Oxford Learning Milton Camp: Parent Interview with Nikki Prgesa

Watch our Parent interview with Nikki Prgesa to hear firsthand what children experience and how they grow at Oxford Learning Milton Camp.

Transcript of the interview

How did you know Oxford Learning Milton was the right fit?

What was really where I knew 100% Oxford Learning Milton was the right fit was the fact that it started with an assessment. It was an assessment to understand exactly where she was in the realm of reading and math. It was a very in-depth assessment. So her books were then generated based on the findings of that assessment.

It started with a word-of-mouth referral from one of my friends. And so once we arrived at Oxford, I had a really good conversation with the manager at the time, and he went through with giving me a thorough explanation as to what Oxford offers. So that was definitely intriguing. It was exactly what I was looking for because I did want an educational part of my daughter's life over the summer just to sort of help her with the coming school year.

Following that, I had an interview with the owner, Ms.Naghmeh. She went through the assessment with me thoroughly, was able to answer any questions that I might have, and that solidified that we had made the right decision in choosing Oxford Learning Milton, and it made me even more comfortable than where I was when we first started.

What's unique about Oxford Learning Milton Camp?

I think the assessment is so valuable because there's certainly communication that we get from our educators, from our school, things that are valuable. But at the same time, the teachers are juggling many students, a full classroom. It could be anywhere from 20 to 30 students. And so the teacher doesn't necessarily pick up the same details as what the assessment picked up because there was so much that I learned from it.

That just made our experience unique because now we were able to pinpoint areas of opportunity for my daughter's learning. I just felt like it was so unique in the sense that I had never gotten that. Even myself, going through my own education, I was never given that. I feel like I would have been possibly more successful in life if I had those opportunities. So I felt like that's the uniqueness of what Oxford Learning Milton offers, as well as what I really appreciate.

Was there any personal growth you saw in your child at Oxford Learning Milton?

There was so much growth in terms of her education. She was more confident in her reading, and she was just overall more confident that she understood what was asked of her from her teachers and from the books as well.

The other confidence factor was because they are smaller classes. So she was able to have these beautiful friendships with other individuals that are along the same or similar learning path as her. She has her school friends, her neighborhood friends, but then she also has her Oxford friends, which makes it so much more special for her because she has this group that no one else knows about. And for her, she loves it.

How can a parent support their child to get the most out of Oxford Learning Milton Camp?

One of the things that my daughter and I do, and even my son when he started Oxford last year, is we do the homework together. So we bring out the books, she does the reading. I will talk through what her homework is with her.

I have a better understanding of what she's learning, what areas of opportunity I can help her with. So we sometimes work through, just from the homework alone, and we figure out different strategies because we don't get that with her school because there is no homework.

It's the being able to do it together, being able for me to understand where she is, because it's been a minute since I was in elementary school. So for me, it's a great experience to actually see firsthand what she's learning and just be able to support her as much as I can.

What would you tell other parents about the overall value of sending kids to Oxford Learning Milton Camp?

Oxford Learning Milton is, to me, a win-win. My child has the education piece for the morning, and then she also has fun in the afternoon, but fun where she's still learning. Because we know there is STEAM, and there is robotics, and even gym. I feel like that's an experience because they don't always go in depth with certain sports like basketball for girls and stuff like that. So it's kind of nice that she actually gets that even just from the sports aspect from camp as well.

I tell parents all the time, I think that it's so valuable because I think investing in your child's education, there's no way that you lose from it, helping your child have an education. I'm constantly having conversations, both online as well as with the parents that I meet through my daughter's school and her friends' parents.

Children sometimes get a little bit of anxiety when they're about to start a new grade, like in August, for example, just when a new grade's about to start. The fact that, now, they are not rusty, they've been continuing to learn through the summer, so they feel more confident going into their new grade because they've had that continued path of learning as opposed to a two-month break where they're just on tech all summer, which is just not valuable for children's experience.

What do your children say about their experience at Oxford Learning Milton Camp?

I get stories from the point I pick up my children from Oxford Learning Camp all the way home. I'm told this story and that story. And, you know, my teacher said this, and we did this with my friends in the gymnasium. And so it's just this constant excitement of telling me about all the fun things that they experience in their day.

Especially when there are two weeks of robotics, for example, just seeing where they started, which was not really knowing too much about it, and then seeing their progress throughout. They're like, "Oh, I learned this. And I figured out this with the computer. And I moved the robot's arm in this direction."

Just seeing how happy they are with this great experience that they're going through every single day is beautiful. My daughter's been doing Oxford since the end of grade one, and now she's in grade four, and she's not ever come home from camp even once and told me about a day that she didn't love while at camp.