<p>I guess I just get concerned that the only activities he does are ones I force him to do. He happily does schoolwork. I can just see him at college holed up in his room or in the computer lab 24/7.</p>
<p>I didn’t really do summer programs (I worked, sort of). I did CTY one summer, but that’s it. </p>
<p>I’m in college, active, work a few jobs, get great grades, and am involved in a number of things. Maybe he’s not doing stuff because he constantly feels forced. Don’t assume that since he doesn’t do much in high school, he won’t do much in college.</p>
<p>Edit: Whoa, I just saw post 7. That’s a very packed summer. What more do you want??</p>
<p>What about a summer job? </p>
<p>The only thing we required our sons to do during the summer was to work and earn some money. They spent their down time hanging out with friends. They turned out just fine :).</p>
<p>First of all I’m not sure what kind of job he could get working only June and 3 weeks in July . I don’t see how you guys think he has a busy summer. Last year his youth minister had the group spend a couple of mornings a week going over to several elderly ladies houses and picking up limbs, redoing flower beds etc. I’m going to add to that working at either shelter or food pantry. He doesn’t want to… But I think he needs to… As far as hanging out with friends…he doesn’t have any. My middle son has a few and my daughter has TONS as well as TONS of activities. My oldest has just never been the social type…</p>
<p>Believe it or not, I know PLENTY of kids who do nothing but sit around all summer.</p>
<p>How 'bout pet-sitting? My ds makes good money – $25 to $30 a day – doing that for just a couple of customers who really like him.</p>
<p>I was another who didn’t push my DS into summer programs (although he kept getting offers including Boys State and such). His summer activities were Boy Scout High adventure camps. I’m glad I didn’t know about CC then because I would have been really worried.</p>
<p>DS is currently a freshman at an Ivy univ (HYP) and was accepted into most of the schools he applied to. He wasn’t an athlete either. His EC’s were marching band and scouts.</p>
<p>It will all work out. Let them be kids!</p>
<p>Quote:
As far as hanging out with friends…he doesn’t have any.</p>
<p>Really?? Why is that? That would concern me more than filling up a few weeks in the summer. Other than this, he seems like a normal, smart kid, more together than most at his age. But why no friends?</p>
<p>My son knew by 9th grade that he wanted to major in computer science. He had no interests or activities whatsoever in high school except online gaming, fooling around with his computer, and holding routine part-time jobs to feed his hardware and software habits. </p>
<p>He majored in computer science at our state university, went on to get a master’s degree in computer science at a similar school in another part of the country, and now has a steady job with a decent salary doing a type of software engineering that he likes very much.</p>
<p>There are those who might disagree, but I think this is a good outcome – except for the fact that he lives 3,000 miles away from where I live. :(</p>
<p>He sounds somewhat like my S, who only wanted to go to one school (where he is a current freshman and doing very well). I made him work one summer at a fast food joint part-time (he hated it). Next summer he went to a camp at CMU (Video Game Design). Last summer he did not do much but some volunteering. He liked to play video games (was online with friends often) but rarely hung out with them in person. He has found his people in college and has plenty of friends and does a few things with them - magic cards, human vs zombies, even some intramural sports.</p>
<p>Take the clue from the kid. Mine is really excited by these summer programs she applied especially the one that is about math.</p>
<p>My comp sci kid happily went to CTY camps in middle school doing math or science courses. But in high school he was not interested in math camps at all. Summer after his sophomore year he spent a few weeks taking a comp sci course at Columbia and week shadowing my brother (he is VP for a company that does web related stuff). He turned out to be quite helpful, and they ended up paying him with a gift certificate, he did some more work during holiday breaks and the company ended up hiring him freelance the following summer. He spent tons of time on his own learning Linux, exploring MIT’s open courseware, and getting involved in modifying some online games. There are lots of things to do besides camp - and they cost a lot less money too.</p>
<p>My son didn’t hang out much with friends either. Really he only had three of them and none of them shared his passion for computers or board games. Thankfully that completely changed in college when he found a large group of kids with similar interests.</p>
<p>I believe we need to stop over planning our children. Summer vacation is a luxury and one we only get in our childhood. </p>
<p>Oldest dd used to get those types of college mailings. I looked at the prices and what she would get out of the program and never sent her to one. She did go to sport camps because she loved those and wanted to stay active. </p>
<p>My younger girls want to do the kids in college thing because they like the what they are offering and we are signing them up for two camps. </p>
<p>Let the kid decide but you need to make sure they know their options.</p>
<p>I would not worry about him not getting excited about camps and stuff, or even about the variety of schools either. He sounds like he has an idea of what he wants and he is doing that. It really is OK if he just picked and applied to a few schools that are easy to get into. I wonder if it really matters where you go to get your degree with a degree such as computer science.</p>
<p>Congrats on homeschooling your gang all through the years, that is something to be proud of. I am guessing that has something to do with him not having any friends to hang out with. Although you do have some things for him set up to do during the summer, do you think he will meet any kids his age there?</p>
<p>Is there any way that you can find something close to home for him to do that will allow him to be around people his own age. Maybe he is not interested in any of the activities that you want him to do because he doesn’t have any friends to share the experience with. A lot of high school kids do volunteer work over the summer. If you could find something for him where he can meet people, it might be really good for him.</p>