https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 08 May 2026 21:40:38 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754459 Mon, 03 Jul 2017 09:01:59 +0000 mediagirl 2754459@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went for 2 weeks when I was 8 or 9 to Girl Scout sleep away camp. It was a horse riding camp and we got to ride horses, swim in the lake, play games, etc. It was amazing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754362 Sun, 02 Jul 2017 16:58:19 +0000 2littlepumpkins 2754362@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travellingbee: I didn't even know this was a thing. I could see sending maybe a ten year old give or take a couple years but a five year old?? My 4.5 year old wouldn't want to be gone that long anyway. Later on I could see a couple of weeks maybe.. I can't imagine 4-8 weeks. That just sounds like parents on vacation to me! But not worth the prices I'm seeing here.. who has 10-20k just laying around for that anyway? I must be missing something... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754319 Sun, 02 Jul 2017 12:13:22 +0000 petitenoisette 2754319@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went to sleep away camp two summers for two weeks , I think the summer I turned 12 and 13. It was fun but a lot of the kids had already been going for years by then so I definitely felt a bit like an outsider (but I'm prone to that feeling anyway). My grandparents paid for it; my mom and her siblings had gone to the same camp when she was a kid! </p> <p>I would definitely consider sending my kids but I would want to start at an earlier age (9-10) and would prob only do 2 weeks. I have the summers off so it seems less enticing to send my kids away for a lot of it! But I think it would be a wonderful experience for them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754317 Sun, 02 Jul 2017 11:49:23 +0000 ShootingStar 2754317@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Have you checked out YMCA camps? Our local one has a bus stop on my way to work and with our discount it's $165/week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754268 Sun, 02 Jul 2017 08:22:04 +0000 Anagram 2754268@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did church camp that was sleep away camp for a week every summer, and then did long 2 month mission trips in foreign countries once I got to middle school.</p> <p>So I'm not against sleepaway camp.... it's just that even the day camps that bus the kids in are so expensive where we live. My upstairs neighbor is sending her 5 year old to one that is popular in our town and I checked the price for future reference and it's more than 1k a week! It's over 9k for the whole 8 week summer session. So two kids would be 16k for summer with sibling discount. That's crazy.</p> <p>I have another friend that is sending her 4 year old out to a bussed camp and it's 1.25 hours each way but cheaper. Only 6k for the whole summer. So 12k for two with that long commute on a bus for kids. Just....sigh. We'll see. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754232 Sat, 01 Jul 2017 21:37:21 +0000 periwinklebee 2754232@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went to church camp when I was maybe eight or nine. All I remember was having to make a cross out of hundreds of burnt out matches, which I found terrifying because I didn't like lighting matches, and getting bit by a zillion mosquitos. I hated it and didn't go back. The only camps that people went to where I grew up were church camp and campfire girls/boys camp, which was mostly a daytime thing with occasional overnight opportunities. Neither were expensive, I think they were mostly used as affordable childcare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754213 Sat, 01 Jul 2017 19:53:56 +0000 avivoca 2754213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just church camp and mission trips. It was so much fun! I would definitely like to send my kids when they get to middle school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754197 Sat, 01 Jul 2017 17:58:15 +0000 Cole 2754197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I always loved the idea but never went, I spent know anyone who did other than maybe a 2-3 night sports camp or girl/boy scouts for a week. Here it's super common, it's like the two weeks after school gets out there are kids everywhere everywhere and then they all disappear! Then the week before school starts they are swarming everywhere again. </p> <p>We will wait until she requests to go but I admit I may plant the idea when she's 5/6 because there's a horse camp that does mother daughter weekends for 5&amp;6 year olds which I think could be fun to do together (plus she's obsessed with horses.) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754190 Sat, 01 Jul 2017 16:15:30 +0000 ShootingStar 2754190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did all sorts of overnight camps - Girl Scouts, soccer camp, music camp. The camps were usually only 1 or 2 weeks long, but sometimes I'd go right from one to the next. </p> <p>I imagine my kids will go to sleep away camp too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754125 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 22:51:31 +0000 woodentulip 2754125@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went to a girls camp for 5 years and then dance camps for a few years following that.<br /> My older daughter went for a 2 night trial at my old camp last summer and is going to their shortest real session (10 nights) this year. She is 7! I worked at a camp in ME when I was in university and found that most people sent their kids for most of the summer, while here in Ontario sessions of 2 or 4 works are common, full summers normally only once someone is in a full LIT program!<br /> Sending one kid for 10 nights is pricey--sending both of ours for 4 weeks will be...near impossible! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754119 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 22:31:53 +0000 mrs.shinerbock 2754119@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went to one that was 4 weeks long starting when I was 7 yrs old. It was the same one my mom went to when she was young. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp/page/2#post-2754076 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 18:53:14 +0000 Alba4 2754076@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChiCalGoBee: small world! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754075 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 18:48:23 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 2754075@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alba4: Then I know the camp you went to, even though it's different! We were on Halls Lake. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754072 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 18:36:41 +0000 Alba4 2754072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChiCalGoBee: nope. Post Mills, VT- Lake Fairlee </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754062 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 18:03:58 +0000 misolee 2754062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>yes, I went starting at age 9 for several years once a year. It was like sleep in cabins in the middle of the woods type of camp. Think Parent Trap. </p> <p>I would send my children, maybe not at 9 but at an older age. I do feel the experience and things learned at a sleepaway camp is something you can't experience outside of camp and it's good for development. