thx1138

The average length of most summer camps that I know of seems to be 3-4 weeks. There are 2 week camps and even one week camps, but with those sorts of programs I just don't think you are getting the full benefits of sending your child to camp. With one week camps especially your kid gets there and really doesn't do much the day you drop him off, gets used to the routine the first day or two that he is there and then spends that last two days thinking about the end of camp. And if there is bad weather a week of summer camp fun can quickly turn into three days spent in cabins bored. I really think two weeks is almost the minimum for the real summer camp experience. As far as the longer term summer camps that go past 4 weeks sometimes up to 8, I agree I think spending any more than a month away from mom and dad is just too much. I'm glad that where I work caps it off at 4 weeks.

Ms. Claire, as far as kids getting bored at traditional summer camps, that isn't my experience. They are doing such a wide range of activities (mountain biking, archery, marksmanship, climbing walls, high ropes, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, sports, etc) that they never really spend enough time on any one thing to actually get bored with it. That is part of the reason that traditional summer camps can run longer. Specific camps that deal with one issue or sport like wrestling camps, football camps, and I'd guess surfing camps though I have 0 experience with them tend to be shorter because after two weeks of doing the same activity all day kids will be bored with it. Also since both your boys would be first time campers 2 weeks is plenty long enough in my opinion.

As far as asking a friend to go, I've seen that work and I've seen it not work. Sometimes when you have two kids together that know each other but nobody else all that happens is they cling to each other and spend the summer lonely except for that one friend. I've also seen it where two friends would talk to each other, be glad to see each other and then go their separate ways during the day and make a whole different group of friends. I have even seen 2 kids show up friends and get in a fist fight at week 3. So I can't really recommend it one way or another. When one of the kids is already familiar with camp is in my experience when it works best, the kid that has been there before helps the new guy get to know some people and what to do and they go from there.

You said that your DS had a bit of an attitude, I wouldn't really worry about that. Some of the best behaved kids at camp who are just great the whole summer come to us with warnings about how they get in fights at school and have attitude problems. When a parent tells us something like that I've learned to take it with a grain of salt because alot of kids just act completely different at camp.