Summer Daze
Planning Care for your Kids By Sue Dickinson
Copyright, 2004
Remember when we were girls? Remember the feelings of expectation and freedom we felt on the last day of school? The slavery to books and homework was over – and we had nothing but roller skating and bike riding to look forward to for the next three months.
Now, it is easy to see the end of the school year as nothing more than hassle and hard work. After all, gone are the days when a mom can drive blissfully off to work, waving at her children skating on the driveway, with nothing more than a few well placed phone calls to her kids during the day and the assurance that the neighbor across the street would keep an eye on them.
Instead, for many summer vacation means long days of boredom for the kids or schedules and activity plans so complicated it would take a NASA computer for mom to keep it all straight.
Are you ready for the summer months ahead? I know I’m not! Some women have kids who attend schools with built in summer programs; others attend year-round school. For the rest of us with school age children, now is the time to start thinking about how they will spend their summer.
What’s Right For Our Kids?
My memories of summer vacation are long, lazy days at the beach at my Grandparent’s house in Wisconsin. What I didn’t realize at the time was the arrangements my mom and dad had to make to transport me and my sisters up to Wisconsin from our home in Illinois, the willingness my Grandparents demonstrated to take us in, and the five hour trips my parents took every weekend to be with us during their time off from work.
Even if we don’t have a mom and dad stashed away somewhere upstate to entertain our kids for three months, we are responsible for finding care for our children that will keep them interested, happy and safe throughout the summer. And it’s not an easy job! Not many studies have been conducted on the effects of summer breaks on the development of children, but teachers have anecdotally said for years that the way a child spends her summer will effect the way she enters the school year. In other words, the time off from school can help prepare our child for the coming school year, or can hold him back.
Does that mean we have to schedule their every day from morning to night with culturally significant activities? Not at all! In fact, too much “learning” over the summer can cause a child to enter the school year already burned out. No, summer break is a time for our kids to refresh and rejuvenate. But there is a fine line - a summer with the TV clicker is probably not the solution, either, as that will most likely result in boredom.
The first step in finding the care your children need is to be able to accurately read your kids. How do they react to change? Are they self-motivated or do they need someone to push them? What are their interests? What makes them happy? What makes them anxious? The answers to these questions will help you find the childcare situation that’s best for your kids.
Younger children (under eight years old) prefer a consistent routine. This doesn’t mean you can’t add a little spice to their day with fun, summertime activities, but they do like to have a stable environment with the same caregivers on a regular basis. They love the sheer fun of summer – playing outside, swimming, themes. A summer program at a day-care center, vacation bible school or theme day camps are good options, as are in-home babysitters who will take the children on outings and do activities with them.
Elementary and early-middle school children love VARIETY! Things can get more complicated with these children, as they want to do different things throughout the summer. Various day camps with different themes (such as tennis camp one week, computer camp the next), overnight camp, and park activities or a variety of all of these activities works well with older kids. It can get very challenging finding a way to shuttle your kids around to these activities – many parents have formed co-ops with friends or pooled their resources to hire a responsible adult to carpool all of the children.
What Are the Options?
There are many different options for summer care for your kids. But, as with many things, if you snooze you lose, so start planning your summers now!
Camp:Either day or overnight camp is a great chance to develop your child’s skills and interests away from the traditional classroom methods. If you choose overnight camp, make sure your child is ready socially and mentally to be away from home. If day camp is the choice, make sure you understand the hours of the camp and can make arrangements for before and after the camp, if necessary. If you can share a caregiver with parents of other children attending the day camps, this is one way to alleviate the costs.
Centers and in-home care:This is a convenient choice for parents as the hours of operation are usually compatible with your workday and are consistent throughout the summer. Younger children do especially well with this arrangement as it offers a flexible routine withthe same caregivers. Make sure that the Center or home you choose offers plenty of outside play time and fun outings or activities that will keep the children entertained.
Relatives:This is a good choice if cost is a big concern, but there are drawbacks to this arrangement as well. Depending on the childcare skill level of the relative, they may or may not have the ability to keep your child occupied and interested throughout the day. A larger reliance may be placed on television. Your child may have little or no contact with other children. It is always great, however, for a child to develop a close relationship with their family. A relative can be a great choice for care before or after a day camp or other activity that doesn’t last your entire work-day.
Self Care:Some older children may be mature enough to care for themselves during the day. A mom has to consider carefully the temperament and self-motivation of their child before allowing this arrangement. An 8-10 hour workday is a long time for a child to be alone, and the chances of boredom driven behavior and exposure to risks (including injury, alcohol, even drugs) are higher for a self-cared for child. If you feel you live in a safe neighborhood and your child is older and responsible, perhaps self-care is an option for a portion of the day, to supplement one or more of the other care methods.
Babysitters:Many High School and College age people are also off for the summer and could be hired to babysit your children over the break. The possibility of sharing a sitter with other parents is an option that would give your children a chance to play with other kids and to lower the cost of a full time sitter.
Where To You Start Looking?
There are lots of resources for finding summer care, but the name of the game is to START EARLY!! Most cities have a child care referral which can direct you to centers and in-home centers that do summer care. Many local zoos, museums and other cultural centers have summer programs and camps for you to choose from. Check with your church for camps and vacation bible schools available and for teens or college kids who might want to baby sit. Parks and Recreation Centers often offer low-cost programs, and you local YMCA will most likely have camps and other programs available. You also might want to check out Child Care Aware (http://www.childcareaware.org/) a non-profit agency that helps connect parents to quality child care options.
No, things are not like they used to be. But we can still make the summer a time our kids will remember fondly for years to come. A little advance planning, a little ingenuity, and a lot of luck are necessary, but it can be done. Good luck!
