Summer Camps
 

One time at band camp...
Anyone have much camp experience?

Lil' Pete wants a fencing camp this summer. It looks like most sports camps are on college campuses, some affiliated some not. We're shopping by location, price, quality of coaching, and individualization of attention. What are we missing?

The thing about camps (12 years starting at age 8, eight weeks each summer in Canada, wilderness canoeing) are the relationships you form and the life lessons you learn.

Lil' Pete is going to a shorter, focused sports/vocational camp, so it will very much affect his view towards fencing. Will it also be his first dose at the next level of organization and intensity?

Find some kids or older, who have gone through the program you're looking at and ask them about what they remember, good and bad, and if they'd do it again, and what they learned. How they'd do it different. Listen carefully to the coaches, they'll leave lasting impressions and help provide the long term motivation (good or bad) it take to get where Lil Pete wants to go.

I learned teamwork, leadership, my limits and the limits of others. the best memories were of fun, and the most valued were shared adversity. Finishing is more important than winning. (wilderness canoeing is more about perseverance than speed). many of the families at the camp I attended were third and now fifth generation.

I didn't go to camp (virtually non-existant in the UK) but I spent much of my summer holiday with my Grandparents in London.

Despite the fact my sister was older then me and also used to staying with my Grandparents, the one year I spent a week at Brownie camp she got so homesick without me that my parents had to bring her home (and juggle shift work schedules to do so).

So the one piece of advice I'd give is let Lil Pete know she might be homesick, but if she is, it won't last. Don't make a big deal out of it (obviously!) but as long as she can accept she'll miss you it won't become the sum of her experience.

Bet she'll love it :)

Are you talking stay-away camps or day camps?

I went to a stay-away camp for a couple of summers. There wasn't much individualized attention, except when we were shooting rifles or practicing archery. Fun memories, except for the food. :greenface

Stay away camps.

I think she'll be fine since she's a pretty social kid if a little quiet. The fencing part shouldn't be a problem. She has the skills and a Hardy personality. I think we've settled for this year. We want the coaching to be in line with her present more traditional style so we'll stay away from the Russian coaches (Penn State) for a while longer. Thanks for the input we may have to sneak some power bars into her bag in case the food is too nasty.

I went to camp all summer every summer from the age of 4 until 13. (Parents had to work, you know...) Mostly it was a single day camp, supplemented with a week here and there of various overnight camps.

I loved the day camp more than anything, and it was no less than critical to my social development. I was a huge nerd in school with no friends, but somehow I was the complete opposite at camp, popular and social. Sometimes a different environment is all a kid needs. Anyway, I lived for my summers.

And the overnight camps were great too; I was probably the only kid who never got homesick. I was always telling the other kids things like, "What's the big deal? I mean, you'll see them in a week..." Maybe I have an attachment disorder. :) None of mine were specialized for one activity though, they were just canoeing and horseback riding and swimming and stuff. But anyway, I think if she's asking to go, she's ready. I always liked the food at my camps... but watch out for sneaking in food, it will attract animals. :)

I worked at a camp one summer and it was the worst experience ever. This is just advice in general from a former camp counselor:

1. If your kid is on behavioral modification medicine -ie Ritialin - make sure that they take it to camp with them. I don't know how many kids we had to send home because their parents didn't send them with their kids.

2. Don't tell your kids that they can call you if they want to come home. They can't.

3. Write your kids letters - no one wants to be the only one who didn't get anything all week!

4. If your child is afraid of bugs, the dark or anything like that - camp may not be the best place.

I'm sure there is more... just remember - camp counselors are usually paid pretty poorly and it is a hard job. Try your best to make it easy on them by preparing your children positively for the experience.

I was an Eagle Scout... OMG, the things I could tell.

I was in Boy Scouts for about 3 months (maybe 3rd,4th, or 5th grade?). When they promoted a bunch of us to "Weblo", I said "maybe you do, but I don't," and never went back.

I went to a week-long "detective" camp. It was lame and boring.

I guess I've always been a loner douche-bag...

Griff, I'm glad you got the progeny squared away. I'm gonna make some more general camp comments:

I went to traditional camps as a kid and hated, hated, hated almost every minute of it. I was sick a lot of the time, I wanted to be left alone, but I had to do fricken "activities." Just like Wednesday Adamms.

On the other hand, my kids went to Girl Scout Camp and loved, loved almost every minute of it.

A lot of it depends on the kid's personality and factors beyond your control. Camps are also expensive. Scouting camps are a good value, generally. Speciality camps, like Griff's fencing thing, are often quite expensive. Griff's lucky, too because there's a choice. In my benighted area of the world, the pickings are slim.

I'm interested to hear why no camps in the UK. I wonder why?

We sent our oldest to Outward Bound one summer and she loved it.
http://outwardbound.com/
It is for older kids and adults. It helped her grow up quite a bit. They did a 10 day sea kayak trip at the Outerbanks in NC.
http://outwardboundwilderness.org/ac..._kayaking.html

I would recommend this for any parent who can afford it.

I was a venture scout. In a co-ed unit. We went to camp regularly :D

I went to a camp one summer,2 weeks away from home if I remember right

Me and my brother both went...... It was a religious camp and I remember on the 1st day they were passing out grape juice and bread and said it was Jesus.. I was scared and didnt wanna drink or eat the bread...... (They didnt make me (I have since been to a church and they were doing that one day.... I TOOK THE BREAD AND ATE IT QUITE FAST...... I love Jesus and im not afraid of him.......))

Now I look back on it... I loved that camp we went to.......One night my bunk stayed in a cabin in the deep woods and it rained quite hard!!!!! (Loud thunder,etc) Thankfully we were under good cover...... That next morning we had CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES!!!! (mmmmmm)

I wonder if that camp is still open these days........ It was indeed fun....... I went to a couple thru my younger years but that one was the most memorable..........

At the time, did you live in the city or the burbs?