What are you doing for childcare in year 7?

[TaptheCap]

Off the back of another thread...

Lots of people on thread saying they wouldn't leave kids under 13 alone all day (like a working day). So what do in the holiday?

Obviously if you work from home this isn't an issue! But we'll have at least 2 days a week where we are both needed in the office. Holiday clubs are for primary age only.

AIBU to think it's a difficult age?

Sports holiday clubs often go up to high school age near me, you wouldn’t get older teens there but 11/12 is pretty normal.
Im just using annual leave so far

They stay home and game/entertain themselves in between going out with friends.

Mine stay at home or see friends at that age.

Yeah I've checked and they definitely don't here. Can find one that goes past year 6 except for one that caters for up to 14 with EHCP (which doesn't apply to us).

My friend has a young teen, they take turns with other parents to be at home and that home is the base for the kids for the day (although in reality they hardly see them anyway).

I wouldn't have wanted mine home alone all day ay that age. I was lucky because I work term times. But it is tricky as they are too old for most holiday childcare.

If I just had theYr 7 he would stay at home on his own. But there is a Yr5 sibling, so both will go to GPs on my office days (I wfh several days)

It’s pretty naughty to do this, but I’m a swim teacher, and will quite often see a 10 year old kid ish playing in the pool the entire day. Parent pays the £5 entry fee, drops off at 9 and comes back at 5pm to pick up. Cheapest childcare around!

DD is doing camps for dance and musical theatre over half term. Not so much childcare as a useful activity (they go once a week already) and a fun place to hang out with friends. She's mature enough to be left on her own (and will be travelling to the course on her own by public transport) but I don't want her to be stuck indoors on screens for 8 hours.

My daughter as a 6th former used to sometimes do childcare for a year 7 girl. They just used to hang out, draw, play board games, watch telly, maybe go bowling or to the beach or for a bike ride. Because she was closer in age it felt more like an older friend than childcare.

Reciprocal childcare with another family, the kids hang out, give them money for a Tesco meal deal or take a packed lunch.
Some football or sports holiday clubs run 8.30 or 9 to 3 and go up to age 12. Kids can walk to and from the club by themselves, or I did a short day and I also swapped with other mums to pick up their kids from the sports club so that we could take turns working a full day.
Mine also volunteered for a morning or afternoon at the local library or charity shop. Again money for sandwiches and then just the rest of the day at home.
We had a shared location on their phones and were under strick instructions of going straight home and to stick to agreed plans for the day. They text if they wanted to do something different, they didn't argue and were sensible. My kids were actually really cooperative. And I worked locally so they could walk to my work if needed.
It's really hard. I basically swapped childcare with 2 other mums, we all worked part time and managed using mine and my husband's holiday too.

Can't do that at our pool, you have to book and only get a 1 hour session for £4!

Yeah my younger one will go to holiday club.

They leave their child alone at a swimming pool for 8 HOURS? What do they do, sit in the changing room to eat lunch or something? That child my really like swimming.

I'm taking some days off, my husband will take some days off and he can stay at home. I'm only a 5 minute walk away and it's only 5.5 hours a day which he's done before (I think last time it was 5 hours just before the summer holidays because he was off sick)

It's part of the reason why until my youngest is in year 7 I'm not looking for a job further away or with more hours. I like knowing that they can walk to come and see me just for something to do and so I can see they are ok. They already pop in on occasion when I'm at work and my husband is at home so it's nothing new.

He has a ton of friends on the same estate too so he's going to be absolutely fine. He's capable of cooking simple meals using the toaster, air fryer, oven and kettle so I'll make sure I'm stocked up with food he can make easily.

We also have a camera in the kitchen for the cat so I'll be able to make sure he's not trying to burn the house down.

I think we are very lucky to have such a good set up.

Camps - because her extracurriculum clubs have them and she us happy to attend.
At 13 yo she is on her own at home if we have to work and nothing is going on. Really a non issue.

There are often activities advertised as sports camps, football camps, etc. What region/city are you in? It took me months to find them, it's not really advertised as holiday clubs or childcare at that age, but there is some stuff. At least where I am in the North, I went from finding none to finding 6-7 options. But most kids don't go so even word of mouth wasn't helping. I really had to dig deep in different searches.

It’s really sad. We didn’t realise at first, as one of us was working 9-12 eg and another 2-5 and it was only when we were chatting to each other we put 2 and 2 together. 8 hours is unusual so I’m not sure what she was doing for lunch; but eg 2pm till 6pm is very frequent.

Unless there's something SEN or major immaturity they should be fine on their own, maybe a phone call at dinner time to make sure they're getting on ok and someone they can contact if needs be.

Most average 11 yos will be ok to be left in the day or with loose plans around days with friends or relatives. I was home alone from 11 and so were my children. For an average 11 yo without any special needs it’s just a point of teaching them what to do in emergency situations and making sure someone could get to them quickly. Most childcare provision ends at secondary age so it is easier to teach children to be more independent.

SEN issues will obviously have a different set of challenges.

I do wonder if we are teaching children today to be more dependent than in past generations.

This. Year 7’s are SO ok alone unless you’re made them anxious. Make it about them being more independent and less about you being anxious/controlling- for their sake!!

So bizarre. Why not just leave the child at home if they can be left at a swimming pool for 8 hours? Seems less risky too.

Literally all day? What do they do for food?

You’d think it would be riskier in a pool unsupervised than home, some people think really strangely.

DH wfh a chunk of time, but also spends weeks traveling. Yes, the kids spend time at home totally alone in the holidays (and when school had a building collapse, so they were all sent home for a couple of weeks).

Rules: they need to say "hello" to me when they get up (via whatsapp) and if they go out anywhere, I need to be told. Im usually home by 4.30, so not too long - they are usually up by 8. I think it helps there are 2 of them.

Camp and take turns being home/ relative come over. Same as before! Two of my friends have babysitters in the house