Do you send your kids to summer camps?

[Anonymous]

I have one DS aged 7 and one DD aged 4 and I have been hearing from a few colleagues lately about how they are ready to send their kids (anywhere from my DS's age to mid-teens) off to camp this summer. Some of these camps are like $7,000 or $8,000 for a full session (about two months). Are they worth it? Any stories from people who have sent their kids to these summer camps? They seem very "snobby" though I like the idea of my kids being immersed activities, sports, and socialization.

[Anonymous]

Of course I send my kids to camp. They're totally worth it. So many people make lifelong friends from summer camps.

My DD is going to cooking camp this summer, on scholarship. We're not snobby.

[Anonymous]

4 and 7 might be a little young, but there are many benefits to sleep away camps. Read Michael Thompson for a sense of those benefits. Obviously it isn't for everyone, but for many kids, it works out well.

[Anonymous]

My husband and his brother spent their summers at camp and they both loved it. He wants is to send our kids when they're old enough. I'm honestly not crazy about the idea of sending them away for so long, but I've got a few years before it's an issue. I think it's a more common experience north of here (NY metro area, Boston, etc).

[Anonymous]

My brother and I spent a couple weeks each summer at sleep away camp and loved it. I'll probably expose my children to it as well when they get older.

[Anonymous]

4 and 7 are too young for a two month camp (maybe the 7 yo)....My DD (13 yo) is very much looking forward to her three week summer camp. She loves it...

My experience was a little different, though. Make sure you are sending the child to a camp with appropriate supervision. I was placed in a bunk with 12 - 13 yo's when I was 10...there was no supervision, and I was sexually abused in there. As in forced to perform oral sex. I was reluctant to send my DD to camp, but she really wanted to go, and I researched to supervision at the camp...4 counselors sleeping in every bunk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one DS aged 7 and one DD aged 4 and I have been hearing from a few colleagues lately about how they are ready to send their kids (anywhere from my DS's age to mid-teens) off to camp this summer. Some of these camps are like $7,000 or $8,000 for a full session (about two months). Are they worth it? Any stories from people who have sent their kids to these summer camps? They seem very "snobby" though I like the idea of my kids being immersed activities, sports, and socialization.

My 7 yr old loves camp. She's going back for 7 weeks this summer. She ended up extending for the full summer last year. She's just one of those kids that the expression Live 10 For 2 applies to.

Last summer she learned independence, how to negotiate social relationships, tried new activities and foods, and learned how to take responsibility and be accountable for actions and behavior.

Yes it costs $7-$8 but you have to compare it to an expensive day camp. Our camp offers rock climbing, water skiing, zip lines, gymnastics, swimming, water sports as well as the traditional camp stuff like field sports and art and crafts. A day camp that offers all of this is going to cost $500/week for 9-5. Yes sleepaway camp is double. But they provide evening and weekend activities and all the food. I would say apples to apples sleep away is a bit more but not that much more than 7 weeks of day camp. IMO it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

I'd never send my kid away that long. Couple of weeks, maybe.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine went away to a camp in Maine for the whole summer from age 8. She is determined to send her own DD there in a couple years when she is also 8.

But I think it depends on the personality of your child. I know my 7 year old DD would love to go away and have the whole away from home adventure. Whereas my 8 year old DS wouldn't like it at all.

[Anonymous]

I think it's common in some groups of people; everyone I know who lives in Manhattan does this, presumably so the kids get lots of nature/outdoor time that they wouldn't be able to do otherwise. I also have a lot of Jewish friends who grew up going to sleepaway camps that were oriented around Jewish culture/traditions - many of them made friends for life at these camps and are sending their own kids to the same places.

I grew up in the Northeast (suburbs), and while a few kids might have gone away to a week or two of sports camp, there were mostly SAHMs and I never heard of 6 week summer camps. My kids go to camp all summer because my husband and I both work, but I can't imagine sending them away for a month or more. And some of the camps that my friends use are insanely expensive - $11k!!

[Anonymous]

Yes, our DD will probably try a sleep away camp next summer at age 8. At that age, it's only a two week session, and I think at least a few of her friends will be going to the same camp, too.

If she likes it, we'll be open to sending her for a longer session the following year and beyond, but I can't imagine more than 3-4 weeks total.

[Anonymous]

OP, thanks for these responses. I didn't know that summer camps were common in the DC area, although I understand it must be a tradition. DH and I were not raised in the US so it's quite new.

Are there any camps that can be recommended?

And I am very sorry to the PP that was abused, that is horrific and certainly something for me to think about as well.

[Anonymous]

DS tried a camp for 1 week when he was 10 and didn't particularly like it, even though he went with 3 good friends. Mainly, he's just not an outdoorsy kid. I didn't push him to go again since I knew he'd be doing a 1-week mission trip every summer starting at 12 with our church youth group. He does that this summer for the first time. 10 yr old DD is trying a 1 week sleep-away this year which I think she'll love -- she's very outdoorsy and this camp is focused on nature exploration. If she likes it, she'll do 2 weeks next year but never more than that (the camp is structured for kids to attend 2-week sessions, with 1 week for 8-10s)

[Anonymous]

I went to an expensive girls-only summer camp when I was growing up in Texas, where if you were there for 4 years, you got a diamond ring. Being that it was a girls' summer camp in the South, it was practically a finishing school/mini-sorority and I hated every bit of it. After my second year I begged my mom to not force me to go back and I'm really not sure I'm going to inflict an experience like that on my DD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have one DS aged 7 and one DD aged 4 and I have been hearing from a few colleagues lately about how they are ready to send their kids (anywhere from my DS's age to mid-teens) off to camp this summer. Some of these camps are like $7,000 or $8,000 for a full session (about two months). Are they worth it? Any stories from people who have sent their kids to these summer camps? They seem very "snobby" though I like the idea of my kids being immersed activities, sports, and socialization.

My 7 yr old loves camp. She's going back for 7 weeks this summer. She ended up extending for the full summer last year. She's just one of those kids that the expression Live 10 For 2 applies to.

Last summer she learned independence, how to negotiate social relationships, tried new activities and foods, and learned how to take responsibility and be accountable for actions and behavior.

Yes it costs $7-$8 but you have to compare it to an expensive day camp. Our camp offers rock climbing, water skiing, zip lines, gymnastics, swimming, water sports as well as the traditional camp stuff like field sports and art and crafts. A day camp that offers all of this is going to cost $500/week for 9-5. Yes sleepaway camp is double. But they provide evening and weekend activities and all the food. I would say apples to apples sleep away is a bit more but not that much more than 7 weeks of day camp. IMO it's worth it.

A 7yr old away for the whole summer? You must be a troll or a really shitty parent that their kid prefers a camp bed to seeing their parents for 3 months.