childcare for 11 yr olds and up?

mary_mungo_+_midge

what about a childminder who specialises in looking after school aged kids? There are a few about ( I am one lol) and I've often looked after kids until age 15 or so, as they've enjoyed the company of the other kids and preferred it to being home alone in holidays. Maybe advertise on the childcare bit of netmums or on childcare.co.uk, at least then you'll be able to get help with tax credits to pay the costs hth x

Counting_Pennies_2

It is good to start exploring what childcare there is now, you can send your DS to them a couple of times this year to get a feel for them.

I would recommend looking at tennis, football and rugby clubs near by, they often run fun holiday courses. Also check with the school he is going to, they might have some courses they recommend.

Kings camp run near us, and I believe they do else where. PGL is another good one.

Also check with your leisure centre and see what they have.

Bascially I would recommend sending him to several different clubs so he gets a feel for what he enjoys.

Most cost about £12 a session, expensive yes, but worth saving up now for peace of mind.

Molly41

I had a childminder for my kids for a couple of years from 11 to 14. My eldest kids used to hang out with one of their friends whose mum happened to be a childminder. Im now at home as Im retired so its no longer a problem for me but I do remember juggling childcare for four kids so you have my sympathy. There will come a time particularly in the next few years when your son will be old enough to be left and will want to be left, but that depends on his maturity. My youngest DS (14) is very mature in many ways but hates being left and I have never left him very long although he is ok if his sister is around. I would never leave my teens at night even though eldest is 19 for obvious reasons but also I dont think the house would be standing when I got back!

Have you thought about residential camps? That might get rid of a week, grandparents for a week?

samandona

Can he not just stay at home on his own, atleast for the odd day? Obviously, this depends on how mature and capable he is. If he is the kind of child who has ever even made his own toast then I doubt he would manage, but is that totally out of the question?

Also, you say you made a promise 'never to leave him to his own devices'. Out of interest, why was this?

PolishBigSpender

Child care for an 11 year old?

You are joking, right?

This is just a sick joke, right? I mean - you don't really want to find childcare for a child who will be going into the 2nd year of secondary school, right?

And people wonder why British society is breaking down.....

fav77

Sorry PolishBigSpender, I don't see what the problem is there?? 11 is quite young to be alone for 7 and a half hours, 5 days a week for 6 weeks surely?

Hmmm, anyway OP I second the childcare student option - there should be lots of suitable young people available in the hols and your son may not feel like he is with a babysitter if he is with a teenager

All the best, I know how hard it can be to be a working mother!

gravitytolls

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Child care for an 11 year old?

You are joking, right?

This is just a sick joke, right? I mean - you don't really want to find childcare for a child who will be going into the 2nd year of secondary school, right?

And people wonder why British society is breaking down.....

Mmm, I amused myself during hols and after school at this age ~ ran with a bad crowd, got into bother, would never leave my children to their own devices on the back of that.

OP, I don't blame you one bit for wanting to do what's best for YOUR child, only you know what's best for him.

Lots of ideas on here, though it appears you've ionvestigated most of the options.

Maybe worth asking the school about any ort of holiday clubs, wraparound care type organisations, they're bound to know.

A friend works, during the hols she drops her boys at the sports centre for the morning activity, collects at lunchtime, they sit in the park or on the seafront to eat their lunch, then drops them back for an afternoon session. Doesn't come cheap, but at least she knows they're safe and supervised, not to mention entertained, developing new skills, meeting new friends etc.

Perhaps this could be done three days a week, and the other two he could amuse himself at home?

samandona

Gravity - not everyone 'falls into the wrong crowd' when left to their own devices. Perhas that was down to your personality?

And I developed plenty of new skills being home on my own. Walking the dog and learning new routes/environments, learning to cook a whole range of things, learning how to use the washing machine, hoover etc etc etc etc. Im fairly sure I managed to teach myself how to retune the TV too. Also doing little bits like go to the bank, pick up some milk from a local shop.

Of course, none of these life skills ever took priority over playing with barbie and ken

But as my previous post noted; if OP's son is the kind of kid who can't even make toast then maybe being left on his own isnt the best idea.

cannyscot_2

There is a french swap scheme where you put up a 17 yr-19yr old french person for the summer and they can babysit. Its free you just pay some registration fees. I know you said it was 2 up 2 down but could your son not maybe share your room if it is just the summer . You could cover about 4 weeks that way.

We also use football camps and skateboard camps they are 9-4 and pretty cheap 12 a day. Have you checked whether at another school -catholic/non-denom or another area they don't have provision in the summer for older children. W

floatylight

If your on benefits try YHA http://www.doit4real.co.uk/ they offer low cost week camps all over the uk (about £79 a week of you get the right benefit), my kids love them.