Is all day camp too much for a 9.5 year old for 5 weeks?

[Anonymous]

My kid did 9 weeks of camp last year at age 6- all full day camps. She had an awesome summer. It's not like school- it's fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

+1. My 5yo did this ALL summer last year between K and 1st...and sometimes to extended day to 6pm. They'll survive and so will you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you think it would be too much?

Because it would be like 5 more straight weeks of school, and I don't want him to get burnt out... I don't want him to feel like I am dumping him somewhere for the summer...it's not school topics, it's topics that are considered "fun", things he wouldn't normally learn about in school. I also don't want him to stay at home and veg out with Minecraft for hours, so I thought all day camp would be better. ..

What about playing with friends, bike riding, pool, etc... If you only allow 1 hour of screen time a day, they become very creative and start doing some wonderful things. As long as you are okay with letting him go off and play and hang out with friends - no need to force day camp all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

But you are forced to do it so even if it was an issue you would never know because you don't see them. You chose to both work and put your kids in full time daycare, then full time preschool, school with before and aftercare, and then weeks and weeks of summer daycare/day camps until they start back at school again. That doesn't mean all kids should or even want to do it. I think it sucks. Kids need a lot more downtime and autonomy instead of an assembly line of 9-5 babysitting scheduled 365 days a year. Do kids even know how to run off and play with friends anymore? Use their own minds, make their own fun, use their imagination, common sense and critical thinking skills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

But you are forced to do it so even if it was an issue you would never know because you don't see them. You chose to both work and put your kids in full time daycare, then full time preschool, school with before and aftercare, and then weeks and weeks of summer daycare/day camps until they start back at school again. That doesn't mean all kids should or even want to do it. I think it sucks. Kids need a lot more downtime and autonomy instead of an assembly line of 9-5 babysitting scheduled 365 days a year. Do kids even know how to run off and play with friends anymore? Use their own minds, make their own fun, use their imagination, common sense and critical thinking skills?

You do realize that camps have tons of unstructured time, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

But you are forced to do it so even if it was an issue you would never know because you don't see them. You chose to both work and put your kids in full time daycare, then full time preschool, school with before and aftercare, and then weeks and weeks of summer daycare/day camps until they start back at school again. That doesn't mean all kids should or even want to do it. I think it sucks. Kids need a lot more downtime and autonomy instead of an assembly line of 9-5 babysitting scheduled 365 days a year. Do kids even know how to run off and play with friends anymore? Use their own minds, make their own fun, use their imagination, common sense and critical thinking skills?

You do realize that camps have tons of unstructured time, no?

I used to be a teen camp counselor as well as a camp nurse and I can assure you that camps do not have "tons" of unstructured time. Maybe 15min before a meal. That is about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

But you are forced to do it so even if it was an issue you would never know because you don't see them. You chose to both work and put your kids in full time daycare, then full time preschool, school with before and aftercare, and then weeks and weeks of summer daycare/day camps until they start back at school again. That doesn't mean all kids should or even want to do it. I think it sucks. Kids need a lot more downtime and autonomy instead of an assembly line of 9-5 babysitting scheduled 365 days a year. Do kids even know how to run off and play with friends anymore? Use their own minds, make their own fun, use their imagination, common sense and critical thinking skills?

it does kind of suck. i don't like the model for kids. but the fact of the matter is that some women want to work and some women have to work - or both. the other fact of the matter is that even as a SAHM, there are a lot of working moms in all neighborhoods and there isn't always a gaggle of neighborhood kids to run around with in the summer because the other kids are in camps. so the old model of the 1970s isn't in existence like it used to be.

i crave downtime for my kids, and time with their parents. i telework 2x a week so that i am home for them after school, and after camp in the summer. but i work because what the %&$^ would i do with myself for the 7 hours that they are in school each day, 9.5 months out of the year. i have a brain, i have a degree for which i worked very hard, i am going to use it. and part time work in my field is almost non-existent. do my kids have the same type of "free" childhood that i did with a SAHM? nope. but they also are begin parented by two reasonably happy adults, and i was very NOT HAPPY has a SAHM for the first 5 years after my kids are born. everybody is better off these days. there is always a trade off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

But you are forced to do it so even if it was an issue you would never know because you don't see them. You chose to both work and put your kids in full time daycare, then full time preschool, school with before and aftercare, and then weeks and weeks of summer daycare/day camps until they start back at school again. That doesn't mean all kids should or even want to do it. I think it sucks. Kids need a lot more downtime and autonomy instead of an assembly line of 9-5 babysitting scheduled 365 days a year. Do kids even know how to run off and play with friends anymore? Use their own minds, make their own fun, use their imagination, common sense and critical thinking skills?

