When I was that age, I would watch TV and hang out with my friends in the morning, and then had a job picking 2 younger kids up from a camp bus and watching them for an hour or two until their parents got home.

Band camp and sleepaway camp.

Anonymous wrote:Why do they need to do anything? At 13 they are old enough to stay home alone, I assume in this day and age they have a phone and we have a good public transit system. They can go hang out with friends or hang out at home.

My son would have to walk for an hour or two to get to the nearest bus stop. Not everyone lives near public transit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a job

Not many places these days hire 13-year old boys....

It's not 1980.

I was 13 in 1985 and couldn’t get a work permit then, either.

Why do they need to do anything? At 13 they are old enough to stay home alone, I assume in this day and age they have a phone and we have a good public transit system. They can go hang out with friends or hang out at home.

At that age, my DD did about a month of CIT at two different camps and also volunteered at a MCPS summer school program at a school with a lot of at-risk kids. She helped second graders with math, I think.

One plus, all this counts for community service for MCPS, and my DD had a gazillion hours by the time she graduated.

The 13-16 age is the hardest when it comes to summertime. When we were all growing up, it was pretty easy to get a job or find something to do, but with kids aging out of camps and not old enough to really work, it forces parents into the 'spend money to occupy your kid for the summer' game.

Yes, there is room for a temporary dog walking or other business, but not everyone can do that. Volunteering requires parental involvement, etc

You need different camps; their are a bunch that tend to older ES and teens.You'll have to make peace with kids being at different camps and the headache that comes with.

OP, what is your kid interested in? What does he/she like to do?

IDTech camp has a teen option (but it is very expensive)

Any sports camp to recommend that go past 14?

Washington sailing school

Anonymous wrote:13yo dd last year did a week of community service camp, a week of sleepaway camp, and two specialized computer/coding/cyber camps, with gaps of "nothing weeks' in between.

Mine too. A few weeks of sports camps for my 13 yo DS last year, with "nothing" weeks in between.

I'd leave a list of chores to be done every day. Which of course weren't started until he heard my car opening the garage door.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a job

Not many places these days hire 13-year old boys....

It's not 1980.

13 year olds can not legally work.

13yo dd last year did a week of community service camp, a week of sleepaway camp, and two specialized computer/coding/cyber camps, with gaps of "nothing weeks' in between.

CIT for a couple of weeks for full time camps she used to attend

stayed home alone a couple weeks

couple weeks of sleep away camp

1 week of theater camp