Our 5th graders do a three day/two night camp at a local YMCA camp. IT WAS WONDERFUL!! the kids really bonded and I got to know so many other kids.
The only BIG trouble was getting chaperones - many of them work - some moms wouldn't come because they couldn't live without makeup/hair dryers (looking good for 5th graders?!?).
Since we were canoeing, hiking, etc, the chaperone/student ratio had to be fairly low - We tried for a 1:7 ratio. Kids who didn't follow the rules were sent home (really!)
The fundraising to get there was a challenge too, approx. $75 per kid.
If you can do this DO IT!! you won't reget it. Many of the kids that I camped with had never been away from their families before, as well as never been outside the city limits. Many did a lot of growing up in those three days. It was very memorable.
We have all our 4th, 5th and 6th graders do outdoor education trips. The 4th graders did a three day, two night trip. The 5th and 6th graders did a four day, three night trip. It's been a tradition at our K-6 school for about 10 years in for form or another. We are in Calfiornia and the parents argued this year to keep the trips! We didn't want to give them up!
Another vote for the Ecotarium here.... (I grew up in Millbury, and go back twice a year or so. My kids love it there--at the Ecotarium, that is.) The other suggestions from yearbookmom sound good, too--you might want to check with some Boy Scout troops in your area to see where they go.
Out of curiousity--I guess I would let my 4th grader do it, but I've never heard of a 4th grade doing an overnight field trip. Is that common around there? It seems like, if nothing else, just a longer day trip would be a lot less expensive. Is the idea for them to get two full days of stuff in? If so, Worcester's a good bet--the Art Museum there is excellent, and there is also Higgins Armory (although I haven't been there in probably 20 years+).
Hi- I live in Mansfield. Our fifth graders do an overnight at the Museum of Science in Boston every year. They used to spend a few days and nights at Horizons for Youth, which is in Sharon, I think, but that was stopped a year or two ago. I believe the fifth graders also have an overnight at school- with boys sleeping in one room like the gym, the girls in another large space. I don't know what they do to fill the time- my kids aren't that age yet.
I also volunteer for Girl Scouts, so I'm aware of a lot of other overnights that scouts can do and I assume classes would be able to do the same ones. Roger williams Zoo, Boston childrens Museum, Ecotarium in Worcester, Plimouth Plantation, and Battleship Cove in Fall River all offer overnight programs.
Not sure how I would feel with my 10 year old little girl going on an overnight field trip. I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to my kids but.... that's asking a lot a parents to trust other adults they may not know over night with there kids. What is wrong iwth the normal all day field trips? We had a couple this year that were from 7:30am until 4:30pm. I feel theses were long enough no reason for the over night in my eyes. Sorry this may not have been the info you were looking for. I agree that if you pull this off that the chaperones would have to be screened with a FULL background check. GOOD LUCK : )
Hi! I grew up in that area (ever hear of Uxbridge?) and a good friend of mine works at the Ecotarium in Worcester. Apparently, they do lock-ins for all kinds of groups. I don't know the cost, but on a side note...you are going to have to consider chaperone issues. Will they all be screened? Will a parent need to accompany the child? Just my random thoughts...
