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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
Do your children love sleepaway camp?



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Whose initiative is it to go to sleepaway camp?
My children love camp and they insist they want to go  
 52%  [ 39 ]
I send the children to camp because I have to work  
 0%  [ 0 ]
My children do not really like camp, but they go because of peer pressure  
 4%  [ 3 ]
I send the children to camp because I think it's important for social interaction  
 14%  [ 11 ]
My children don't go to sleepaway camp, but they would like to  
 8%  [ 6 ]
My children don't go to sleepaway camp because they don't want to.  
 20%  [ 15 ]
Total Votes : 74



Ora in town




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 6:52 am
Some of my children don't/didn't particularly love camp.
So I sent them 1 or 2 times, at primary school age, but when it turned out they were not really eager to go, I kept them home most of vacations and we went to family vacation for a few weeks...

What about your children? Do they take the initiative that they love camp and want to go? Or is it a necessity for you, so you send them without asking many questions...

What are the factors that children like camp or not?

From which age will you send your children to sleepaway camp?
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unexpected




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:05 am
My kids go to camp because their Yeshiva mandates it. Loving it or not depends on the year. The older they get the less they love it.
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:10 am
My children love camp. They know its expensive. They dont insist to go back.

This year I'm sending them because I work, I dont want them home alone for 2 months. Camp reduced the days and raised the price, I'm sure there are some parents that backed out.
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Elfrida




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:15 am
I grew up in a country where going to camp was not part of the normal programme for the summer. The more I hear about American summer camps the more grateful I am that I was never expected to go to one. For someone who is not sociable, enjoys reading and time alone, and hates constant noise and activity they sound like a nightmare.

Some childcare option is essential, but I would be very cautious about sending a child into that kind of environment. You have to know their personality. Some would enjoy it, but others would come back absolutely worn out mentally and emotionally from dealing with such a draining environment all the time.
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:23 am
Some yes, some no, and it depends on the camp. One dd would love the camp she went to if it was day camp. It is this year, but we're not in the country for the summer. There's a day camp by us that is supposed to be more like sleepaway camps, but it's like the camps she doesn't like that aren't her style, so no go. One kid liked camp until a certain age, when the program changed.

I did send my special needs kid when he wasn't so gung ho, because it was really good for him and helped fight regression. When he really started protesting, we stopped. It was very hard.
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:52 am
I only have one child who is old enough to go to sleepaway camp so I can only speak for her and not how the rest of my children would like it. She loves camp so much! The day camps in our area are all school based with little outdoor space so other than swimming the activities for girls are mostly crafts or dance which she abhors. She is tomboyish and loves sports and boating and just being outdoors. She also enjoys the independence in camp, where she is allowed to just go for a walk during free time. She's my oldest and an excellent student and a tremendous help and camp is a good break for her just to have fun and be with her friends and have a break from her younger siblings and chores.

She's lucky enough that her camp is open this summer albeit with many changes and she's so looking forward to going after all these months of being isolated from all her friends. She's had enough of hanging out virtually and the camp is working extremely hard to make it a safe and healthy and fun summer.
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flowerpower




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:52 am
Yes. They love camp and wait for it all year.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 9:30 am
Love camp and SOOOO disappointed this year.
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amother
Mint


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 9:31 am
I answered for myself. The “peer pressure” option. Although it was more that ALL my friends and friend groups went to camp and I would have had literally not a single friend at home.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 9:33 am
unexpected wrote:
My kids go to camp because their Yeshiva mandates it. Loving it or not depends on the year. The older they get the less they love it.


That’s insane.

This is for boys?

Why does the school control how they spend the summer?

What if the family wants to go somewhere, like another country?
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 9:34 am
I had DD all signed up for camp one year, and at the last minute she panicked and said she wouldn't go. She was so scared, I couldn't force her "for her own good". That felt really wrong to me. Instead I lost the deposit, but used the rest of the money to buy her fun things for the summer, like a hammock and a basketball that she really wanted.

