Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

Why would I want to deny my son something he so clearly enjoys?

Why would I want to restrict his summers to what he can do in the suburbs when there are forests to run around in?

Why would I want to restrict his learning to things I could teach him?

Parent how you want, but my experience as a parent is as follows: whenever I take that tone of utter certainty, it turns out that reality bits me in the ass. The more certain I am, the slower I am to regroup when reality smacks me in the face.

Agree 100%. First, my kids can't be outside all day every day in fresh air in DC. Second, we don't have the time or the space or the facilities to teach them all the things they can learn at camp (we could do some ourselves and have them take classes, etc. but we're not going to go horseback rising 10 times this summer or install a zip line out back). Third, they really do become more independent. I was a camp counselor as well as a camper and we had kids who showed up the first day whose parents insisted they couldn't braid their own hair or pick out their own clothes. (These were 9-10 year old girls.) Those kids were not only taking care of their personal needs but doing things like setting up tents, planning and cooking meals, and orienteering in the woods by the end of two weeks. They had to get away from their parents to develop that kind of confidence...although independence may be what PP is referring to not being part of how he/she parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on Long Island, NY. Tons of kids went to sleep-away camp, all the others went to day camp. I literally did not know of ANY kid who didn't go to camp until the summer before 8th grade. Nobody asked, "Are you going to camp?" but "Which camp do you go to?"

Also everyone went for eight weeks. The idea of one week here and two weeks there is completely foreign to me. My kids go for 8 weeks. I can't understand all these people constantly going to the beach and on all these various trips. We have to work.

Have you found a true 8 week camp experience? Most of the sleep away camps I've looked into offer a 4 week and a 3 week session but not a 7 or 8 week experience.

Well offering a 4 week session in July and a 4 week session in August equals 8 weeks.

Yes the duration is 8 weeks but I'm looking for a camp that the majority of campers stay for 7-8 weeks. The difference is the bonding experience that comes with living with a group of people for 7-8 weeks vs 2 sets of people for 3-4 weeks each.

Sorry I wasn't clear. Most everyone did the whole 8 weeks. For example, I can tell you that when I was 13 and did Teen Tours, there was only ONE girl who only did the first session and ONE set of twins who only did the second session. The rest of the 90 or so of us were all the same kids all summer.

Yes the same was true for me. But now it seems it's different. At my daughters camp she is of 6 staying for 2nd session.

Even the traditional eight week camps tend to offer sessions now. There just aren't as many families wanting a full eight. Times have changed on that.

I agree that the bonding is different.

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

Why would I want to deny my son something he so clearly enjoys?

Why would I want to restrict his summers to what he can do in the suburbs when there are forests to run around in?

Why would I want to restrict his learning to things I could teach him?

Parent how you want, but my experience as a parent is as follows: whenever I take that tone of utter certainty, it turns out that reality bits me in the ass. The more certain I am, the slower I am to regroup when reality smacks me in the face.

Do your kids do any school work in the summer? My middle school kids have 3 books they are required to read with a book report and a thick math packet. Eight weeks away at camp is the bulk of the summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on Long Island, NY. Tons of kids went to sleep-away camp, all the others went to day camp. I literally did not know of ANY kid who didn't go to camp until the summer before 8th grade. Nobody asked, "Are you going to camp?" but "Which camp do you go to?"

Also everyone went for eight weeks. The idea of one week here and two weeks there is completely foreign to me. My kids go for 8 weeks. I can't understand all these people constantly going to the beach and on all these various trips. We have to work.

Have you found a true 8 week camp experience? Most of the sleep away camps I've looked into offer a 4 week and a 3 week session but not a 7 or 8 week experience.

Well offering a 4 week session in July and a 4 week session in August equals 8 weeks.

Yes the duration is 8 weeks but I'm looking for a camp that the majority of campers stay for 7-8 weeks. The difference is the bonding experience that comes with living with a group of people for 7-8 weeks vs 2 sets of people for 3-4 weeks each.

