make a 7 year old do some summer camp?

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids, 9, 7, and 4. Our summer is veeeerrrryyy long (13 weeks, not in DC but another big city). My oldest mainly does camps with a couple weeks of vacation and a couple weeks of hanging out. My youngest is with our nanny hanging out. My middle is adamant he doesn't want to do camps and just wants to hang out with brother and nanny. All his friends will be in camps so he won't have peers to hang out with. Do you think I should make him do a few weeks of it to keep some structure / peer interaction etc? There are a million camp options so in theory it could definitely be an activity he likes.

[Anonymous]

Unless you can find a low-key, half-day camp, no. I’m a SAHM and don’t need childcare. I let my kids try different camps with friends for a week or two during the summer when they were 5-7 years old, and universally my kids would have rather been at the pool with me. Unstructured time gets harder and harder to come by as kids get older, so I wouldn’t waste time or money sending them to camp.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the dynamics with his brother and his personality. Does he need to be kept busy? If so I would do a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 kids, 9, 7, and 4. Our summer is veeeerrrryyy long (13 weeks, not in DC but another big city). My oldest mainly does camps with a couple weeks of vacation and a couple weeks of hanging out. My youngest is with our nanny hanging out. My middle is adamant he doesn't want to do camps and just wants to hang out with brother and nanny. All his friends will be in camps so he won't have peers to hang out with. Do you think I should make him do a few weeks of it to keep some structure / peer interaction etc? There are a million camp options so in theory it could definitely be an activity he likes.

Yes you should boo

[Anonymous]

My niece is like this. Adamantly refused to go to camp. My sister made her do two weeks (out of 9) last summer. She didn’t want to go but really liked it once she did it. I think unstructured time is good but 13 weeks is a long time, and sometimes I think interacting with other kids their age is beneficial.

[Anonymous]

Can you afford 2-3 weeks of camp? Are there camps with generous cancellation policies? Or the reverse, camps that don’t fill up where you could sign him up mid summer?

[Anonymous]

Let him stay with nsnny

[Anonymous]

I would sign him up for a couple of weeks yes

[Anonymous]

Give him the first few weeks off, then try camp. He’s probably just wanting a break from school.

[Anonymous]

I didn't listen to my kid for one summer and signed her up anyways, it was a disaster, tears every day at drop off. Never again. She was 7 then too.

[Anonymous]

You have a nanny—use her and allow the 7 year old to opt out.

[Anonymous]

i would seal the deal and sign her up

[Anonymous]

Does your 7 yo have friends that go to camp? My son has a group of friends at school and sports. We (the parents) get together in Dec/Jan, make a schedule, and then sign the kids up when the registrations open. Would your kid be motivated to go to camp if he were with friends?

[Anonymous]

I would sign him up for camp, he's not going to be stimulated enough with the nanny. Can he go to the same one(s) as friends?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think he should do a few weeks at a low key day camp. Even something like a VBS could be good.