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Choosing "grade level" for summer camp?


4KookieKids
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In all things physical (i.e., sports) as well as creative (arts, music, etc.), we register our kids as what they are according to the Dept of Ed. But when you register your kid for an enrichment program in an area where they're accelerated (i.e., math, science, etc.) do you still put them at their "official" grade level, or do you compromise somewhere between their academic level and where their peers would be? I don't want them to be stuck with a bunch of older kids where they won't fit in, but also suspect they'd be bored with the content of the ones with all their peers (my kiddos want to do a science/math/tech day camp over the summer).

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I tend not to do them unless the staff knows DD and suggests a placement. Usually they want to place her by age, even if it's officially by grade, and that just doesn't work for Math/science unless the camp is really focused on kids gifted in those areas. A lot of academic camps here end up being more remediation than enrichment.

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A lot of those camps here have a range of grades, so I tend to put my kids in if they're at the bottom of the range - e.g. put my 3rd grader in the 3rd-5th grade camp, but not my 4th or 5th grader in the 3rd-5th grade camp (and my kids already are young for grade because of their birthdays). Though I'm not rigid about that.

 

Other than that, you could do camps through CTY and stuff like that, but we don't have any of those near us and they're expensive.

 

ETA: I'm thinking of camps by, say, the local science museum, which are just fun and science-y. You'd want to make sure that they're not some sort of remediation thing like dmmetler says.

Edited by luuknam
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If they're Mad Science, those worked well with DD going up about 2-3 grade levels (so she did the 6th-8th grade ones as a young for grade 4th grader). However, we started with them when she was 5, and they made the choice to bump her up to the 2-4th grade group almost immediately, which made it easier. I think she did every single unit they had available.

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My local YMCA did not have a problem with me bumping my oldest boy up for Lego Robotics. He has always been mistaken for at least two years older so the parents didn't realize he is "underage". A kid that was small for age was asked by a waiting parent how old he is. It is very competitive here among the parents so if it is obvious a child is underage, parents would complain about why the underage child is allowed. Also there was more swearing in the older age group by participants. My kids are used to hearing high school kids swearing the F swear word so they just tune the swearing out.

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My local YMCA did not have a problem with me bumping my oldest boy up for Lego Robotics. He has always been mistaken for at least two years older so the parents didn't realize he is "underage". A kid that was small for age was asked by a waiting parent how old he is. It is very competitive here among the parents so if it is obvious a child is underage, parents would complain about why the underage child is allowed. Also there was more swearing in the older age group by participants. My kids are used to hearing high school kids swearing the F swear word so they just tune the swearing out.

What do you think would've been the response to a child who looked the right size but was immature? My oldest is large enough and smart enough, but had some social issues (ASD) and it's unclear right now which is more important to him: social relations or robotics. His subjects skills stick out a bit among peers, but I Worry he'll be more lonely among older kids.

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What do you think would've been the response to a child who looked the right size but was immature?

It depends.

Are you looking for a class that is for age 8 and above? For some reason that I didn't ask, the classes tend to expect 8 year olds and up to be independent while I need to sign in and sign out my kids if younger.

What is the student to instructor ratio? My kids class has 3 instructors to a maximum of 12 kids. They also have volunteer staff to escort the younger kids to the restroom and back. The camp was hosted at a public elementary school.

 

I'll ask what their underage policy is before asking about potential behavior issues.

 

The main meltdown trigger was sharing a Mindstorm set. My kids class has two students sharing one set but my older boy's partner for one class hogged the set. He ended up using the main instructor's set as he chose to sit right in front of the instructor. My younger boy would have cried if his partner has hogged the set, they put out more sets for the younger group probably because of sharing meltdowns.

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When dd was little, I generally signed her up for groups where she was on the youngest end of a range. She is already young for her grade (born 6 weeks before grade cut-off), so she is almost always the youngest in the room. In grade 5, I sometimes bumped her up to a grade 6 group, if it was knowledge-based and she had the pre-reqs, but around age 10, dd became much more age conscious, and she does not like to be grouped with older kids/teens. She would do something for grade 6-8, but would no longer do something for grades 6-12, because that age range is too wide. 

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I think generally if you're doing camps that are related to computer stuff, chess, etc., these tend to attract kids who are advanced in those areas compared to age peers.  Also, camps tend to be designed for "fun" and social interaction more so than school.  Therfore I would choose the level that fits my kids' age-grade level or very close to it.  (That said, my kids are young for grade....)

Edited by SKL
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