My son is a sophomore currently and now is the time for us to look for summer camps. He would greatly benefit from something that makes him feel like an “adult.” (he hates being babied) He would like a residential, live somewhere else for a week or 2 where they is a considerable amount of independence, maybe go off campus for a few hours. In past he always goes to boy scout camp and already gets the outdoor skills. He can take summer classes elsewhere so it isn’t about that. It is more just learning about something he is passionate about like stocks or AI or possibly doing team building that gives him coaching to reflect. He isn’t very social with most kids his age, but tends to connect with the more serious crowd and older crowd, he likes to talk to adults and learn things from them or hang out other like minded teens. We live in California but are willing to go anywhere in the US. Any suggestions?
There are many residential pre-college camps both in CA and around the country, suggest you start with a Google search for “ pre-college residential” + particular area of interest he has. Some are competitive to get into and some are first come first served. Prices can vary widely, some offer funding and some don’t.
Note that while they live in dorms he is unlikely to find one that gives a large amount of independence. Colleges are aware these are still teens and have restrictions on where they can go, some always have to be supervised by a program employee and others mandate a minimum number of people that can go together and how far they can go. He is almost certainly not going to be allowed to go alone off campus wherever he wants. There are also nightly curfews for being in own dorm room, have to be in dining room at mealtimes etc.
NC School of Science and Math has some really interesting summer courses, as does Duke (for HS students).
Many, many colleges host residential programs in the summer for high school students, so it’s really just a matter of finding one that has classes in his area of interest in a part of the country that appeals. These programs typically have more restrictions than you’d find at regular colleges (curfews, etc.) but most will have off-campus privileges (especially if the campuses are in cities or are adjacent to towns), so you’ll want to investigate the specifics for individual programs.
I know Operation Catapult and STEP at Purdue (competitive entry) are solid but are for STEM kids. There’s also the Advanced Space Academy in Huntsville at the U.S. Rocket Center.
I think many schools have pre college offerings but some may be longer than a week or two.
It’s really a question of general vs specific. I’m not sure which schools, from a risk management POV, will simply let teens roam freely.
Check the agendas of each.
Here’s a sample of a few:
If you are willing to let him go abroad, you might want to look at
It is in Quebec City, which is a beautiful and very walkable city. A homestay would give him a lot of independence, while also having someone making meals for him. Every homestay student gets a bus card which allows unlimited travel in the city.
A camp – as a rule – just doesn’t seem to be the thing that will teach independence, “adulting” etc. (Unless it’s some wilderness type thing like NOLS, which isn’t a camp). Is there a way to give him that responsibility and independence at home? A job? Travel? Cooking dinner 2 or 3 nights a week?
Does it have to be a college? Most of the big name boarding schools have summer programs which may be a good on-ramp. Big difference between gently supervised at 16 and free range at 19.
Any distance limitations/considerations? Lots of stuff in the Northeast. The distance may be a benefit for your goals.
Concordia Language Villages in the Bemidji, Minnesota area has summer camp sessions as well as weekends for adults in a language immersion environment. They teach perhaps 13 different languages. For HS level, there are 4 week HS credit classes. which can be used to enter college language at a higher level. Enthusiasm for the culture and language learning is the greater benefit of these programs.
I worked as a camp nurse a while back, in the Spanish Camp, to afford tuition for my twin daughters who took Japanese when younger and then switched to French to support their school language programs. The experience made them very comfortable in the language, and one is now a French teacher after getting a degree in French. My son was a reluctatant language student, but came with me one year to work in the kitchen. His attitude improved and after study and living abroad and college classes, he functions in both Chinese and Spanish.
Camp living teaches a degree of independence as well as adaptability that is a useful skill for the future.
As long as we are mentioning camps, the disaster this summer at a Texas summer camp appalled me, having been schooled in camp risk reduction and health and safety from working at the above camp. From what I heard, the Texas camp, despite the prestige was not ACA accredited, and that is something to look for in a summer camp. But am sure all camps will now be rethinking safety plans.