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754029 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 15:15:15 +0000 travellingbee 2754029@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alba4: oh my brother did go to Boy Scout camp! Philmont? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754025 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 15:07:58 +0000 PawPrints 2754025@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My summer camp was a completely formative experience for me and influenced my career path. It was immeasurably important as a part of my childhood. It is expensive though. I went to one camp for one week per summer starting at age 10, then switched to a much better 2-week camp when I was 13. I was a counselor for one summer at age 15. </p> <p>I couldn't justify the cost of 4-8 weeks for DD, but I hope to send her to sleepaway camp when I feel like she's old enough. Probably will wait until she's 10 like I was. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754019 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 14:50:05 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 2754019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alba4: There's a chance we went to the same camp 😬. Newbury, VT?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754005 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:49:14 +0000 fancyfunction 2754005@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alba4: I'm in Westchester too and a ton of people I know with kids old enough send them to sleep away camp. Some kids left the day after school got out!<br /> I never did it and would only consider sending my kids if it was something they really wanted to do. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754003 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:42:53 +0000 Alba4 2754003@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It is very common here in NY (Westchester). I grew up in northern NJ and went to an all-girls sleep away camp in VT for 4 weeks from age 11-15. I loved it!</p> <p>My husband is from upstate NY and went to Boyscout camps.</p> <p>I don't really plan on pushing the idea of sleep away camp unless my boys show an interest. It's crazy expensive. But then again I had an amazing experience (it was a character-building camp with lots of girl-power). We'll see. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754001 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:37:36 +0000 travellingbee 2754001@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hellobeeboston: oh gotcha! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2754000 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:31:49 +0000 nana87 2754000@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up in the Midwest and went to a few different sleep away camps starting in middle school. 2 orchestra camps and one run by my city's YMCA. I liked each one the first summer but not the second lol, I never went more than 2 summers per camp. And always only 2-3 weeks. I spent more summers at day camp, starting in early elementary and for more weeks of each summer </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753995 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:26:10 +0000 hellobeeboston 2753995@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travellingbee: I more meant like when we're not paying for full time care year round... it might be easier to save up! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753972 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:00:08 +0000 LuLu Mom 2753972@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I used to go to 4-H camp (such a country kid) and it was like 4-5 nights away, and then in high school I did sports camps like cheer and volleyball that were overnight at a local college. Never longer than a week - I think that would have been tough! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753969 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:58:41 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 2753969@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travellingbee: Overnight camp was my "home away from home" each summer. I initially went for one session (2-4 weeks depending on the camp) when I was younger, but by middle school I'd go most of the summer. By that point I was a C.I.T/Junior Counselor/Counselor so I was on staff. The relationships I made with friends there last to today, and it really helped me learn how to live with people each day, even if we had vastly different personalities. Plus there was zero technology and, in this day and age, I think that's a huge pro for kids to be unplugged! I very much hope my kid will be able to go and have similar experiences. However, the costs now are astronomical so I'm sure that will impact if and when he goes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753933 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:05:32 +0000 travellingbee 2753933@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hellobeeboston: geez 3500 for three weeks is WAY more than I'm paying in childcare now! We pay 2000 a month for both kids! </p> <p> I guess it just depends on where you grew up in the Northeast. The area I grew up in was a very middle-class area so I guess it just wasn't a thing because it was expensive. Plus we all lived in the country anyway so we weren't exactly escaping the city to go to the country. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753930 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:00:58 +0000 hellobeeboston 2753930@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up in the Northeast and I went away to sleep away camp when I was about age 11-14... I loved it! I would go a month at a time...</p> <p>I would love to send my boys when they're older, if we can afford it. I know it's pricey, so hopefully we will be able to swing it. HEY, its way less than the childcare I'm paying now, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753929 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 11:55:58 +0000 snowjewelz 2753929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travellingbee: I'm in the NE and sleep away camps are super popular; when I was growing up and now that I'm raising kids. We have never gone ourselves and I'm not sure if we will ever have enough money to send them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753915 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 11:34:41 +0000 Finfan 2753915@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went for 4 weeks the summer after I turned 9. It was a blast. I went for a couple weeks for the next few summers and then I started doing travel sports camps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-away-summer-camp#post-2753890 Fri, 30 Jun 2017 10:42:24 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2753890@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went camping with my Girls Scout troop 2-3 time, but those were weekend trips. As a teen I camped for a week with Young Life and I had a blast.</p> <p>Sleep away camps were normal where I grew up, but I don't think my parents really knew about it. A friend of mine was a counselor during college summers and she said The kids have so much fun. </p> <p>I could see agreeing to let LO do it when he's at least 8 and just for a week or two. Convincing DH it is safe would be a challenge. </p>