Sleep Away Camp?

[Piglet]

I am considering send DS1 to sleep-away camp this summer. I have never been to one, but always wanted to go. He is turning 9 this summer. He is very social, but bookish. Lots of his friends are out of town in the summer so he gets lonely. I send him to daycamp most years and he likes that a lot.

Can anyone share their thoughts on sleep away camp? Did you go? At what age? Was it a good experience? Would you send your kids? At what age?

Thanks!

[rachl500]

I went - starting at age 11. I was homesick my first week and then adored it. Went back each summer until I went to college. Great experience - gained lots of independence and self-confidence.
My brother went to a different camp starting at age 7. He loved it too.
I think I will send DD for the reasons above. DH was not a camper so he is not as excited.

[Corie]

I went to a 4-H sleep away camp in 4th or 5th grade. I think I was gone
for a week. I did not like it and never attended another sleep away camp
again.

My big problem was that 1). I am a homebody. I much prefer to be at home.

Also, the shower situation was horrible. The shower area was a big huge
room with 20 shower heads. No privacy, no shower stalls, just a big open
room. I guess I could have showered with my bathing suit on but my good
friend and I just decided not to shower for the week. :)


ETA: My daughter would love sleep away camp. She is extremely independent
and would probably never miss home.
My son would hate sleep away camp. He is a homebody just like me.

[HIU8]

I went starting at age 8 and went until age 17 when I became a CIT. I worked at sleep away camp from age 18 to 23. I was never really homesick or anything. My brother and sister hated it though. They cried to go home and I cried b/c my parents could not afford to send me for the entire summer (just 4 weeks).

As for DS and DD. DS will probably not go until he is much older. He is the type of child that would have a very hard time and we would end up picking him up early (he is only 5 but I know his personality--he cried daily for 3 years of preschool when DH and I left him). DD is the type of child who would do great a sleep away camp. If she wants, she will probably be going by age 8.

I really believe sleep away camp is a good thing for children. I enjoyed it every single summer that I attended and worked at one.

[MelissaTC]

You know him best. If you think it is for him, go for it. A lot of people we know around here send their kids around 9 or 10. I bet it would be fun. I think mine would love it.

[AmyZ]

I was 9 when I started going to sleep away camp. I was an only child, and I think that it really helped me to practice having some separation from my family. (When I went to college, I was all smiles.)

The first summer I went for 1 week, then the next summer 2 etc....

My mom sent me with a friend the first few summers, so that helped.

[bubbaray]

I went to sleep away camps a couple of times. It was OK. I knew even then that I'm more of a hotel girl, LOL.

If you think he'd like it, go for it! I'd do a week the first summer, longer next year if it goes well.

[elizabethkott]

I started going around 10, and I loved, loved, LOVED it. I went to an all-girls camp, and I think that experience was very empowering for me as well - none of the whole "have to impress the boys/competition over boys" thing going on, at least when I got older. I went for six years - 5 as a camper, 1 as a CIT and then I went back after my freshman year of college as a counsilor.
It was a 4 or 8 week camp; I always went for the second session with the exeption of when I was a CIT and counsilor when I did the full eight weeks.
I will absolutely be sending J to camp when he's of the right age, if he's of the right temperment. :) There are just so many things I learned about myself, about appreciating the outdoors, about different outdoor activities, about "surviving" on my "own" that I owe to the camp experience... I think it's of such a huge value.
I do think that finding the right camp is of the utmost importance. Where I went it was a "general" camp, which I liked. I also remember the experience of "checking out the camp" the session before I went, which helped me a lot.
Good luck!

[egoldber]

Sarah went to Girl Scout sleep away camp last year, at age 7 (not quite 8). I tried to talk her into one of the shorter 4 day/3 night camps, but she wanted the week long camp.

She LOVED it, did terrific and can't wait to go again this year. I would not call her a kid that likes being away from home, but she loves "adventure" and new experiences. The sense of independence it gave her was incredible.

She had been overnight camping only once before, but it was in a very similar environment and that made me feel better about it. Also, she is not bothered by the outdoor things that bother some kids: bugs, cobwebs, critters, smelly bathrooms, etc.

I was very comfortable with the structure of the GS camps and I don't know when I will be ready for her to go to a non-GS sleep away camp.

[mousemom]

I started going to sleep away camp for a month each summer around 8 and went back until around 12. I loved it and it taught me a lot of independence and about making friends. (And also things like boating that I otherwise would not have been exposed to.) I also tried a couple of different week-long camps with other friends, which I never enjoyed as much. I feel like a week was really not enough time to adjust to a new situation and make friends, and for those who were homesick, to get over it. By the time people were starting to feel comfortable, it was time to go home. For me, and others I knew, a month worked much better.

