If you work, what do you do with your children in the summer?

Mama-Bear

I know before K they would just go to daycare, but what do you do with your 6, 7, 8, 9 year olds?  I've not worked since 6/06, I was a SAHW for a few months before I got pg with DS1, and have been a SAHM ever since.  DH's last day of work is Friday with no job lined up (no, this wasn't by choice).  I haven't really been worried about it until last night, I knew we'd be ok, but what I'm most freaked about is health insurance.  Anyway, I started thinking, what would we do for childcare before the kids are old enough to stay by themselves, but too old for daycare.

Angela814

All of the daycares around here take kids up to age 12 during the summer. They also offer before and after school care.

The last summer I worked, DD1 was in a summer camp program though the YMCA. That starts at age 4. She was also in a before and after school care program that the YMCA ran at our local elementary school.

jlw2505

The daycare we used when the kids were little has a school age summer program for kids going into K-5th grade.  We don't plan to use it but I have heard great things about the program - they do a ton of field trips and don't spend much time at the daycare building.

We do a combo of a few things - our school has a great summer program that is open from 6:45am until 6pm and they do a lot of fun things like going swimming and a ton of field trips.  You pay as you use it so we will be there off and on all summer.  The kids will do 3 weeks of daycamp through our Temple and we might do a week at the end of the summer (the school program is closed the 2 weeks before the next school year starts) of the Y daycamp.  We always do some sort of family vacation for a week of summer and we typically spend a week with my parents (they come to us or we go to them) and that is one of the weeks when the kids have no school program.  I have also had my ILs watch the kids for a day or 2 here and there but we don't use them as often.  As my kids get a little older, I have thought about hiring a nanny (college kid) for the summer other than when they are at camp or doing a nanny share type thing with a friend but for now the camp and school programs work great for us.

Jena503

I don't know of any daycare around here that doesn't offer summer care for kids in grades K-5th. Kids go to daycare before and/or after school based on their parent's work schedules and the daycare is open full days for them on school holidays - for those random teacher inservice days, for all of spring break, for all summer long.

Middle school is where it gets trickier.