School holidays advice!

[EmMummyW02]

Hello,

I'm sure this has been asked a million times before but I am struggling for child care for my 13 year old R during the Easter/ Summer...I know some May say he is old enough to be on his own but I just think leaving him to his own devices for too long is going to be lonely for him!

We have the usual grandparents and seeing friends as options but a summer camp was suggested to me by another mum and I wanted to know if anyone had any previous experience/ advice on them? My friend used ATE Superweeks and if I'm honest it sounded like something I would have LOVED as a child - crafts, games, songs etc but I know there are other providers out there! I am tempted to bite the bullet and book him on a week as there are varying themes and I know he'd get stuck in on the wild things week with all the outdoor adventures/ bushcraft type activities. A part of me doesn't want to send him away for a week but that's my worry not his ha ha! Any advice/ recommendations I would be very grateful for!

Thank you in advance...

E

PGL do a watersports trip to France that looks fab. My DS has been with PGL before (but not abroad) and had a fab time, I would really recommend them.

My DS is 13 and like you I wouldn't want to leave him to his own devices for the whole of the hols (I don't mind the odd day or two here and there).

My DS loves drama and has just found out that he has got a place on a local drama course so that is a week taken care of.

Good luck

I did not leave mine at home all day when he was 13. He went to PGL and had a great time. I also booked time off work and he went to grandparents. Sports activities are good if you can trust him to go on his own.

Also swapping with other parents. I had a friend who was a teacher and she would have my son with hers for a couple of days and I would do the same for her at half terms as she had to work then.

This is the first year for me with absolutely nothing available. DSs are 14 and 13. Last year they were still able to go to the Out of School care facility that they have used since they were 5. They only have a licence up to 15 and DS1 turns 15 just at the beginning of the summer - DS2 would be able to go but it seems pointless if I need to make arrangements for DS1 - It's not that local so means a fairly long drive.

I absolutely trust them to be at home, but neither is that social so they would literally get out of bed at 8am and spend all day on their computers/consoles without washing/dressing or in DS1s case, eating!

My OH gets more holidays than me so he has managed to get our family fortnight and an additional week off work so that just leaves 4 weeks o fill. I've suggested PGL for a week but they are not interested. They were supposed to be going to Spain with scouts for 2 weeks but that's not happening now. I'm going to try to do some working from Home and some shorter days in the Office to be around to prod them into some sort of action. We dont have any relatives they can go to.

Often Sports centres do some activitys that may go up to 13/14?

PGL is good - my DD loves it. There are lots of residential/day summer camps but PGL has imo been the best in the UK. I use another in France but it's specialist, small, and booked up by October the year before.
I don't leave my early teen alone all day every day - or any day - yet, but if she does a day camp it's fine for her to wait alone from it finishing ot me getting home.

A friend of mine hired a student teacher a couple of days a week last year.