My son struggles with foreign language, not his thing, he is taking American Sign Language at the local college to get the language requirement met.
Within the US works. Of course the pro of Cali is cheaper and less travel time, but other states give him the opportunity to see what it is like there. No free range, I just think in past he feels overparented/over supervised. For example, we took scouts to Yosemite this summer and we let the scouts plan the activities and while he enjoyed himself he was annoyed that adults have to be involved. He wanted independence and flexibility. He enjoyed it more when we went later in the summer with a couple other families and we let the kids free roam for several hour blocks. They are 15 and road their bikes where they wanted to go, they played in the shallow river, camped in their own tent, on the same site as ours. Of course they ate with us, checked in with us, but service is spotty so he was “off the grid.” The main thing is that when he is at home he tends to just get stuck in a routine.
There are plenty of engineering camps (where I think you’d be most likely to find AI etc). In California, a friend’s kid went to one at cal poly SLO and really enjoyed it - I think that was a week-long one. UCLA does some summer programs but I believe there is an age minimum for their dorms for the residential options so you’d need to check that vs your son’s age. USC and Berkeley also have options, as does Davis which includes a specific AI-related one UC Davis Pre-College Program: AI-Empowered Learning | UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
These are just the ones I’m aware of - there are a lot all over the country and a quick internet search will likely bring up lots of options for you. Most of these will not yet have 2026 dates finalized. Applications generally open late the preceding year or early the year of the program.
The Anovers and Exeters of the world all have programs that are about a month long where they take classes, can SAT prep and visit colleges. Sounds like it may do the trick.
I need to take myself out of the equation. He does his own laundry, cleans his room, sets the table and takes out the trash. (that all goes well) When we have a family project like rebuilding a shed or yardwork he does it, but in all these instances there is nagging, arguing, etc. Not fun for any of us! He says I baby him and micromanage him and I want to let out the reins. He wants to ride his electric scooter on his own and I don’t want him to go far unless he is with a group but he doesn’t know anyone who wants to go. He isn’t super social but when he is in a group he hangs out appropriately. He tends to find an interest and he gets hooked. Right now it is golf so he goes fairly often with other people. He does need adulting. Time management is huge. He may consider a job but he is a bit funny that he doesn’t want to do what most kids first jobs are! He is only 15 now so eligible next year. He wants to get a side hustle like drop shipping or some other tech thing. He is quite capable to plan a meal with he does it with scouts, but doing it at home is a pain for all of us! I am tired of nagging and want him to get some other adult mentor/role models that may help him adult a bit. I suspect he has ADHD so all executiver tasks are a bit delayed and he needs to figure out a way to become an adult.
Not out of the country and he has no interest in foreign languages.
Thanks, lots of leads here!
What, mom and dad baby him ?
That’s just a teenager. But if you let him go and he gets lost or hurt, you’re a bad parent.
Parents of teens can’t win. We’ve all been through it
There are so many pre college programs of varying study etc - you’ll find just by searching the web.
Here’s a private CA one - doesn’t look tied to one discipline
COSMOS is not camp, it’s a highly competitive STEM program at UC campuses for a month. Maybe it’s something he would want to apply for. It definitely requires students to be responsible.
WPI has a nice mix of hands on science (mostly engineering) and humanities classes. The way you describe your son, I think he’d fit in well. And, if he does have any interest in attending WPI, the acceptance rate of kids that attend their camp is something like 90%.
If he enjoyed scouting trips, but wants something less parent driven, how about Outward Bound? Or one of the teen trip programs through places like Apogee or EF Tours.
Could he get a job as a golf caddy or working in some other golf-course capacity?
and would you be okay letting him go free-range with his scooter if you knew where he was via an AirTag or some such? Would he be okay with that?
And…won’t he have his license soon and want to drive ….anywhere / everywhere?