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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are a lot of his friends Jewish? This is definitely a big thing in the Jewish community in this area, there are two major summer camps that all of my kids' Jewish friends go to. They start with one or two weeks after 1st grade, I think.

OP. Yes, heavily Jewish at his current day camp. DH is half Jewish, I'm not at all. He seems less concerned about the downsides than I am.

[Anonymous]

As with everything else, it just depends. For those families that are "camp people," they often start their kids on the younger side. I think this is another situation of there is no right or wrong answer as to when to start camp. My husband and I did not come from families for whom sleepaway camp was a big thing, but as I heard colleagues discuss it as an option, I immediately knew it was something my daughter would love. The independence and adventure fit her personality. We sent her last summer for two weeks for the first time at age 7. She loved it and asked to go longer this summer, so she went for three weeks and has already said she wants to do four weeks next summer. Our son is more of a cautious, less independent sort. He also lacks the emotional maturity of his sister. We're not sure when we'll send him (we wouldn't force him but he hears his sister talk about how fun it is and so he claims he wants to go), but we'll base it largely on when we think he's developmentally ready and I'm almost positive it won't be at 7 like his sister (he's six now).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are a lot of his friends Jewish? This is definitely a big thing in the Jewish community in this area, there are two major summer camps that all of my kids' Jewish friends go to. They start with one or two weeks after 1st grade, I think.

OP. Yes, heavily Jewish at his current day camp. DH is half Jewish, I'm not at all. He seems less concerned about the downsides than I am.

In our area, I do see this as a Jewish thing to start kids early as sleepaway camp. Most other kids seem to start around 10....

[Anonymous]

Most of the Jewish kids at my kid’s school go to Manatou and Somerset and start after 2nd grade

[Anonymous]

I sent my independence-oriented kid to a one-week sleepaway arts camp at age 7. They absolutely loved it, and came home much more helpful and responsible, too!

The following summer they did 2 weeks at a different sleepaway camp, and then the subsequent summer for 4 weeks.

It wasn't until the 4-week camp that they got homesick, and that was largely circumstantial (they really didn't like their cabin-mates that year).

[Anonymous]

It’s regional. Pretty much majority of people going to sleepaway camps over 2 weeks long are east coasters. Of any or no religion. It’s pretty much unheard of in the Midwest.

Girls camps can start as young as 6, boys camps 8. Most kids start between 8-10 though.

[Anonymous]

My ds did two weeks at age 9. Dh had gone to the same camp as a kid and wanted that experience for our kids. The camp was four weeks long starting at age 10, so I reluctantly let ds do it at 9 to experience the shorter version. It went well in the end, but I do think it’s too young. Covid hit the next year and we ended up never sending him back.

12yo dd is away at camp now and I think she was ready for it. I prefer this age to send them.

[Anonymous]

I was a camp counselor for 8-year-olds, and boy did they require a lot of caregiving!

[Anonymous]

My kids all started between 2nd and 3rd grade, including my youngest who went this summer. Four weeks for the first summer for all of them. We are definitely a camp family, so much so that some of my older nieces and nephews are counselors at the camp my kids go to. If my kids didn't do well at camp I'd pull them, because I see camp as something special that I give them rather than somewhere I send them away to, and so I wouldn't continue if they didn't enjoy it. But so far it's been a positive for all of them, so much so that my youngest is begging for 8 weeks next year like the older ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s regional. Pretty much majority of people going to sleepaway camps over 2 weeks long are east coasters. Of any or no religion. It’s pretty much unheard of in the Midwest.

Girls camps can start as young as 6, boys camps 8. Most kids start between 8-10 though.

This is ridiculous. There are a ton of sleepaway camps in the Midwest and many families send their children.

[Anonymous]

Some 8 year olds are ready, but most aren’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s regional. Pretty much majority of people going to sleepaway camps over 2 weeks long are east coasters. Of any or no religion. It’s pretty much unheard of in the Midwest.

Girls camps can start as young as 6, boys camps 8. Most kids start between 8-10 though.

This is ridiculous. There are a ton of sleepaway camps in the Midwest and many families send their children.

Yeah, like one week of girls scout camp or maybe Interlochen. But it is rare for a Midwest family to send kids to a sleepaway camp for 7 weeks, unless parents grew up on east coast and went to one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids all started between 2nd and 3rd grade, including my youngest who went this summer. Four weeks for the first summer for all of them. We are definitely a camp family, so much so that some of my older nieces and nephews are counselors at the camp my kids go to. If my kids didn't do well at camp I'd pull them, because I see camp as something special that I give them rather than somewhere I send them away to, and so I wouldn't continue if they didn't enjoy it. But so far it's been a positive for all of them, so much so that my youngest is begging for 8 weeks next year like the older ones.

I grew up on NYC and my parents sent me to camp around 3rd grade. It was life changing for me and the best gift they could have given me. I’ll have a discussion with my daughter when she reaches 2nd grade. I’ll offer and encourage, but would absolutely not push if she’s not interested. My view is that camp is an extraordinary gift for the right child. But like any child, sometimes another gift would be better suited to their individual personality.

But to stress, and I know it sounds crazy, I don’t think there’s a single thing my parents did that improved my teenage and adult life more than sending me to sleep away camp at that age. Those were truly the best days I’ve ever had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s regional. Pretty much majority of people going to sleepaway camps over 2 weeks long are east coasters. Of any or no religion. It’s pretty much unheard of in the Midwest.

Girls camps can start as young as 6, boys camps 8. Most kids start between 8-10 though.

This is ridiculous. There are a ton of sleepaway camps in the Midwest and many families send their children.

Yeah, like one week of girls scout camp or maybe Interlochen. But it is rare for a Midwest family to send kids to a sleepaway camp for 7 weeks, unless parents grew up on east coast and went to one.

Also rare on the west coast. One-week camps are the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s regional. Pretty much majority of people going to sleepaway camps over 2 weeks long are east coasters. Of any or no religion. It’s pretty much unheard of in the Midwest.

Girls camps can start as young as 6, boys camps 8. Most kids start between 8-10 though.

This is ridiculous. There are a ton of sleepaway camps in the Midwest and many families send their children.

Yeah, like one week of girls scout camp or maybe Interlochen. But it is rare for a Midwest family to send kids to a sleepaway camp for 7 weeks, unless parents grew up on east coast and went to one.

Also rare on the west coast. One-week camps are the norm.

I suspect it's rare on the east coast. I can't think of any family I know who sent kids, particularly 8 year olds, for more than 4 weeks at a time in a summer.