Working parents, at what age do you stop doing camps all summer long?

[Anonymous]

I'm reading all these posts about kids hanging out at the pool most of the summer. At what age is that okay if you are gone all day at work? 13? 14? DCs are still in elementary so we have to fill out every single week other than a couple of family vacation with camps and it's costing a fortune.

[Anonymous]

My DD is 14. Headed to 9th grade in the Fall. I don't think any of her friends are in camp every week this summer (even those that have been in the past). So yes, I think you are right. The camps will decrease significantly between 12 to 13. Then even more from 13 to 14. And by 15, you hope they get a job or at least are volunteering as a camp counselor.

[Anonymous]

Frankly I think the "fortune" spent on summer camps is a good investment compared to having them hang around at home all day.

[Anonymous]

Pools have rules about the youngest age that can be there without a parent.

[Anonymous]

My DS switched to working at a camp as a CIT when he was 13. He hangs out at home the first and last weeks of the summer, we go on a family vacation for 2 weeks. He loves this camp and looks forward to becoming paid staff when he's 16.

My DD is 12 this year and will probably continue to do camps for longer because she loves the set of camps she now goes to and most of them are for kids up to 15 -- a 2-week sleepaway camp, local nature camp, and art studio. She hopes to transition into being a counselor at the local nature camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pools have rules about the youngest age that can be there without a parent.

Yeah...and that's usually around 13.

[Anonymous]

DS is 13, and most of the parents I've talked to agree that we're mostly done with camps.

[Anonymous]

We gave my kid around 3 weeks with nothing from about 13.

A few weeks sleepaway camp, a few weeks day camp of interest with school friends (mostly sailing camp) two weeks vacation. Soccer practice all weeks he was home - twice a week. That stopped at 15.


3 weeks was all the downtime I could handle as I watched him turn into a sloth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading all these posts about kids hanging out at the pool most of the summer. At what age is that okay if you are gone all day at work? 13? 14? DCs are still in elementary so we have to fill out every single week other than a couple of family vacation with camps and it's costing a fortune.

The summer my kid was 11, and going into 6th grade, we did a camp each week, but stopped doing after care. He attended camps that were a single bus ride, or had a bus drop off in walking distance, and just came home by himself.

The summers my kid was 12 and 13, and going into 7th and 8th grade, we didn't do camps during the weeks when he had sports practices for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon. So, he was alone for the mornings on those weeks. If he didn't have sports practice we did camp but no after care every week.

The summer my kid was 13, and going into 8th grade, we had some activity every week, but began to substitute other things like a volunteer job, a summer school class etc . . . instead of camp on those weeks.

[Anonymous]

By 14, August turns into school-related stuff if they're into any Fall sports or marching band.

[Anonymous]

We allowed them to stay home during the summer unsupervised when they were 11 and 13. They still had camps, but not every single day was filled with something. The 13 yo was allowed at our community pool alone, but the 11 yo had to go with someone over the age of 16. It was always easy to find someone he could tag along with.

I noticed that having kids in camps each day stopped in 6th grade for most of my kid's friends. They'd still do a camp related to a sport or interest for a few weeks, but no more constant activities.

[Anonymous]

Among my dd's friends it varies. Most whose parents work outside the home full time, either still do camp for most of the summer or they do a combo of camp and grandma's house. The kids who have a parent home do pool, library, hang around the house. Very few stay home totally alone. My dd12 still does camp every week since we both work but she also loves the camps and all the activities they have and she's an only child on a street with no other kids her age. I know some folks from work still have their 14 year olds in camp because they would rather pay each summer knowing their kid is safe and busy rather than sitting at home alone all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Among my dd's friends it varies. Most whose parents work outside the home full time, either still do camp for most of the summer or they do a combo of camp and grandma's house. The kids who have a parent home do pool, library, hang around the house. Very few stay home totally alone. My dd12 still does camp every week since we both work but she also loves the camps and all the activities they have and she's an only child on a street with no other kids her age. I know some folks from work still have their 14 year olds in camp because they would rather pay each summer knowing their kid is safe and busy rather than sitting at home alone all day.

+1
This is our experience as well.

[Anonymous]

I think most of the posts about kids "hanging out at the pool all day" are from SAHMs. My kids practically lived at the pool during the summer as teens. But I was at home. There is no way I would have left a young teen at home all day every day for the entire summer. That's way too much unsupervised free time. And that's when teens get into trouble. I will say that beginning around the summer before high school, my kids always had camps related to school activities - band camps, sports camps, etc. Just as an example - My youngest is 15. This summer he has two weeks of marching band camp, a week of JROTC leadership camp, and week of music camp at an out of state college. He is also spending a week with one of his brothers in Colorado. Add in our two week vacation and that's pretty much the summer. Most kids get pretty busy starting in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most of the posts about kids "hanging out at the pool all day" are from SAHMs. My kids practically lived at the pool during the summer as teens. But I was at home. There is no way I would have left a young teen at home all day every day for the entire summer. That's way too much unsupervised free time. And that's when teens get into trouble. I will say that beginning around the summer before high school, my kids always had camps related to school activities - band camps, sports camps, etc. Just as an example - My youngest is 15. This summer he has two weeks of marching band camp, a week of JROTC leadership camp, and week of music camp at an out of state college. He is also spending a week with one of his brothers in Colorado. Add in our two week vacation and that's pretty much the summer. Most kids get pretty busy starting in high school.

Completely agree with this. I'm the PP whose DS started working at a camp at 13. His options were get a (volunteer) job or help us figure out what camps he would go to instead. His two completely unscheduled weeks are plenty, and I work at home for that last week.