Holiday clubs for a 12 year old?

[ivegotdreadfulpmttoday]

First summer holiday since going to secondary school for my DS - he doesn't want to go to holiday clubs but I feel it would be irresponsible to leave him at home alone all day, five days a week. What do others do?

I’m just over a year away from being in the same situation as you. I’m a single mum and work part time and at the moment my son goes to a childminder a couple of days a week after school and holiday club during the holidays (which he enjoys). When he starts secondary school if I keep my current work times it will mean him being at home alone for an hour 2 days a week after school. He will be older by then and getting the bus to school so expect I’ll be comfortable with this when the time comes.

I don’t know what I will do about the school holidays though. The options I have would be for him to go to a holiday club full time or attend an activity that takes up half or most the day and could drop him off on my way to work and he travels back early afternoon and meets me when I finish work. Luckily work are quite flexible with my hours and I do my hours over 4 days in the holidays (and obviously use my annual leave) so I’m trying to decide how best to work this when he does move into secondary school.

I’m not sure I would be comfortable leaving him home alone all day at 11 or 12 and if I did I would switch the wifi off and be checking on him every hour or so. Sorry I can’t be of more help but am also interested in what other people do as I’m already thinking about what to do when the time comes.

I leave DD (12) home alone but I'm only a 20 min walk away, my DM lives round the corner and DS (16) is sometimes around. I think she'd be horrified at the thought of going to clubs or camps etc at her age. We got Netflix as a babysitter and she caught up on lots of boxed sets last summer!

There are som holiday clubs which have specific secondary age sections (about age 11-14ish). Are there any near you, and if so is there any way to persuade him to attend?

Other things to look for would be sports camps (try the local council website as well as primp ate providers) and always check before you sign up that they allow older children to go home alone.

Accept now that you may not be able to cover all day every day, and ensure he's good with keys and acts responsibility when locking up or letting himself in.

How much leave are you going to be able to take? Because if you have some when you're going to be at home (rather than away on holiday), see if you can arrange a child swap and you have a friend those days in return for offloading yours idc.

Unjudgemental,

My DS is in year 7 now. I was worried about leaving him after school but he has been fine. He has his own key (on a lovely football keyring) that he keeps in his blazer pocket. He has to get the school bus to and from school so he gets home at 4.20pm. I have worked 3 days a week for the last 12 years but recently went full time so now 5 days a week. I am often finished at 4pm so I get home just after him (his dad is home early if he has been on early shift). We do, sometimes, have to allow him to let himself in. We have also started leaving him for an hour or two while we nip to the shops. He is not allowed to use the cooker or answer the door.

So far, this year, we haven't needed hardly any childcare in the holidays but when we do need childcare I send him to the childminder. His 8 year old sister still goes so he has to go with her. He hates going all day though but, luckily, due to DH's shifts he usually only has to go 3-4 hrs max. As for summer, DH has 3 weeks off this summer (the first time EVER) and I have 2 of those when we are taking a family holiday. The other 3-4 weeks I have taken annual leave for a couple of days each week and DH has rest days on some of the other days. So, luckily, they are only at the childminders for 4 days for 4 hours.
DS also goes to a football academy on a weekend but they do school holiday camps (only for 3 hrs a day). These are held close to the childminders house so I have said he can go to one and walk over to the childminders house afterwards.
It's amazing how fast they become more independent once they are at secondary school. He even went into town (on a public bus) on Saturday with 2 of his friends. They had pizza! We have a new cinema opening soon so I am hoping he can go there with a pal sometimes. Or, swimming. It is a very difficult age! He is definitely maturing and wants to do more things himself.
He has a mobile and can keep in touch if needed.