Sleep away camp

[mae0111]

Have you (or would you) consider sending your kids to sleep away camp for part of the summer? We have been seriously considering sending DD1 to this amazing camp for 2 weeks this summer, to give everyone a break from the stresses here at home. Neither DH nor I went to summer camp, so I’m having some anxiety about it.

So, did you go when you were a kid, would you send your kids? What did you/they love/hate about it?

[waverly]

Yes I went to sleep away camp when I was 9 after 4th grade. I was young for my grade (late fall birthday Dec 1 cut off). I went to Girl Scout camp that is now closed (sob). I also worked there, which was super hard being on call basically 24/7.  I had a good experience, but I didn't go another summer until I worked there.  My parents didn't push or my friends, otherwise I might have done it again. I liked most of it.  I think the only problem I had was I went with a friend and then met another friend, so working with the 2 friends was hard and first friend got mad at me for wanting to be partnered with 2nd friend occasionally.  


DH went to a Protestant religious camp and loved it. I think he went for 5 years. His sister and brother went for 2 years each. DH is pushing hard for DS to go. I deferred last year when he was age 7.5, but agreed for him to go this year when he will be 8.5. I am extremely nervous about it, but I just listened our favorite podcast here (Best of Both Worlds) and they had a great camp episode on. This camp has been around for 30 years, and obviously DH's family has a long history with it. My co-worker has also sent her older kids there for weekend type retreats. We will be there for the drop off and parent orientation and the pick up. It seems to be a great independence helper for kids, and she stressed in the podcast to let kids know they will likely be homesick and that is normal, but that you have every confidence that they can work through it. This camp is Sunday night- Friday afternoon, so he will be there only 5 nights instead of a longer 6-7 night camp which will help. We have not done the shorter camps, but we have done the cub scout camp outs and went camping last summer, so he definitely is a lot more prepared then he was last summer. It also works well, so I have heard for special needs kids, and I already talked to them about his hearing aid needs.

[sdlaura]

Yep, I went to week-long sleep away camp each summer as a kid - I'd have to ask my parents how old I was - maybe starting around age 10? It was nothing fancy and I absolutely hated the first night but then ended up loving it and eventually went back as a counselor-in-training. I have great memories of it.

DD goes camping with DH once a month with the YMCA adventure clubs and a couple of the campgrounds they use also have sleep away camps in the summer. The youngest they can start is when they're going into 2nd grade - which is how old DD will be this summer - but I think we'll wait till next summer or the year after and arrange for her to go at the same time as a friend. One day I have fantasies of sending all 3 kids to a sleep away camp at the same time and DH and I can then go on a (local-ish) vacation!

My Mom's good friend runs a company that does consulting for higher-end sleep away camps. Matching kids with the best camp for them.

www.tipsontripsandcamps.com/

[186momx]

I did not do summer camp as a kid. I did participate in outdoor school through school twice. Once for 2 nights 3 days in 3rd and again for the school week in 6th. I enjoyed both trips and we had college age counselors and a very strict regulated schedule. Now our schools do a 2 night 3 day outdoor school for 5th graders and it is something DD is looking forward to. I also did marching band camp in high school but that was grueling 15 hour days at the end of August and no way in my mind "summer camp".

DD at this point has no interest in sleepaway camp. Only one local camp place offers sleepover camp and it is $$$$. There are some elite sports camp that are overnight but they are geared towards your middle school and up age range and are held through the universities but they also cost $$$$ and are like 3 nights 4 days.

[CrazyLucky]

DS has gone to sleepaway camp twice and is set to go this year. His first experience was a three day to kind of ease him into it. He was 7. He absolutely loved it. Last year was a full five days. He loved his counselor, he loved the activities. His favorite thing was "everything!" It's a Lutheran camp (agape), so there is some religious element, but it's a lot of hiking, swimming, crafts, kayaking.
This year, he wanted to go to soccer camp. So I looked into it. I was NOT comfortable with the setup. The camp he goes to (the Lutheran one) has one counselor for every 8 kids, a nurse on staff, and several other staff members. The soccer camps I looked into had things like three adults per dorm of kids. 18 year olds stayed in the same dorm as nine year olds. So I told him he could go to soccer day camp or back to Agape, and he picked Agape.

DD on the other hand, will be 7 this summer. She's more of a mommy's girl and she opted for day camp. We haven't really pushed them in either direction, just followed what they wanted.

How old is your DD? Does she want to go? Make sure you are comfortable with the arrangements. If DS had gone to that soccer camp I think I would have been very nervous about it all week.

