Fourth Grade Camp

I had not heard of the camp concept included in a public school setting until moving here. Summer camp or scout camp or maybe even a select group or club from school camping, but at our elementary school it is the whole fourth grade. Almost 3 hours away at a camp with counselors, cabins, canoes, archery, rock wall climbing, team building activities, bonfires, skits, the whole nine yards.
When E was in 2nd grade and I first heard about the idea of a sleep-away camp for nearly a week with his class I thought: no way, never, he simply won't be able to do it.
In third grade he successfully slept over at friends' houses and I thought: maybe he would be OK at camp, for a night or two.
When the move came up over the summer I thought: maybe we will be gone by camp time.
Fourth grade is here and we have had our parent meeting and filled out the forms and the students have seen the slide show about camp and heard stories from their teachers and older friends and I think E is going to have the best week ever next week! I am so glad we are still here so he can experience camp! Fourth grade is the right age for this kind of activity. Independent enough to handle 3 nights away, but not yet into the sneaking around and interested in girls. Nobody is going to be concerned about how they look or what they are wearing (because if it turns cold and rainy, you wear what you have to for comfort and survival); with older kids that would be a problem. They are also receptive to trying new activities. E is excited about the whole experience, but seems especially keen on trying archery and wants to show what he knows when they canoe (canoe is not the same as kayak which I tried to explain). Part of me is concerned that he will be that far away, but I know he has at least 2 teachers on the trip who love him and will watch over him as well as many parent volunteers.
So this weekend we will be labeling all his gear and making it fit in the smallest amount of space possible. I can't wait to see him and hear all about his experiences and see his pictures when he returns. I have even offered him a guest blogger spot on this very blog to tell about camp--not sure accept the invitation.
love and hugs, B