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Original poster

Is it bad to send 5 year old to 4 weeks of holiday club?

32 replies

Olivegreenstrawberries · 18/10/2021 09:46

My husband and I don't have family to help out with childcare.

So for the summer I'm thinking that we both take the first and last week off work together so we can go on holiday for one of the weeks and do day trips or staycation the other week. I'd rather this than us take time off at different times and then just do basically babysitting rather than holiday family time.

This means for the remaining middle 4 weeks he would have to go to a summer club. I'm going to choose one that he will enjoy. He's not sporty or crafty so would prefer an outdoors one like a forest school.

I'm feeling bad about this. Do people usually use holiday clubs for so long? Will it feel like he hasn't had a proper school holiday? He would have to go for full days not just school times.

Thanks

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MrsRobbieHart · 18/10/2021 09:47

What do you think these clubs are for?

mayblossominapril · 18/10/2021 09:48

I’m self employed and could have taken the whole summer holidays off. I sent ds to holiday club 2 days a week. He loved it, so he’s booked in for 2 days a week in half term and every holiday going forward. There’s no reason other than convenience and that he really loves going.

Original poster

Olivegreenstrawberries · 18/10/2021 09:49

Well I thought people might use it for a week or 2 over the summer holidays and then use family for the rest.

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mayblossominapril · 18/10/2021 09:49

Oh and the first day I collected him a bit early and he told me off as he didn’t want to come home yet so now he does the full day.

TheUndeadLovelinessOfDemons · 18/10/2021 09:50

No! Both my younger 2 did it from 4yo for 6 weeks. They loved it!

Boysnme · 18/10/2021 09:51

Our kids used holiday club for weeks on end over the summer holidays. They have a great time, they well prefer it to being stuck in the house with us. Your plan sounds totally fine.

MrsRobbieHart · 18/10/2021 09:51

@Olivegreenstrawberries

Well I thought people might use it for a week or 2 over the summer holidays and then use family for the rest.

I don’t think I know anyone who has family that can provide 4-6 weeks of full time summer childcare. And tbh- why would that be different than summer club childcare? It’s all still childcare.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 18/10/2021 09:51

I'd try to find a couple of different ones rather than one, but if you have no childcare you have no choice really.

piglet81 · 18/10/2021 09:52

Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Personally I choose to break it up a bit though. We use holiday clubs (also for full days) but spread out our own leave so we have one week off all together, then DH and I each take some time off to look after DC while the other works. It helps that I work 4 days a week rather than full time, though.

Bear in mind that (unpaid) parental leave also exists - 18 weeks per child to be used before they’re 18.

MrsRobbieHart · 18/10/2021 09:53

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I'd try to find a couple of different ones rather than one, but if you have no childcare you have no choice really.

I wouldn’t unless he is hating the first one. If he stays in same club all summer he’ll make friends and get to have the end of summer party with them that they all seem to have. Rather than having to change half way through and make new friends were they have all already made their friendship groups.

Cuddlemuffin · 18/10/2021 09:53

As long as he's enjoying it you have nothing to feel guilty about. We're all just doing our best, there are no rules. Try it this summer and see how it works out for your family.

Belfastbird · 18/10/2021 09:54

We did - they loved it & moaned if they didn't get to do the full 4 weeks! Hangout with their mates all day every day - what's not to like!

CMOTDibbler · 18/10/2021 09:55

We've always split it up a bit by taking time off separately and enjoying 1:1 time as well as family time. But ds loved holiday club and was quite happy in it

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 18/10/2021 09:57

We do 1st week annual leave, 5 weeks holiday club, last few days annual leave.

DD is now 7yo, and enjoys holiday club so doesn't feel she's missing out on anything. She asked if she could quit school and just do holiday club forever this year as we tried a new one at the outdoor pursuits centre so she was kayaking, climbing, bush crafting....everyday.

SwayingInTime · 18/10/2021 09:59

I’d do one week together and then a week off each but genuinely because i would prefer that! Either way is fine as long as holiday club is definitely set up for 5 year olds properly (the ones mine went to were best of older kids I think).

SwayingInTime · 18/10/2021 10:00

I have just remembered that once we went to a party next door to holiday club venue and the youngest tried to force herself through the bars to get in so can’t have been that bad

Getyourarseofffthequattro · 18/10/2021 10:13

Ds did 4 weeks in summer just gone and he is 5. I had planned for less but one thing and other with moving jobs he ended up going more and it was fine. It was one run by a private Day nursery and it was great. We have (sort of) moved now but found another one similar here. There were lots of children that did the full 6 weeks.

Doubledoorsontogarden · 18/10/2021 10:16

Just choose a really good club or mix it up with different clubs

AegonT · 18/10/2021 12:47

My husband is a teacher so we don't need them for childcare. But we still send dd aged 6 at least one week over the Summer and she has so much fun she wishes she had more days! She started going when she was 3.

YerAWizardHarry · 18/10/2021 12:48

I previously work in out of school care and it wasn’t uncommon for us to have children from 7.30-6.00 for the vast majority of the holidays

EllieQ · 18/10/2021 12:49

We did the same

EllieQ · 18/10/2021 12:53

Posted too soon! We did the same for the past two summers - two weeks of leave (first and last week) then four weeks of holiday club in between. Like you, we don’t have family nearby who could do any childcare.

However, I did book each Friday off during those four weeks so DD wasn’t in for a full week and we could have a day out. But she would have been fine being there all week - it was just me who felt guilty about it.

HappyMeal564 · 18/10/2021 13:02

I'll be doing it. If you don't have anyone to help then thats what you have to do. No shame in it, there's no other way. Plus they will have a great time with the other kids!

antsinyourpanta · 18/10/2021 13:08

If you're worried about 4 weeks of continuous holiday clubs, I would take your leave separately from your DH so you can cover 3 weeks instead of 2. You can still do day trips with your LO.

My DH is SE and only ever takes 1 week holiday. We've had to muddle through with holiday clubs, very occassional family baby sitting, childcare swaps with friends and days out (me taking them by myself) Thankfully its a bit easier now they are secondary age.

ineedaholidayandwine · 18/10/2021 13:11

Mine went for 4 and half weeks this summer as we've had no holiday and work has been mad.
Usual plan will be she'll be 3-4 weeks and we'll do a 2-3 week family holiday. She loves being in holiday club

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