. The teachers are passionate and engaged. I highly recommend the Skokie Goddard School for anyone looking for a program for their child.