Options for a 13 year old this summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really think nursing companies can exert so much control in what goes in someone's home. That doesn't seem right to me.

Of course they can. No one is forcing anyone to engage that particular company’s services if they don’t agree with the policy.

I haven’t heard of this before, but I don’t really blame them. The nurse being the only responsible adult in the home (presuming the person who needs home nursing care may not be the spryest or in best of health) with someone else’s minor child who isn’t their patient is opening the company up to a world of liability.

+ accusations of molestation/inappropriate behavior.

I don't find this rule surprising at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid will be 12 this summer and we are looking at the following camps/activities that are aimed at middle school and up kids (we're in Alexandria, so these specific camps won't work for you, but might provide some ideas).

Outdoor camp through Virginia Outside (rafting, hiking, kayaking, etc)
Rockclimbing Camp
Girl Scout camp (overnight, but reasonably priced, does Boy Scouts has something similar?)
learn to crew program
junior lifeguard camp
animal shelter camp (our local shelter has one for 11-13 year olds)


Are there any classes he might be interested in? If something is offered where he can take a morning or afternoon class and then be at the library or pool for the rest of the day (assuming it's somewhere he can get himself to) would that work? I'm thinking of fun classes, like an art class, cooking class, or coding class or something. Maybe some kind of sports clinic?

Could you please name the junior lifeguard camp and animal shelter camp?

The animal shelter is the Alexandria animal shelter (and this is based on what they offered last year, their 2023 camps aren't posted yet)

Junior Lifeguard Camp is offered by Fairfax County Park Authority (again, based on last summer.)

[Anonymous]

I do a combo of sleep away and day camps, and then a week of grandma camp. Lots of good suggestions already in the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really think nursing companies can exert so much control in what goes in someone's home. That doesn't seem right to me.

Of course they can. No one is forcing anyone to engage that particular company’s services if they don’t agree with the policy.

I haven’t heard of this before, but I don’t really blame them. The nurse being the only responsible adult in the home (presuming the person who needs home nursing care may not be the spryest or in best of health) with someone else’s minor child who isn’t their patient is opening the company up to a world of liability.

+ accusations of molestation/inappropriate behavior.

I don't find this rule surprising at all.

I don't find it surprising either but its still wrong regardless of the reason, he has every right to be in his own home.

[Anonymous]

Valley Mill has a camp for older kids. I can't imagine having a kid that age just sit at home all day of you can afford camp. There are so many good options in this area.

That's a strange comment. I get that OP's kid needs to be at camp, given her situation with the nursing company. And hopefully she will find camps that he likes. However, it is fine if kids who are not in that circumstances watch some tv, bike to the pool with friends, and lounge around for a few weeks. Not every second needs to be structured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Valley Mill has a camp for older kids. I can't imagine having a kid that age just sit at home all day of you can afford camp. There are so many good options in this area.

That's a strange comment. I get that OP's kid needs to be at camp, given her situation with the nursing company. And hopefully she will find camps that he likes. However, it is fine if kids who are not in that circumstances watch some tv, bike to the pool with friends, and lounge around for a few weeks. Not every second needs to be structured.

Agree! My daughter's best summer was last year at age 13. She played a travel sport so 3x week practices and 3 out of 4 weekends travel tournaments. So we stopped doing days camps to give her downtime. She was anywhere and everywhere. A lot of swimming, friends, mall, outdoor parks, mall, hanging out at each other's homes, country carnival, and even a few trips on the metro to DC museums. She learned to cook and bake a lot more than she used to. Did a bunch of chores and also was a pet sitter for multiple neighbors on vacation. She is lucky to have a lot of friends also in travel sports and swim team that have the week days off. We did one week down the beach in August, and visited her older college sister in Bostons for 5 days. She was absolutely done with with day camps. Declared it school-like, structured, and no fun. I was nervous about it at first but I think it is very important for kids to have down time in the summer.

[Anonymous]

City of Rockville offers a good Teen on the Go camp. They do various field trips daily and my 13 year old enjoyed it last year. If you can get a friend to do it with your kid, it might help. But it’s a smallish group anyway and the variety of trips appealed to my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Valley Mill has a camp for older kids. I can't imagine having a kid that age just sit at home all day of you can afford camp. There are so many good options in this area.

That's a strange comment. I get that OP's kid needs to be at camp, given her situation with the nursing company. And hopefully she will find camps that he likes. However, it is fine if kids who are not in that circumstances watch some tv, bike to the pool with friends, and lounge around for a few weeks. Not every second needs to be structured.

Agree! My daughter's best summer was last year at age 13. She played a travel sport so 3x week practices and 3 out of 4 weekends travel tournaments. So we stopped doing days camps to give her downtime. She was anywhere and everywhere. A lot of swimming, friends, mall, outdoor parks, mall, hanging out at each other's homes, country carnival, and even a few trips on the metro to DC museums. She learned to cook and bake a lot more than she used to. Did a bunch of chores and also was a pet sitter for multiple neighbors on vacation. She is lucky to have a lot of friends also in travel sports and swim team that have the week days off. We did one week down the beach in August, and visited her older college sister in Bostons for 5 days. She was absolutely done with with day camps. Declared it school-like, structured, and no fun. I was nervous about it at first but I think it is very important for kids to have down time in the summer.

I agree, and honestly the idea of a 13 year old in day camps all week sounds weird to me. I don’t any 13 yo that would want that. Mine at 12 and 14 last summer had a great time having a 1980s summer with their friends (they did have other structured activities like overnight camp, dance practice, CIT week just with lots of free time in between)

[Anonymous]

OP: A couple of ideas.

1. sleep away camp? My kid loves it,. He goes to an old-school one on the edge of the blue ridge.