You do realize that camps have tons of unstructured time, no?

I used to be a teen camp counselor as well as a camp nurse and I can assure you that camps do not have "tons" of unstructured time. Maybe 15min before a meal. That is about it.

It's possible that your experience is not everyone's experience. I also used to be a teen camp counselor in both high school and college and worked at 4 different summer camps. They differed greatly in terms of unstructured time. The least amount of unstructured time was at the science and nature camp. The most was at a progressive Jewish camp. It was a spectrum.

Now I'm a parent and I see that the kids in my child's summer camp have plenty of unstructured outdoor time. Kids can choose to just play outside, or pick hanging out in the art room and doing whatever they want. It's like being at home, except with a much bigger "yard" and more craft materials.

[Anonymous]

So as a 10 year Girl Scout, I've done a lot of day camps, and this TOTALLY depends on your child. I personally had a hard time getting through a week of day camp, as an introvert, and book lover. There just wasn't the down time I needed, because yes, day camps are very structured. It was go, go, go all day, and five weeks of that at 9-12 for me would have been too much.

Oddly, sleepaway camp had more down time and was more enjoyable for me.

So yes, this depends on your child.

[Anonymous]

My 6 year old went to camp last summer from 9am-6pm. Not because we needed him to, but because he wanted to. If she wants to do, I think it's fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 6 year old went to camp last summer from 9am-6pm. Not because we needed him to, but because he wanted to. If she wants to do, I think it's fine.

Your six year old wanted to be at camp instead of at home from 9-6 every day?!?!? What the hell is going on at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working parents do this all the time without an issue, and for much younger kids. It is fine.

But you are forced to do it so even if it was an issue you would never know because you don't see them. You chose to both work and put your kids in full time daycare, then full time preschool, school with before and aftercare, and then weeks and weeks of summer daycare/day camps until they start back at school again. That doesn't mean all kids should or even want to do it. I think it sucks. Kids need a lot more downtime and autonomy instead of an assembly line of 9-5 babysitting scheduled 365 days a year. Do kids even know how to run off and play with friends anymore? Use their own minds, make their own fun, use their imagination, common sense and critical thinking skills?

You do realize that camps have tons of unstructured time, no?

I used to be a teen camp counselor as well as a camp nurse and I can assure you that camps do not have "tons" of unstructured time. Maybe 15min before a meal. That is about it.

Well, your experience is outdated. My kids go to camps here and there and they go to the pool, no structure there. Have iPad time, no structure there. Go to the park, no structure there, go to movies, no structure. As a matter of fact, since my kids don't attend camp regularly, I look for structure. It's not a given. Unstructured time is seen as valuable and that is why today's camps offer it.

[Anonymous]

I guess it depends on the kid and what they are used to. My kids would have hated it. They really didn't even love the half day summer camps. They much preferred hanging out at the pool, playing outside with friends, and generally being lazy all summer. They did half day sports camp, band camp, VBS,....stuff like that. But mostly summer was about lazy days with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it depends on the kid and what they are used to. My kids would have hated it. They really didn't even love the half day summer camps. They much preferred hanging out at the pool, playing outside with friends, and generally being lazy all summer. They did half day sports camp, band camp, VBS,....stuff like that. But mostly summer was about lazy days with friends.

Exactly. And there are plenty of neighborhoods still like this. Maybe not full of million dollar homes, but the families with a SAHP have other priorities. SAHM's are common in our neighborhood. And full day camp all summer is not. You don't have to go to 1970 to find this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess it depends on the kid and what they are used to. My kids would have hated it. They really didn't even love the half day summer camps. They much preferred hanging out at the pool, playing outside with friends, and generally being lazy all summer. They did half day sports camp, band camp, VBS,....stuff like that. But mostly summer was about lazy days with friends.

Exactly. And there are plenty of neighborhoods still like this. Maybe not full of million dollar homes, but the families with a SAHP have other priorities. SAHM's are common in our neighborhood. And full day camp all summer is not. You don't have to go to 1970 to find this.

SAHMS are common in my community and most kids are in camps anyway. Howere, 7 figure home are the norm. My kids are bored most summer, but they are also very athletic and social and want to be with their friends who are all at sports camps mostly.