[Nechums]

I went to camp at that age (for 4 weeks) and I also was a division head for that age. I found that the young girls have an easier time than young boys in camp, because of the female counselor-camper relationship. I think it's really important for there to be a "mommy" figure for boys that age, because, IMO, the boys still need that soft relationship (in addition to the rugged male camper-counselor relationship). The camp that I worked at provided a female counselor (in addition to the two male counselors) for the youngest boys' bunk who did everything except sleep in the bunk.

[s7714]

I started going to sleep away camp when I was 8. The first time it was only for two nights. After that it was for a week and up to a month when I was older. It was a Girl Scout camp that my GS troop camped out at in the off season and it was only a few miles from my own house, so I was more than comfortable there!

If my DDs become interested in sleep away camp, I wouldn't hesitate to do it provided I was happy with the facilities. As it is now, I couldn't even get my 6 year old to willingly attend 4 hour day camp during the summer so it may be a while for her! (My 4 year old OTOH went to day camp without hesitation, LOL!)

[nfowife]

DH and I both went to sleep-away camps. I went to one for 3 summers, after 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. It was a performing arts camp and I went for 3, 4, and then the whole 7 weeks. I was also a counselor at a different camp in college.
DH went to a general camp for Jewish kids starting at about 9 years old with his brother (who was 7). They both loved it and went for a number of years. DH stopped going once he was in high school but his brother went on to CIT throughout high school. I think it is a wonderful experience and we do plan on sending our children when they get to be old enough.

[mikeys_mom]

I went for the first time at age 9 and loved it. I was a bit of a shy kid but I had a few of my good friends there with me. I went as a camper for 5 years and then later worked as staff for 4 years, all at the same camp.
When I went at age 9, the camp was for 1 month.

Some of my closest friends today IRL are those I met in camp. In fact, DH and I first met in camp ;).

DH and I plan to send DS to the same camp we attended if he is interested, once he is old enough.

[kristenk]

I went to sleep away camp as a camper when I was 13. It was 28 days and that was a long time for me. My cousin started going to the same camp when she was 8.

I would love for DD to go to sleep away camp when she's older, but I'm not sure if she's really a camp kind of kid. DD is 6 now and I don't know if she'd be ready at 8. I think finding the right camp is *very* important and I'll try to look into that in advance. I helped out with a girl scout camp when I was younger and really enjoyed that experience. I think that's the type of camp that I'd like DD to experience.

[alirebco]

I went to sleep away camp when I was age 5/6 and every summer until age 12/13. I loved it. The first time I only went for a 4 week session but the next year and every year after, I went for the whole season (two 4 week sessions). It was such a great experience for me and I learned so much.

[Roni]

I never went and I know I would have hated it. I went to some day camps, and I think we could have done an overnight at them, but I didn't want to. I don't anticipate sending my dd's to overnight camp, but the older one is going on a one night "winter camping" trip with her GS troop. If you can find a day camp that has a one-night campout, or a similar situation, that might be a good experiment. Or, do the shortest overnight camp you can find this year, and add on more time next year, if it works out.

[MoJo]

I'm another one who never went, partly due to money but mostly due to admittedly overprotective parents. (I wasn't even allowed to participate in the school band because of the required marching camp each summer.)

I got through my junior year of high school and had never spent a single night away from my parents. That made me extra nervous about going away to college, so I finally convinced my dad to let me go to a two-week summer academic program where students lived in the dorms, which was GREAT for me but severely damaged my relationship with my mom, because she didn't think I should be allowed to go.

So I don't know what age my children will be ready. . . and I'm sure I'll want to be familiar with both the facilities and the staff . . . but I want my children to have those experiences before I did.

[MichelleRC]

I have such amazing memories of sleepaway camp. I went for 6 weeks my first summer when I was 9 (or 10, can't remember), and then 8 weeks every year after that. On and off until I was 22. My brother and cousins also went to the same camp. My (now-defunct) camp has a Facebook group and my counselor from 1982 even posted bunk pictures last year!
Now, as much of a camp-lover as I am, there is no way on this earth that DS1 would ever go. And there is no way I could imagine sending him. He is just not that kind of kid. Unless in a few years, we can manage to work at a camp for the summer. I remember some of my friends' parents who were teachers doing that.
Anyway, if he wants to go and you can swing it financially, go for it!!

[malphy]

I went for 6 weeks and loved every minute of it!!!!!

I can't wait until my dd is old enough to go! I learned independence, how to make freinds of all kinds, etc.