Childcare for a 12 year old.

surreysaver

When I was 11 I was cookign myself dinner at home in the school holidays! I fail to understand why you need childcare for a 12 year old?

livelyred

omelette451 wrote: »

Is she generally well-behaved and trustworthy? From the start of secondary school I had a key and used to occupy myself at home till my mum came home from work. I was fairly responsible so it wasn't a problem, but I would say that 12 is easily old enough to fend for herself for a couple of hours at a time. At the very least it will teach her independence. If you're not happy with that, I'd suggest finding a local library or asking her if she has any friends she can spend the time with - most 12-year-old girls would love to be told they can go to their friends' houses that often! 'Childcare' in the sense of a paid-for service at that age is unnecessary and actually quite embarrassing for the child.

My daughter is 11 and i had to start leaving her recently as i got a new job in the NHS working 20 hrs per wk 10.00am till 2pm i try and get my daughter to look after herself most of the time which she is a grown up 11 yr old and loves being on her own and on the laptop all day.Couple of days in the school hols she will have my mum or go and stay at my sisters for a short time just to brake the wk up for her.I would off thought your child is old enough to look after them selves at the age of 12 ?

omelette451

livelyred wrote: »

My daughter is 11 and i had to start leaving her recently as i got a new job in the NHS working 20 hrs per wk 10.00am till 2pm i try and get my daughter to look after herself most of the time which she is a grown up 11 yr old and loves being on her own and on the laptop all day.Couple of days in the school hols she will have my mum or go and stay at my sisters for a short time just to brake the wk up for her.I would off thought your child is old enough to look after them selves at the age of 12 ?

Well I don't have children myself but I was certainly capable at age 12 of looking after myself at home. I was lucky in that my dad is a teacher so could look after us during the holidays, and I had grandparents nearby, but I like to think that being allowed to take responsibilty for myself at a relatively young age contributed (at least in part) to my being such an independent and self-sufficient person now. Obviously each parent knows his or her child best, but if they're well-behaved and responsible I see no reason not to leave them alone for a few hours at a time.

freebiequennie

Hello have you considered an after school nanny maybe one who has own child so would be cheaper also. That way your daughter has someone at home to look after her, well basically be there do some activties with her, prepare a meal etc. for an after school nanny for 2-3hrs you would be looking at £6-£10 an hr net in derbyshire depending on nannies experience, qualifications and whether they brought their own child to work.

try sam at www.kidsmatter.uk.com she maybe able to help and offer some advice also.

freebiequennie

Also many teachers and term time only nannies are looking for school holiday nanny work so that may be an option.

joeblack066

Well I'm amazed that so many people think that I should leave my 12 yo DD alone from 8am till 6pm 5 days a week for the 6 weeks hols. I came on this forum for helpful advice, so thanks to all those who have offered such, and to those of you who think "why on earth would you need childcare for a 12 y/o?", read the papers! I won't be returning to this forum.

Bronnie

Why would you not return to this forum?

space_rider

joeblack066 wrote: »

Well I'm amazed that so many people think that I should leave my 12 yo DD alone from 8am till 6pm 5 days a week for the 6 weeks hols. I came on this forum for helpful advice, so thanks to all those who have offered such, and to those of you who think "why on earth would you need childcare for a 12 y/o?", read the papers! I won't be returning to this forum.

I know I wouldn`t have left my eldest on her own at 12 for 10 hours and she was quite a sensible 12 year old. I on the other hand in the 70`s at 12 was looking after myself and 4 other siblings, the youngest would have been 3. I was very sensible which is why my mum trusted me, or perhaps she really didn`t feel she had much choice.

I asked a social worker what age a child could be left on their own and he said it depends on if you think they are responsible and mature enough.

omelette451

joeblack066 wrote: »

Well I'm amazed that so many people think that I should leave my 12 yo DD alone from 8am till 6pm 5 days a week for the 6 weeks hols. I came on this forum for helpful advice, so thanks to all those who have offered such, and to those of you who think "why on earth would you need childcare for a 12 y/o?", read the papers! I won't be returning to this forum.

I think you'll find most people saying to leave her alone would not advocate doing it all day every day during the summer holidays. Certainly I wouldn't, and I was one of them. I was talking about shorter periods of time, and I suspect most other people were too. In case you do come back to read this, I'll offer a few more suggestions. What about the girl's mother? What about other family members? You said one grandma was too old to look after her, but does she have other retired relatives who are perhaps a bit younger? I absolutely loved the weeks I spent at my grandma's house (admittedly she was 70 not 80) during the summer - a week every year from age 4 to 16. Are there no 'summer camp'-style things she could go to? Has the LEA or other parts of your local council organised anything? Ours runs several events during the school holidays.

As for what I suspect you're implying by "read the papers", I absolutely refuse to believe the papers' sensationalist talk of threats. The percentage of people actually affected is ridiculously small, and other than taking the obvious precautions, I refuse to worry unnecessarily. All the evidence suggests that children are safer now than ever before, it's just that we hear about it more. Again though, I reiterate that I would indeed not allow a 12-year-old to stay at home on her own all day every day.

susan1105

Understand your concerns i would suggest that for the six weeks hols there are lots of activity weeks that you could enrol her on. My son did one last year you could have them there from 10-4 and pay extra to have your child dropped off early and picked up late if needed. Each day was something else.

hope you get some good ideas your first post didnt really state that you needed help for the six weeks hols

susan