WHEN SUMMER SCHOOL IS COOL PROGRAMS THAT COMBINE CAMP WITH ACADEMICS PROVING POPULAR WITH PARENTS, KIDS.

Byline: Chris J. Parker Correspondent

Dolly Metzger was hesitant when her son asked her last summer if he could go to a weeklong summer camp to learn digital video and movie production. She worried that summer camp would feel too much like summer school.

``I just wanted him to have fun,'' she says.

Turns out, she didn't have to worry. Not only did Andrew enjoy the week at iD Tech Camp, but he begged her to sign him up for two more weeks that summer. He's going back for three more weeks this summer, too.

``Summer is a chance to get away from school but going to camp wasn't too hard,'' says Andrew, who's now 12 years old. ``It wasn't too easy, but it was fun.''

There was a time when summer meant bicycle rides and bullfrogs to a child. If a kid was in a classroom, it was because he did poorly the year before and needed to retake some classes.

But these days, summer is the time parents give their kids an academic boost that'll either get them ahead of their classmates next year or teach them something new, like a musical instrument, language or computer skills.

The number of after-school and summertime children's classes has exploded in recent years, fueled by anxious parents who don't want their Haley or Jake to get behind. Most times, the classes and camps help. Sometimes, they're too much.

``There are too many parents who want their children to take something advanced to get ahead,'' says Metzger, a former teacher. ``I don't like that at all. There's already too much pressure during the school year.''

That's precisely why some academic classes and camps exist, say their supporters. With so much emphasis placed on classroom standings and test scores during the school year, summer is the ideal time to get ahead or catch up.

There are scores of tutoring centers and after-school programs across the region, mostly privately owned and run. But the most noticeable are the franchise chains - Sylvan, SCORE! and Kumon learning centers - that have moved into the area.

All three emphasize long-term learning, not just a summertime academic boost. But with summer kicking in, many parents send their children to these centers to get a head start on the coming school year.

``If you take summers off from first through 12th grades, when you add those three months up each year, you end up taking three years off from learning,'' says Jenny Cherrytree, spokeswoman for Torrance-based Kumon.

Cherrytree says her company has seen ``enormous'' growth in the past couple of years in Southern California, including the addition of 10 centers in the Valley area. She says parents and their children appreciate Kumon's long-term program, which emphasizes self-learning and allows children to advance at their own pace.

Cherrytree also says summer is a popular time for new student enrollment at Kumon, since the academic plate is empty.

``There's no homework (during the summer), just Kumon work,'' she says, ``The students can make the transition into fall to do both school work and Kumon work.''

Nancy Milkovich opened the Porter Ranch Kumon Center eight years ago after seeing the system work for her oldest son. She says her enrollment has grown steadily, especially as the Los Angeles Unified School District has cut back on its own specialized math programs.

``My enrollment shot up tremendously,'' she says.

For parents looking for a short-term boost for their kids' academic pursuits, numerous summer camps have created specialized educational programs. Even so, most summer educational camps in the region borrow as much from traditional camps as they do from academic programs.

At the Academy Just for Kids in Woodland Hills, for example, the Academic Camp includes time for swimming, playground games and even ballroom dancing each day, in addition to math and grammar.

``If the summer camp isn't fun, the children are not going to be happy about it, they're not going to have fun,'' says Tatyana Berkovich, program director at the camp.

Like many academically oriented summer programs around the region, the Academy Just for Kids emphasizes academic development over the 10-week break. Each student takes a placement test to determine his grade-level academic standing, and goals are set to be reached by Labor Day.

``If the child needs extra work, that's something we do,'' Berkovich says. ``If the child needs a challenge, we work with them on that, too.''

This is the third summer that the Academy Just for Kids has opened its summer program to children not at the private school during the school year. Berkovich says the academic camp fills up quickly because of its emphasis on learning.

``They love that their kids aren't just in child care and they love that they're not on a field trip every day,'' she says.

So when is it too much? When are parents programming their kids with too much to do, too much information, and too much stuff? When the children feel like their lives are out of control, experts say.

``The key thing I've tried to drive home in meetings with parents is the child should have some control over what's going on,'' says Milkovich of the Porter Ranch Kumon Center.

That includes letting the child select at least some of the academic programs he or she will be participating in, or at least be a part of the discussion.

In fact, those conversations might be more important to the child's development then the actual classes. Nearly all of the children that therapist Jim Dziwak works with say their top complaint isn't a busy schedule but a schedule that doesn't include mom and dad.

``It's not the quantity of the time, it's not the quality of the time, it's both,'' says Dziwak, a licensed marriage and family therapist with offices in Camarillo and Ventura. ``It makes a big difference to a child to have both parents be a part of their lives.''

Dziwak says parents can't let summer camps or supplemental educational classes take the place of time spent as a family. Don't let summer camps become glorified day care, no matter how interesting the camp classes may be.

``Sit and talk with your kids,'' he says. ``They need to know that you care.''

It could be the best lesson a child learns all summer.

Learn all about it

Looking for summer learning opportunities for your children? Here are a few places you can check out:

--Academy Just for Kids. This Woodland Hills-based program offers camps specializing in academics as well as soccer, snorkeling, scuba and flag football. The academic camp starts Monday and runs for 10 weeks, through Aug. 29. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for children entering kindergarten through sixth grade for the coming school year. For more information, visit www.academyjustforkids.com or call [phone].

--iD Tech Camp. Offers summer computer camps for boys and girls, ages 5 to 17. Kids can take courses in digital video and movie production, multimedia and game creation, and stop-motion animation, among other topics. Camps are offered at five Southern California locations, including California Lutheran University, Pepperdine University and UCLA. For more information, visit www.internaldrive.com or call (888) 709-TECH.

--Kumon Math and Reading Centers. This Torrance-based organization, founded on the principles of a high-school math teacher whose son was struggling with arithmetic, serves children in preschool through high school. Children engage in a step-by-step process to master concepts before moving on to a higher level of study. For more information, visit www.kumon.com or consult your local white pages for a center near you.

--Sylvan Learning Center. Founded in 1979, Sylvan offers personalized instruction in reading and math to children in kindergarten through high school. Courses in study skills and test preparation also are offered. For more information, visit www.educate.com or consult your local white pages for a center near you.

--SCORE! Educational Centers. Founded in 1992, this program claims that it can help students make one year of academic progress in just five months. With nearly 150 sites nationwide, SCORE! serves children in kindergarten through 10th grade. For more information, visit www.escore.com or call (800) 49-SCORE.

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(1 -- cover -- color) It's not as bad as it looks

Academics summer programs offer kids the best of both worlds

(2 -- 3) Andrew Metzger, 12, of Newbury Park attended iD Tech Camp last summer to learn digital film and video production. ``It wasn't too easy, but it was fun,'' he says. He is signed up for three more weeks this summer. At the Kumon Math and Reading Center in Porter Ranch, 8-year-old Austin Ferreira works on an assignment.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(4) Nancy Milkovich, owner of Kumon Center in Porter Ranch, seen with Michael Koziol; 14

(5) Adrian Clutario, 12, focuses on his work at the Porter Ranch Kumon Center.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

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