I was wondering what parents do with their school aged children during the summer while they are at work. I have a 5 year old boy who is in Kindergarden and not sure what to do during the summer while my husband and I work. He no longer goes to daycare and I am a little nervous about camps not just with the cost but about what you see on the news these days. Just trying to get some ideas of what other children do during the summer.
My daughter went to Kids League in Westford last year. they are actually year round - but she went for the summer. I wanted something fun, yet educational, and their activities include both - nice, nice people as well...look into them! good luck
I sent my daughter to a camp in the woods last year (when she was entering Kindergarten) and was really nervous about it. There is a giant pool and she couldn't swim. Plus I knew there would be a lot of independance needed. Well, she excelled!! She loved it. Played all day, learned to swim, cam home FILTHY DIRTY with smelly feet and loved every minute.
Camp is great for kids. Send him. He'll love it. And did I mention the passing out by 7PM every night from exhaustion??
My daughter goes to an afterschool program in Kindergarten, and they offer summer 'daycare' that offers field trips, lunch and activities. Check with your child's school and see what daycares are available nearby.
Check out your local community center, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, etc. Most of these organizations have fun, safe and reasonably priced summer programs. Ask around at your elementary school, check with your son's classmates' parents and see what they recommend.
His school should have an After School program that runs during the
summer as well.
We used that w/my SD when I used to work outside the home.
I'd check w/his school.
In my city there are TONS of summer programs, and many of them are very very well reviewed. Many of the private elementaries offer programs, the local rec center, the YMCA, the Childrens Museum, and some of the independent aftercare programs have summer camps too. I love that my girls will be able to do all sorts of different things in summer camp - one week will focus on Dinosaurs, another is a cooking camp, then a hiking camp. So fun.
most day cares (kindercare etc) will take a 5 year old for the summer.. I would feel more comfortable with a day care than some of the summer programs for older school age kids..
many city's parks and recs have summer camps.. but they are usually for ages 5-12.. so your child would be young most school districts have camps.. for school age kids..
My daughter is in kindergarden and I will probably need some childcare this summer for her.. I will be very careful about what summer care I pick as she will be one of the youngest and I would be very concerned about her getting lost on field trips.. I also dont like her hanging out with bigger older kids..
Check out your local YMCA! My boys go to the Y every summer...they offer great programs (you can even send them to swimming lessons during the day!).
Does he have an aftercare program? Friends who use aftercare often use the aftercare's summer camp. Otherwise, can you ask his friends' mothers? Hooking your son up with where his friends will be usually works out well. There should be good reputable camps around. I know by us, some are very pricey bc they're very good.
Many daycares have summer camps. Check w/ your previous daycare about theirs. Also, some before/after programs at school have summer camp. They tend to be good ones and well vetted. Other decent options may be YMCA and some through a local church.
Either way, start looking early. Good ones are filled long before school lets out.
Most child care centers who usually have school kids have all day programs during the school breaks for kids.
They don't do as much every day as, well for instance the Y, but they do have different things they do. We took the school kids to free movies, fishing, to the parks for picnics, etc...lots of fun. I think calling and the centers in town and finding out which ones have school age programs would be the way to go.
Check out your local Boys and Girls Club to see what it offers. The lead staff members are adults, well trained and employed year long, so they are well qualified to provide fun and safe days.
When my children were that age they did the summer camps at a Montessori pre school. I really liked this set up because they had quite a few pre k kids as well as kindergartens and they were the older kids :)
The City runs a kids camp program and that is where my GD goes. They do weekly field trips, plus swimming, bowling, and lots of other activities. She loves it!
I'm not sure what you're seeing on the news, but if you consider how many children are in these programs on a daily basis, you get a sense that they are safe and that there are only a few "bad apples" out there and there is just no way to know who that "bad apple" is or where they will come into contact with a child.
My kids' after-school daycare was able to take them all day in the summers, so that's what we did until they were a little older. I think when they were about 7 or 8, and could handle the all-day activity better, we started signing them up for back-to-back day camps all summer long. We still do that and they are 10 and 12. The prices are usually comparable to what we'd pay for daycare (some are more, some are less) and they have so much more fun and get so much more out of it than they would in a traditional daycare setting. We also take our vacation in the summer, so that takes care of maybe two weeks and my MIL also takes them for the weeks when the daycamps aren't running (the week after school gets out and a week or two before the new school year begins). It's worked quite well for us so far.
I would look into a daycare setting. You could do either a homebased one or a center. Both would be willing to take your child and have activities to keep him engaged for the summer.
Good luck!
