School’s Out…for Summer!
Featured Guest Blogger June 18th, 2008
As the end of the academic year comes to an end, a plethora of emotions swirls through the air. Working on a college campus, I love the atmosphere of excitement and change with students moving out, graduation approaching, and parents coming to help pack up. Truly an exciting time. In high school, I can recollect feeling overjoyed…and petrified…that the world was before me in a completely new light. Now that I am an adult I can appreciate the fact that, as I “graduated” from my elementary and middle school grades, my parents must have had gobs of pride…as well as stress.
What to do with kids in SUMMER? Family care? Camp? If camp, for how long each day? Overnight? What is the financial cost? For kids this is a time of freedom, fresh air, and lack of responsibility (but for that summer reading list!) For parents, sometimes summer can mean juggling new schedules, additional child care costs, and the fear of having bored and/or unsupervised children at home.
Leslie Morgan Steiner recently generated much discussion on her Washington Post blog with her list of Top 10 tips for a balanced summer. Do any of our readers have any thoughts on the matter? Unless you are a teacher (and maybe even if you are), we imagine that summer can bring up a lot of logistical and emotional issues for you and your family.
For information regarding care for children during out-of-school-time, read our encyclopedia entry on Afterschool Care and Work-Life Issues.
I think the economy has really affected parent’s choices this year. Summer is a great time to experience new and different things, but the parents I know, stayed close to home this year. The good news is, many found creative and inexpensive ways to enjoy summer. Many traded childcare instead of hiring someone, and did crafty things and other inexpensive activities with their kids.