[traveltheworld]

I went to summer camp in my teens and loved it. DS (almost 7) will be going to sleep-away camp for a week for the first time this summer. The camp has a long history, is recommended by lots of people, and take kids as young as 5, so I'm hoping it'll be good. He was somewhat indifferent about going or not, but I really want him to go as I think building that independence/confidence will be good for him. DS loves the outdoors and it's an outdoor oriented camp, so he should do well.

To help him ease into the transition, we are also doing a weekend family camp at the same camp next week. The idea is that we'll all go and help DS orient, so when he goes by himself in July, it won't be as new/scary. Frankly I think I'm more nervous about it than DS is.

[mae0111]

Thank you. We haven’t brought this up with DD1 yet. She’s 9.5, and could use a lot of help with her independence. I thought it would help her to be away from us and her sister for a while, and establish herself as her own person. She is very much linked to her little sister at school.

She will be resistant, but this camp looks awesome. I’m not a camper, and I would very much like to leave the kids home and go to this camp with DH and hike and ride horses and swim. She was very resistant when I sent her to a local day camp, and ended up really loving it. I think this could be the same.

[cosmowife]

This is very common where I live. Little kids go away for a month or more (as young as 7). My kids would never go for it, but I’ve never heard a negative experience from any parent or kid. The parents generally went to these camps as kids and want the same experiences for their children. I can’t imagine having an empty house for a month! It would be so clean!!!

[madringal]

I started going to church camp for a week when I was 8 and then went every yer until I was 17. It was the best and I loved it. I started sending my daughter to the same camp at 8 and she loves it too. Now, our church campgrounds do have cabins and RV parking on property and my sister has a cabin there. So for the first few years she was a camper, I stayed on property so I got to see her a few times a day. She plans to go this year and I do not plan on staying with her. She is 11.

[sunbutter]

I never did but I grew up in a county with literally dozens of sleep away camps surrounding me so it is not foreign to me. The kids at these camps were shipped in from NY usually for a full eight weeks.

In DS’s class, a couple of kids have started going to sleep away camp for 2-3 weeks and they all love it.

I have asked DS if he was interested. He said not this year but maybe next year. He would be 12.

I think choice of camp based on kid’s needs is really important. The camp that we would consider is a mix of arts, theatre and sporty activities. It is also not affiliated with a religion or national organization. Many kids go for just a couple of weeks so there is less of a clique atmosphere. Ironically, five miles from my parents house 🙄. We used to complain about all the rich kids that would take over the town in the summer. Now my kid would be one of them...

[abs]

I went to Girl Scout Camp once when I was 8 or 9. I loved it but by the next summer my parents were divorced and couldn't afford to send me again.

DD doesn't even want to spend the night at a friend's house yet. I doubt she would be down with sleep away camp. I think it can be an absolutely amazing experience but I doubt it's in the cards for us. Besides I would rather spend that money on family trips.

[covergirl82]

I went to Girl Scout camp for maybe a 3 night camp when I was 9 or 10. It was not for me. I don't think DH went to any as a kid. We haven't offered an overnight camp to our kids yet. There is one that a friend of DS's has gone to, that is only 20 minutes away or so, that we would consider if the kids expressed an interest in trying one.

DD just started having sleepovers (we said age 8 for both kids to start having/going to sleepovers), and she still regularly comes to sleep in our room at night (we have a stack of blankets and folded comforter (and a pillow) she sleeps on next to our bed), so there is no way she'd be able to go to an overnight camp. I'm not sure she's ready to sleepover at a friend's house yet.

[shakinros]

I did and loved it. I think I started between 4th and 5th grade (age 9). Went two weeks the first summer, three weeks the two summers after that. It’s fab for building independence and self-reliance all that buzzword type stuff. It was in the NC mountains and very traditional canoeing, archery, crafts, horseback riding, etc.

[vasc]

DD is going for a three-night mini sleep away camp this summer in June. She’ll be two weeks shy of 6. She can’t wait! It’s the YMCA camp.

[drjeep]

I highly recommend sleep away camp! My first sleep away camp was in North Carolina, more than a 10 hour drive from my house, for 6 weeks when I was 7 years old! I loved it!!! It was an all girls Methodist camp, but it wasn't religion focused because we weren't Methodist (neither were a lot of kids who went to the camp) and everyone was welcomed the same. I had a blast and made so many friends that I even asked my parents if I could go back the next summer! I also went to Horse Camp starting when I was 9, which was a week long. I went back every week each summer for years, and I eventually became a counselor at the camp when I was in high school and college. I think sleep away camp really helps to foster the independence in kids and helps them make new friendships they may not otherwise be exposed to. I'm an only child, so I don't if that makes a difference. I don't think it does, but I have always been able to make friends fairly quickly because I've had to. I never had a sibling I could pal around with if I didn't have friends so sleep away camp was very beneficial in helping me learn how to make friends on my own and fostering and encouraging my independence.