Sorry I wasn't clear. Most everyone did the whole 8 weeks. For example, I can tell you that when I was 13 and did Teen Tours, there was only ONE girl who only did the first session and ONE set of twins who only did the second session. The rest of the 90 or so of us were all the same kids all summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on Long Island, NY. Tons of kids went to sleep-away camp, all the others went to day camp. I literally did not know of ANY kid who didn't go to camp until the summer before 8th grade. Nobody asked, "Are you going to camp?" but "Which camp do you go to?"

Also everyone went for eight weeks. The idea of one week here and two weeks there is completely foreign to me. My kids go for 8 weeks. I can't understand all these people constantly going to the beach and on all these various trips. We have to work.

Have you found a true 8 week camp experience? Most of the sleep away camps I've looked into offer a 4 week and a 3 week session but not a 7 or 8 week experience.

Well offering a 4 week session in July and a 4 week session in August equals 8 weeks.

Yes the duration is 8 weeks but I'm looking for a camp that the majority of campers stay for 7-8 weeks. The difference is the bonding experience that comes with living with a group of people for 7-8 weeks vs 2 sets of people for 3-4 weeks each.

Anonymous wrote:Sleep away camp was the best part of my entire childhood. Some years a went for eight weeks! I was from NY. The difference I see here and now is that a lot of the camps have 1 or 2 week sessions. While I'd have a hard time saying good-bye to my sons for several weeks the problem with one week away is that right when you 're finally used to the place and enjoying yourself it's time to leave!

oh so jealous! i LOVED summer camp but my parent could only afford 1 or 2 weeks each summer. I would have thought i had died and gone to Heaven if my parents let me go for the whole summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

? My kid loves it and insists every summer. I'd be remiss as a parent if I didn't let him/her do it.

Perhaps you're talking about really young kids, like up to 8 or 9 years old?

No I mean all kids. Not just little ones.
How does your kid insist? Who is the parent?

What is your problem with camps?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up on Long Island, NY. Tons of kids went to sleep-away camp, all the others went to day camp. I literally did not know of ANY kid who didn't go to camp until the summer before 8th grade. Nobody asked, "Are you going to camp?" but "Which camp do you go to?"

Also everyone went for eight weeks. The idea of one week here and two weeks there is completely foreign to me. My kids go for 8 weeks. I can't understand all these people constantly going to the beach and on all these various trips. We have to work.

Have you found a true 8 week camp experience? Most of the sleep away camps I've looked into offer a 4 week and a 3 week session but not a 7 or 8 week experience.

Well offering a 4 week session in July and a 4 week session in August equals 8 weeks.

I never went to camp. Sent our daughter for the first time last year. She loved every minute and asked to go for longer this year. It has been great for her and good for my husband and I. It will be an every year thing as long as we can afford it

I went as a kid but to a camp with a specific focus (Interlochen). My kids are going to sleepaway camp, 1 week for the little and 2 weeks for the big. I think it is more of a Northeast thing, friends in NYC have been sending their kids for longer periods since they were in 2nd. We just started.

NP here. I am from the DC area. I grew up going to overnight camp from the age of 8 to 14. Then I worked at overnight camps until I graduated college. I went for four weeks (not eight like a number of my friends did). My DS started going to overnight camp at age 8. My DD will start going then as well. They have both expressed an interest in it though. My DH never went and didn't understand the draw of it until my DS went the first time. It's a wonderful experience I am happy to be able to give my children.

Obviously there is a large economic factor at play. I am from the Northeast and never went away to camp, and knew no one who did. No one in my universe had that kind of money.
I did work at a camp one summer while in college. 8 weeks. I was pretty horrified by some of the things I saw go on. At the same time, I did see a lot of fun, as other posters describe.
Not sure if I would let my son go if he expressed an interest, but I doubt it will come up. Even in the DC area, I think sleep-away camp is for a select few pockets. Most of the region doesn't have the money to be sending their kids away to camp for 8, or even 4 weeks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

? My kid loves it and insists every summer. I'd be remiss as a parent if I didn't let him/her do it.

Perhaps you're talking about really young kids, like up to 8 or 9 years old?

No I mean all kids. Not just little ones.
How does your kid insist? Who is the parent?

There was a particular sports camp recommended by the kid's coaches and said kid really, really wanted to go - so we agreed, and said kid has returned every year for about 5 years. I am the parent. I wholeheartedly endorse this choice of camps.