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Moms of middle schoolers...a childcare question!
My husband and I both work full-time outside of the home. We have a preschooler, a 2nd grader, and a 6th grader. The local daycares do not provide care for children past 5th grade, and since our house is within walking distance of the middle school, we have allowed DD to stay home by herself after school this year (usually 4pm to 6:30pm). She is very responsible and we've never had to worry. However, summer is coming up soon, and I am at a loss. Do I allow her to stay home by herself all day, every day in the summer too? Those hours would be 8am to 6:30pm, which is a long time for her to be by herself 5 days a week. What do you WM's do for your older children in the summertime? TIA!
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Re: Moms of middle schoolers...a childcare question!
Camps are a great idea - we had planned on letting her go to one for two weeks (one week at a time), but that gets pretty costly...the two I've looked at are anywhere from $200 to $400 per week!
I honestly have not found any in-home providers who are willing to take on a middle schooler.
If you have a local parks and recreation department they should have camps for the kids to attend. My friend that works sends her child to a camp that the Boys & Girls Club of America has near her home. I think that's just too long for her to be home all by herself everyday.
We may deal with this when DD is in 6th next year. The law in our state says kids need supervision until age 12, but I will probably be okay with her holding down the fort for an hour after school when she's 11 and in middle school.
However, 8am to 6:30 pm is a long, boring time to be on your own around the house ALL summer. The county recreation dept. where I live has numerous summer day camps for kids from age 5 to 17. It's pretty much a service to provide summer activity and daycare. The camps cost money, but probably less than daycare. I'd see about signing her up for a few week-long or 2 week long day camp sessions. If you do 3 or 4 weeks of camps, and go on a family vacation for a week, it leaves 3 or 4 weeks for her to twiddle her thumbs. Maybe during "no camp" weeks she can get together with friends or work as a mother's helper for a neighbor, or something a few days a week, just so she's not home alone ALL week. I think a few days at a time at home are fine, though.
I had a friend in a similar situation last summer as her boy was old enough to stay home by himself (12) but there was a younger sister (9) who the mom didn't want the boy to have to take care of by himself. Even though he was old enough and respobsible enough to stay home by himself, it would have proven to be very boring summer for him!
I ended up recommending a teenage daughter of another friend of mine who was looking for a summer job. It worked out great for all of of them. I don't know what she paid her but I'm sure it was similar to daycare which is a pretty decent pay for a 16 year old! It was really nice as she already had a car and was able to take the kids to do fun stuff like swim, parks, movies, etc.!
Good luck!