Camp must haves- Insanity

amother

Tue, May 02 2023, 10:28 pm

Already paying crazy price for camp and now all this narishkeit about must haves for camp... I'm sick and tired of the insanity. I feel like I was born into the wrong generation. What happened to simple, wholesome people? Do they still exist??
Just venting really, I can't change the reality...

amother

Steel

Tue, May 02 2023, 11:11 pm

amother Kiwi wrote:

I’m ready to start a we don’t must send to camp movement.

Then it's on the mom to develop a structure which can be very hard.

NechaMom ↓

Tue, May 02 2023, 11:12 pm

amother Kiwi wrote:

I’m ready to start a we don’t must send to camp movement.

What would be the alternative for the teens with almost 3 months off from school?

amother

Coffee

Tue, May 02 2023, 11:24 pm

amother Kiwi wrote:

I’m ready to start a we don’t must send to camp movement.

And what's wrong with sending to camp if you can afford it? What else should girls do? It's the ridiculous things kids think they need to have in order to go to camp. I do not fall for most of them. I pick a few small things that I let them have.

Ruchi ↓

Wed, May 03 2023, 1:03 am

NechaMom wrote:

What would be the alternative for the teens with almost 3 months off from school?

Copy the system we have here in Stamford Hill, UK.
5 weeks vacation for the girls and 3 for the boys.
Families go away for 2 weeks, daycamp and sleep away camp are also for two weeks.
There are 2 weeks vacation in the winter plus a day off when its "Half Term", which is a few times a year.

This system is less pressure and more cost effective for the parents compared to the vacation system in the States.

amother

Steelblue

Wed, May 03 2023, 1:31 am

Ruchi wrote:

Summer vacation in the States (roughly July and August off, with some regional differences) is a holdover from the days when the economy was agricultural. Kids were needed on the farm in the summer, and before and after school in sunlight, which is why the school day usually went from 9 to 3.

The schedule makes no sense in a modern economy, but teachers' unions are powerful and resistant to change.

amother

Honeydew ↓

Wed, May 03 2023, 1:40 am

Israel initially started with the American system and is moving over now so that July is an extra month of school - lighter learning but still part of the school system. Right now up to I think 3rd grade and it's moving upwards.

I do think that part of it wasn't only the agricultural system but also sitting learning without AC in the city in summer was impossible. That's why people moved out to the country. Nowadays with full AC in virtually every classroom, that shouldn't be an issue.

I grew up in the UK and yes, the vacation system there is way better all round. Shorter breaks more frequently without the insanity of 8 weeks with nothing to do unless parents dish out a fortune for programs.

↑ NechaMom

Wed, May 03 2023, 2:20 am

Ruchi wrote:

That would be nice, but until that goes into effect I don’t think it’s realistic to expect that the teens skip camp unless they want to.

amother

Rose

Wed, May 03 2023, 2:23 am

I hate the summer system in the USA and lived here my whole life. Most summers end up being wasted. One year a friend and I (OOT) took some classes together so we actually gained something out of the summer. But while I don't have high school age girls now, I don't know if I would let them do that in a few years from now. I was much stronger then than most high school girls I know now. There were no concerns of me doing anything except attending classes and eating our packed lunch together. But today? Kids are not as strong, I have to say. There are more temptations and "shiny things to look at" but also girls don't know how to be in the world but protect themselves.

I work full time. I wish there was a few weeks less in the summer and give off legal holidays etc that parents are already not working. And it would be so much easier for me to take 3 days and DH 2 days off a few times per year than figuring out 2 whole weeks at the beginning and 2-3 at the end of summer.

↑ Ruchi ↓

Wed, May 03 2023, 2:57 am

NechaMom wrote:

That would be nice, but until that goes into effect I don’t think it’s realistic to expect that the teens skip camp unless they want to.

They can still go to camp

amother

Aconite

Wed, May 03 2023, 3:23 am

amother Kiwi wrote:

I’m ready to start a we don’t must send to camp movement.

I'm not kiwi but I understood her comment to me about "we don't must send -stuff- to camp movement"
I might be wrong though.
I'm from UK too and this way is definitely easier on the parents and the children too. By the end of even 6 weeks my children are more than ready to fo back to school.

Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Wed, May 03 2023, 3:33 am

Ruchi wrote:

Do they non jewish schools also have 5 weeks vacation as you stated?

↑ Ruchi

Wed, May 03 2023, 4:22 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Do they non jewish schools also have 5 weeks vacation as you stated?

They break up on 21July and go back on the 4th September. That makes it 6 weeks.

They have half term each time for a week and the heimishe mosdos only give off a day if at all.

Elfrida

Wed, May 03 2023, 4:49 am

Ruchi wrote:

They break up on 21July and go back on the 4th September. That makes it 6 weeks.

They have half term each time for a week and the heimishe mosdos only give off a day if at all.

The Jewish schools have to make up time off for the Chagim in September and for early Fridays. WE always had shorter holidays in the winter, and about a week less in the summer. Sometimes half term was a day or two, while occasionally it was a full week. In the summer they normally managed to make half term coincide with Shavuot, so it was a few days off but some of them were Yom Tov.

↑ Bnei Berak 10

Wed, May 03 2023, 4:51 am

Ruchi wrote:

They break up on 21July and go back on the 4th September. That makes it 6 weeks.

They have half term each time for a week and the heimishe mosdos only give off a day if at all.

amother

Crocus

Wed, May 03 2023, 5:12 am

Also wanted to mention the UK, it's amazing here. We have 5 weeks off, 1.5 weeks usually during the 9 days and then a few days after Tisha baav we travel or have camp, daycamp for 2 weeks, then there is another 1.5 weeks and everyone is back to school. In Stamford hill the boys only have 3 weeks off.
I really think the US lifestyle is so challenging. You just about finish camp and then they start advertising camp again.

ShishKabob

Wed, May 03 2023, 10:27 am

amother Crocus wrote:

Of course! It’s a money making business! Now waiting for those to counter that it’s a losing money enterprise. 😁