Child Care for older kids!

[flyingsaucer123]

Where is the provision for older kids who need childcare, I am a single mother and I think that 11 years old is too young to be left without supervision. Isnt the most important thing for a child is to have someone around to at least partially to supervise them. Private schools have provision until about six o clock, even if it means the kids are just mucking around on the school grounds with their friends, watching suitable telly or made to do their homework for a period of time. Teachers say they wont do it but surely it only needs paid people that most people would be willing to pay for. I dont understand what one is meant to do in the holidays unless you have a big house where you can then get an aupair. It dosnt just effect single parents but also poorer parents where both are working.

Holiday clubs and sporting courses do exist for older children in the holidays. Our secondary school keeps their library open after school for an hour or two so that children can do their homework before heading home a little later. I suspect the lack of provision is, in part, caused by the lack of demand. Most of us (and I'm a single parent) are only too happy to see the back of crippling child-care costs.

Flyingsaucer, I was in a similar position, when my son was 12 - 15, and when he doesn't have a job it's the same now, even though he's 16. I hated leaving him alone for nine or ten hours a day, five days a week in the holidays, but had no alternative. It wasn't because I thought he would burn the house down - although he did have some rather unruly friends, who would come round whenever they heard there was a 'free' house and create havoc. It was more that if his friends were on holiday, after a week or so he would start getting lonely and morose and fed up with no company, no money and 'nothing to get out of bed for'.

When he was younger, he would go to holiday clubs, football clubs and stay with family. Unfortunately his cousins grew up and left home, and he had no-one to go to. The only thing I could do was take three weeks' unpaid leave during the summer - and I was lucky I could do that - which broke it up a bit for him.

Actually, this is something I have pondered for many years! There are several possibilities, including adventure/survival-type hollidays and charity shop volunteering work, but none of these suited my son, mainly because his friends' families couldn't afford them and he didn't want to go on his own. The volunteering work wasn't 'cool' - although he donates regularly to charity and feels strongly about supporting various causes.

What I think would have been a good idea (in the days when there were jobs for young people) was if the school could have extended their work experience programmes to include 14-year-olds and if they could have run them for a couple of weeks in the holidays, instead of during term-time.

As far as the 12 - 15 group is concerned, leaving schools open for longer, so that kids could do their homework under the supervision of paid local sixth-formers or uni students, would kill several birds with one stone. However, it would probably have to be made compulsory, because if not, it would not be 'cool' ...

Our primary school takes secondary children up to 13 or 14 at the afterschool and holiday club. The sports centre has a holiday club for older children. Other than that it would have to be a child minder. My older boys do a couple of activities after school which fills a couple of hours.

My son refused to go to after school club - which he loved - when he got older, because he said he was too old.

I think most kids who are in secondary would HATE the idea of childcare. It is an issue though for some parents who've got kids who cannot yet be trusted to be left at home.

I've long argued that perhaps we should be extending the school day. So keep academic time as they are but 3.30-5pmish is optional for parents & kids. The focus changes to activity based lessons like sports, even stuff like Chess, choir whatever. Especially with sports, this would help kids get fitter and healthier too.

OK you could argue who will pay for this? But at least part of this could be offset by no longer needing to pay a fortune to parents via tax credits to subsidise childcare and also parents no longer have the headache of childcare when considering employment.

But if it was optional, you'd lose most of the 13 - 16 year-olds, straightaway!

And a lot of parents would not want it to be compulsory, especially for younger kids.

However, the thought of one and a half hours a day of useful, possibly even fun, productive, supervised activity for teenagers, provided at their school - well it would be a dream come true.

i meant optional from the parents point of view. So if myself as a parent decided I'd rather or was able to do something else with my child from 3-5pm then that's my choice.

But if I decided because i wanted to work that I couldn't be around then NG junior would stay behind at school doing extra stuff.

Similar problem here. My DC at 10 and 12 are the oldest at holiday clubs round here. I'm dreading next year because they won't want to go. I have brokered the idea of PGL for next year but they don't want to go away and I wouldn't send them if they didn't want to go. There is definately a need for care for older kids round here.

To be honest od not really care wether or not my cild hates the idea of being looked after he will not roam round the streets with his mates

So its either hoilday club which he loves swimming,rock climbing, street dance Ect or off with nanny walking her yorkie and eating tea cakes with her ageing friends and she live is the sticks so no hance of getting back or roaming the streets