She has terrible social anxiety, and panics in new situations. She will deal with it when she has to, like going to a new school, but it doesn't make sense to force her to do something that is optional and that she will not enjoy.
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 9:37 am
sequoia wrote:
That’s insane.

This is for boys?

Why does the school control how they spend the summer?

What if the family wants to go somewhere, like another country?


It's part of the school year. Yeshiva continues through the first month of summer. They move it to the country, and any limudei chol doesn't happen. Instead, the boys have camp type activities, but aren't forced into them- they can just be in they want. But they need to be there, unless there is a specific reason.
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Ora in town




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 9:47 am
amother [ Mistyrose ] wrote:
It's part of the school year. Yeshiva continues through the first month of summer. They move it to the country, and any limudei chol doesn't happen. Instead, the boys have camp type activities, but aren't forced into them- they can just be in they want. But they need to be there, unless there is a specific reason.

Do they like it?
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 10:01 am
Mine? Not really. But most of the other bochurim do. This year, ds is thrilled. (They are opening in a different place that allows it.)
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amother
Lime


 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 10:38 am
Primary sounds very young.
I start sending earliest end of 7th grade.
Only one son goes so far and he really looks forward to it.
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Chayalle




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 10:59 am
I sent both of my big girls to sleepaway camp as campers for 3 summers. I'm plan to push it off by a year for my youngest.

I find that (at least for my kids) sleepaway camp has an expiration date. They love it the first year. They also liked it the 2nd year. By the 3rd year they realized retroactively that they had had enough (but of course, they wanted to go...).

One DD was a real camper type and actually went for a 4th summer as staff, but not to the camp she had gone to as a camper - she was done and needing a change. She applied and had a wonderful time at The Zone.

One DD went 2 summers to one camp, and the 3rd summer already wanted a change and switched. Maybe she would've gone again but the 2nd camp she went to did not reopen the next year. But she was also done.....

With my youngest, I see that a) the quality of local daycamps is such that they have enough age-appropriate excitement without needing camp so much and b) perhaps as a result, I see that her friends are not rushing to go to sleepaway camp. So I'm waiting till she begs me for it, which hasn't happened yet.
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Simple1




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 11:22 am
Chayalle wrote:

With my youngest, I see that a) the quality of local daycamps is such that they have enough age-appropriate excitement without needing camp so much and b) perhaps as a result, I see that her friends are not rushing to go to sleepaway camp. So I'm waiting till she begs me for it, which hasn't happened yet.


I wonder if this is a new trend? My 8th grader wanted to go because her big sisters went, but none of her friends are interested in going.
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keym




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 11:26 am
Simple1 wrote:
I wonder if this is a new trend? My 8th grader wanted to go because her big sisters went, but none of her friends are interested in going.


I'm seeing that 7th and 8th graders in Lakewood both girls and boys don't feel this NEED to go like they used to because of the variety of teen camps opened for 6-8th graders.
My 7th grade son told me that he's not going to sleep away camp next summer because he wants to go to Camp XYZ the "coolest" Teen camp in their oldest division.
I said great he's happy. I save money. Good all around.
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Chayalle




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 11:43 am
keym wrote:
I'm seeing that 7th and 8th graders in Lakewood both girls and boys don't feel this NEED to go like they used to because of the variety of teen camps opened for 6-8th graders.
My 7th grade son told me that he's not going to sleep away camp next summer because he wants to go to Camp XYZ the "coolest" Teen camp in their oldest division.
I said great he's happy. I save money. Good all around.


Exactly.

When my oldest was going into 7th, a couple of her friends went to camp first half. I didn't see the need to rush, but felt bad later....she was so bored and lonely those 4 weeks, especially on Shabbos when none of her friends were around for the looong afternoons....the next year I sent her.

Now my youngest is going into 7th, and it wasn't even a thought. Maybe next year. Or maybe the year after. Haven't heard a peep of interest. No one her age that she knows goes to camp, except one friend whose mother is on staff.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jun 19 2020, 1:52 pm
My kids are too young for sleepaway camp, but I used to look forward to camp all year. I would have been pretty upset had they been canceled then.
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