Hi all,
My daughter is starting kindergarten next year. We currently have both our Pre-K kids in private school. We would like to put them in the public school though as they enter elementary school age. However, we both work. Our school district will be out 6 weeks next school year, plus all the holidays and teacher days.
How do the two-income households handle all the days off? Where do you go to find care? I know we can cover summer by taking them to their current school's summer camp. I'm just wondering about during the school year.
Thank you!
Kim
Thanks everyone for the responses. I will ask the school what they offer. The problem I've found with camps in the area is that they only go for a few hours, like 9am-12p. Most of the places only seem to offer the camps in the summer. I need them for a full work day and for the six weeks throughout the school year that school is closed. I am also going to ask my child's current school if they can offer something on those non-academic days.
Thanks again for the ideas!
Our local daycare has openings for days like this. Many kids from the local schools go but you have to register and have it set ahead of time.
Most of the daycares in our county (Henry), the Parks & Rec Dept as well as the YMCA all have day-camps over the breaks to accomodate schools being out.
This is one of the reasons I dislike the 'balanced calendar'; not everyone has 6 weeks of vacation. It's a lot easier to find 10 weeks of care during the summer than 1-offs all throughout. OK, I'm done venting ;-)
Some of our parents find a classmate friend that has a mom who doesn't work and would like estra income. The kicker is that they may be going away for that week. Some local Church's open their doors for a week of 'fun' daycare and it's the same hours as school with a late pickup by 6pm to accomodate.
Another is the before and afterschool daycare either AT your school (all the schools here have them, that I'm aware of) or local pre-school/daycare facilities. Our local ones all have transportation to and from the schools for those kids enrolled with them.
My neighbors ar eboth military and their kids are dropped off in the morning for maybe 30-60 min before the bus takes them to school. After school taht bus picks them up to bring them back to the care facility and parents pick them up later.
Check them out and see what the costs involved are and the hours and transportation issues. That could be your solution.
You might find that you will have to alter your work hours a little in the morning to make it work...but you should be able to find something. School parents often have after school care in their homes....not sure if we have any in ours that the office staff knows of.
Good luck!
Most schools have an after care program that also offers childcare for vacation days. They do charge.
I understand -- I have 2 kids and was until just recently in a 2-income household -- know anyone hiring electricians?:)
Care centers like KinderCare or even Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta ###-###-#### offer placements for older children to 12 yrs. and good activities provided.
During the year, I also email/call other parents in my child's class and do a "day share" if I can with several, so each of us only takes the kids for one day, and while a little "much" with all 5 kids, I don't eat up my budget or days off.
Good luck:)
So, are you saying that you go to school year round and don't have a Summer break? If so then the child care centers in your area have to be prepared for the school kids to be there all day long. In Oklahoma if the State pays for child care we get between $12 per day for after school care, when the kids are out of school for a single day it doesn't change but if it's more than one we get $16.50. My school age teachers are usually people who only work half days or less. Some of them have other full time jobs and some are students themselves and need the flexible schedules. I would always take the class myself if I didn't have someone there to take them. When school is out it is much easier because you don't have to have someone take classes while school pick drop offs and ups are going on. We planned activities for the school agers that would keep them busy or out of the building while the little ones slept.
If your kids already go to child care then the center should already have a plan. If not then I suggest you call around and find a place that offers the child care you need. The YMCA child care program in my area is disfunctional at best so I don't usually recommend them but you may find them to be really good in yours.
There are tons of camps set up all over the metro area for any school breaks. Places like the zoo, Imagine It Children's Museum, the aquarium, local YMCAs, etc. have spring break camps, summer camps, winter break camps, etc. Wherever in the metro area you're from, you should google that plus kid's camps or look in Atlanta Parent or something. I see them advertised everywhere.