2. George Washington U does a STEM camp that both my kids loved. The one whose aged the same as yours did 3-d printing; very cool, not particularly cheap. (the name is "lavner Education")

https://www.lavnercampsandprograms.com/location/washington-dc-summer-camp-george-washington-university-gwu/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2oak0Ifg-wIVGLbICh3aewQzEAAYASAAEgKC-PD_BwE

3. One of the schools day camp? I'm in VA and use Congressional. With the bus service I don't need extended day and they do speciality camps or just day camp. I think Potomac does it as well. Likely fills up fast though. I think other privates in MD might do them.

4. For a chill-out week, could you hire a sitter to be at home with the 12 yr old? My friend WFH and on busy days does it using care.com or something similar. Also, my neighbor's son, who is male, was a nanny/companion one summer to a 13 yr old who was too old for camp, too young to be alone. They did all those day trips ppl upthread mentioned.

Also, my heart goes out to you regarding the difficult decisions that you have to make. Planning camps is hard enough without the constraint that you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Valley Mill has a camp for older kids. I can't imagine having a kid that age just sit at home all day of you can afford camp. There are so many good options in this area.

That's a strange comment. I get that OP's kid needs to be at camp, given her situation with the nursing company. And hopefully she will find camps that he likes. However, it is fine if kids who are not in that circumstances watch some tv, bike to the pool with friends, and lounge around for a few weeks. Not every second needs to be structured.

Agree! My daughter's best summer was last year at age 13. She played a travel sport so 3x week practices and 3 out of 4 weekends travel tournaments. So we stopped doing days camps to give her downtime. She was anywhere and everywhere. A lot of swimming, friends, mall, outdoor parks, mall, hanging out at each other's homes, country carnival, and even a few trips on the metro to DC museums. She learned to cook and bake a lot more than she used to. Did a bunch of chores and also was a pet sitter for multiple neighbors on vacation. She is lucky to have a lot of friends also in travel sports and swim team that have the week days off. We did one week down the beach in August, and visited her older college sister in Bostons for 5 days. She was absolutely done with with day camps. Declared it school-like, structured, and no fun. I was nervous about it at first but I think it is very important for kids to have down time in the summer.

I agree, and honestly the idea of a 13 year old in day camps all week sounds weird to me. I don’t any 13 yo that would want that. Mine at 12 and 14 last summer had a great time having a 1980s summer with their friends (they did have other structured activities like overnight camp, dance practice, CIT week just with lots of free time in between)

y'all: for reasons explained above, this does not work for OP's situation. Nor for some of our kids who aren't really that mature.

[Anonymous]

Sorry you have to figure this out! Another possibility (if you’re near McLean) are the FCPS summer camps. Transportation from McLean HS. Arts options (IFTA), and my 13 year old enjoyed a couple of weeks at the CTE camp last summer. Not expensive and don’t have to live in FCPS.
https://www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Valley Mill has a camp for older kids. I can't imagine having a kid that age just sit at home all day of you can afford camp. There are so many good options in this area.

That's a strange comment. I get that OP's kid needs to be at camp, given her situation with the nursing company. And hopefully she will find camps that he likes. However, it is fine if kids who are not in that circumstances watch some tv, bike to the pool with friends, and lounge around for a few weeks. Not every second needs to be structured.

Agree! My daughter's best summer was last year at age 13. She played a travel sport so 3x week practices and 3 out of 4 weekends travel tournaments. So we stopped doing days camps to give her downtime. She was anywhere and everywhere. A lot of swimming, friends, mall, outdoor parks, mall, hanging out at each other's homes, country carnival, and even a few trips on the metro to DC museums. She learned to cook and bake a lot more than she used to. Did a bunch of chores and also was a pet sitter for multiple neighbors on vacation. She is lucky to have a lot of friends also in travel sports and swim team that have the week days off. We did one week down the beach in August, and visited her older college sister in Bostons for 5 days. She was absolutely done with with day camps. Declared it school-like, structured, and no fun. I was nervous about it at first but I think it is very important for kids to have down time in the summer.

I agree, and honestly the idea of a 13 year old in day camps all week sounds weird to me. I don’t any 13 yo that would want that. Mine at 12 and 14 last summer had a great time having a 1980s summer with their friends (they did have other structured activities like overnight camp, dance practice, CIT week just with lots of free time in between)

So kind of you to come call the solution I came up with to a difficult situation weird. Really appreciate that.

[Anonymous]

Montgomery college has a youth summer program with classes for middle and high schoolers.

+1. My 13 year old enjoyed it last summer. They have a lot of classes that are morning-only or afternoon-only. It's not clear from the website, but your kid can bring lunch to eat in the cafeteria for the hour between the morning and afternoon classes and they have counselors who make sure kids get around campus to the right place.

A friend's 13 year old volunteered here last summer, though it looks like info for summer 2023 isn't posted yet: https://bethami.org/education/summer-programs/

Kids After Hours Travelin Teens is a good program. 14 year olds can be Junior CITs with either Kids After Hours or Bar-T.

[Anonymous]

Is he a type of kid who would enjoy being a mother's helper, babysitting small children?

[Anonymous]

So kind of you to come call the solution I came up with to a difficult situation weird. Really appreciate that.

I'm not that poster and I don't find the solution of doing camps all summer weird under your unique circumstance. My younger son is the same age and will do a few camps this summer, although not all summer. However, I do find it a bit strange that you don't mention trying to coordinate with his friends on this. I would be fine having one of my son's friends at our place during the day for a week over the summer (I work, but they are old enough to mostly amuse themselves). I also find it a bit odd that you don't mention coordinating with his friends on camps. Most kids don't do camp all summer at that age, but do one or two camps over the course of a summer.