Six year-old kids at summer camp?

Emily Bazelon considers the growing ranks of summer campers who are age 9 and under in a new piece on Slate today. She’s generally interested in whether or not it’s healthy to send a son or daughter off to camp at that age and also in the sort of parents who might do such a thing. Her conclusion, in part:

“Overnight camp isn’t for every 6-year-old, but for a hearty subset, a summer sleeping on the top bunk and making God’s eyes with fellow sprites can be heavenly. The reason more children this age don’t go is that the parents, not the kids, aren’t ready.”

Read it Here

While I agree with her assertion that there are probably a lot more six-year olds who are ready to go to an overnight summer camp than parents who are ready to send their six-year olds to an overnight summer camp I think you have to look at the length, activities, and supervision situation at each camp. They really do differ greatly. I can see a 6-year old having a great time at a 5-6 day overnight camp where he or she will be spending time with 2-3 counselors at all times. Woodcraft camp is six weeks long however. That’s a friggin’ long time for a kids that young (which is why they start ‘em a few years older right?).

That said, i think my dad probably started Woodcraft at age 8 (edit: 12 actually) and while I’ve certainly heard his memories of grousing about it all the time I don’t think he’s ever said anything that amounted to “I was homesick at Woodcraft” so perhaps I’m just giving out little guys too little credit.

Any of our Woodcraft camp staff or alumni have anything to say about the youngest kids at Culver? What’s the camper/staff ratio these days by the way? Discuss.