Age groupings for summer camp?

[Anonymous]

Do most camps have mixed-age classes for elementary-aged kids, or do they separate them by age/grade? Which did your kids' camp do?

[Anonymous]

And how well did that work?

[Anonymous]

I've been looking into camps for this summer and a lot of them seem to have the elementary grades 1-4 or 5 together in one group. They group the youngest campers 3-5 or 6 together also. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting my 4 yr old DD in a group w/ anyone older than say kindergarten. She is kind of shy and takes a while to warm up and I am pretty sure she would be overlooked in a group w/ say 3rd graders.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I help coordinate Sidwell Summer programs - we group our programs in the following ways:
Bethesda Day Camp (Lower School Campus) - Pre-School (ages 3.5 - 5), Primary K-1st grades, and Senior 2-5th grade

Explorer Day Camp (DC Campus) has the Juniors (PK, K, 1st grade) - in homebases by age so you would likely get groups of 4s, 4 1/2s, 5s, 5 1/2s, and 6s. The Explorers select their own weekly schedule and have choices for 2nd-3rd graders and 4-5th graders with some being open to 2nd-5th graders.

Our other programs - sports, Voyagers (field trip based), Travelers (language and culture explorations), etc are group into smaller groups based on age/experience.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

I know the FONZ camps are grouped by grade.

What you might, for some camps, be seeing is that the camps are divided into large groups which, say, eat lunch at the same time, but the activity groups are smaller and by age.

On the other hand, when DS attended an adventure camp in Poolesville, he rode the bus with kids of all ages. He learned a lot of ... interesting ... jokes that summer!

[Anonymous]

Any other experiences to share? Thanks.