Do parents really start their kids in sleep away camp at 8 years old?

[Anonymous]

My rising 2nd grader goes to a day camp and a lot of his friends are telling him that they are going to sleep away camp next summer. It sounds like some will only go for a few weeks, but one says he’s going to sleep away camp the entire summer and so he won’t be back at the day camp at all. My kid has repeatedly told us that he really wants to go to sleep away camp. I thought for sure that 8 years old was way to young for sleep away camp, but a quick internet search and a few conversations with friends suggests this is actually an age when many campers start?

Based on what we know, we’re inclined to see if there’s a good camp that we can trust for maybe 2-3 weeks. Just wondering if this is crazy. We were not camp kids.

[Anonymous]

I started when I was 8. My kids started at 7 and 9. 9 year old would have started at 8 but for COVID and 7 year old insisted on going a year early!

[Anonymous]

You can start with one week (or sometimes a half week) to make sure they enjoy it.

IMO one big threshold is whether the kid can take care of all personal needs - reliably wash and brush without being told, keep track of belongings and manage clothes over a week or more, eat well, etc. Some 8 yos can, some can't.

[Anonymous]

It's normal in some communities where sleepaway camp is a big deal and expected. I have neighbors who sent their 8 yos. It's young, though, and a lot of their kids were homesick that first summer and did not enjoy it until they were older. It's certainly not necessary to go that young and I personally don't recommend it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My rising 2nd grader goes to a day camp and a lot of his friends are telling him that they are going to sleep away camp next summer. It sounds like some will only go for a few weeks, but one says he’s going to sleep away camp the entire summer and so he won’t be back at the day camp at all. My kid has repeatedly told us that he really wants to go to sleep away camp. I thought for sure that 8 years old was way to young for sleep away camp, but a quick internet search and a few conversations with friends suggests this is actually an age when many campers start?

Based on what we know, we’re inclined to see if there’s a good camp that we can trust for maybe 2-3 weeks. Just wondering if this is crazy. We were not camp kids.

Yes and all the top camps open their applications on Oct-ish and fill up quickly. Look for a camp with a very long history where you can talk to the directors directly when you apply. We send ours to Cheley in Colorado and have gone there for generations. There are plenty of awesome camps all over the country though. We only do the 4 week program, very few do 8 weeks. The kids are completing 3rd or 9 years old for that program. There is a "tester camp" for 8 year olds in August which is one week - perfect to see if your son is a camp kid. It wasn't around for my older kids but my youngest did it and loved it! When I picked her up she walked me to the registration table and said "all summer next year please".

[Anonymous]

I think starting upper elementary (so the summer before 4th grade) seems like a common starting age.

[Anonymous]

My kids started at 9 (the youngest was going to start at 8, but it was 2020, so there was no camp). They're teens now and still love camp. We're Jewish, so that's not an uncommon experience.

[Anonymous]

Not to be a downer, but think about all of those little girls who died at Camp Mystic. They were mostly 8 year olds who were at their first summer at camp. So, yes, this is a thing OP, although I have never understood it. I would never send a child that age away for that long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to be a downer, but think about all of those little girls who died at Camp Mystic. They were mostly 8 year olds who were at their first summer at camp. So, yes, this is a thing OP, although I have never understood it. I would never send a child that age away for that long.

This could have happened to campers at any age at Mystic. Could have happened to high school campers if they were the ones placed in the cabins with the highest flood risk.

[Anonymous]

I sent my oldest around that age to a traditional all boys camp in New England for 3 weeks and he loved it. His younger brother is 8 and started this year. We signed him up for 3 weeks but he’s staying for 7 because he refuses to come home. It’s been a life changing experience for my oldest for sure.

[Anonymous]

My DD went to a Girl Scout camp for 1 week at 8 yo. She had a great time.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a July bday and turned 6 at camp her first summer. She went for 7 weeks. She's at camp now as a counselor. Some kids are just camp kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to be a downer, but think about all of those little girls who died at Camp Mystic. They were mostly 8 year olds who were at their first summer at camp. So, yes, this is a thing OP, although I have never understood it. I would never send a child that age away for that long.

This could have happened to campers at any age at Mystic. Could have happened to high school campers if they were the ones placed in the cabins with the highest flood risk.

Maybe, but a high schooler could have had the agency to get herself out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a July bday and turned 6 at camp her first summer. She went for 7 weeks. She's at camp now as a counselor. Some kids are just camp kids.

I don’t know any camp that accepts 5 year olds for 7 weeks. That’s crazy.

[Anonymous]

That’s really sad. I imagine they are better off at camp than at home, though, if parents ship them out like that. Probably in boarding school, too.