Stay away from this Camp! It is horrible. The owner of Earth, Glaze & Fire was verbally abusive to my two daughters - ages 7 & 9 - during their entire week of Summer Camp here.
Unless your children are used to being snapped at for asking simple questions and for being excited about their Camp projects, then this is not a good camp for them. For example, Child: "Are we still going to work with glass today?!" Owner, in a very nasty tone of voice: "I told you we would yesterday, didn't I?!"
One day my daughter came home and said, "Mommy, does nicotine make you grumpy?" I asked why. And she said that the owner was always going outside to smoke cigarettes and then coming back inside to snap at them.
The owner also had a long conversation with another adult about the multiple people she knows who have gone to jail in front of my children. This confused and upset them.
My daughters did not know what to call the owner all week, because she never introduced herself to them, so they just called her The Mom. The owner denied this when the kids mentioned it on the last day of Camp - they were still trying to find out her name and they asked her in front of me. However, I believe my children because 1) they are honest, 2) I had a very difficult time myself getting the owner to tell me her name - which is Danielle.
On the first day of camp we walked in exactly at 5 minutes before 9:00am, as requested, and the owner would not even look at us. We wandered around the shop for a few minutes, figuring she was busy. At 9:00am, I finally went up to her and stood in front of her for at least a full minute before she would look up at me. Then she gave me a sour look, and acted as though she was surprised and not pleased that we were there.
I asked for her name, and she stared at me before finally, grudgingly saying, "Danielle." No smile, no welcome, no greeting, no information about the camp. It was like pulling teeth to get anything from her even as an adult. I got a terrible feeling and almost pulled the kids out right then.
But the kids were excited about the actual art, so we decided to give it a try. Each day, there would be a minor or a major incident, and I kept asking the kids if they wanted to stop going?
They said they were scared of The Mom, but that they liked the art itself, and that The Daughter treated them better, so they would tough it out for that week (1 week, half-days).
The other counselor was the owner's daughter. She was nicer to the kids, but it doesn't make up for the abuse from the owner. Who wants their kids in a camp where they constantly hear negative, angry and snide remarks (directed at them, the children)?
Another time my daughter mentioned how much she liked art, and the owner said, "Really? I'm surprised you are interested in art." This really hurt my daughter's feelings, and it was a completely unnecessary put-down to a 9-year-old child - and who is paying for her Art Camp!
My daughters are normal, well-behaved, enthusiastic kids. They go to public elementary schools where they get good grades and good marks in conduct. They also attended several other Summer Camps (Horse Camp, Theatre Camps, etc.) where they had very pleasant experiences with all of their other Camp Counselors. There were no other Camps like this one for us.
Why would Earth, Glaze and Fire run a Summer Camp when the owner does not appear to even like children?
You could not pay me to send my children back to this camp. They advertise "fun & art," which makes it sound like a happy, cheerful camp - the actual negative, abusive, and sometimes downright scary tone of this camp could not be farther from that.
Run away from this Camp. The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria has a wide selection of Art Camps, and that's where we will go next year. read more