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"School's Out!"
What spells joy for the kids spells a big worry for their working parents. "How will our children be cared for this summer?"
Finding quality childcare is a priority. Parents must find a variety of activities that are developmentally appropriate to meet the needs of each child. Choosing activities is one thing; affording them is another. Yet another issue involves transportation to and from each activity.
Consider the following as you create your summer child care plan:
- Think of the social and emotional needs of your children, as well as their desire to learn about the world around them.
- Young school-age children have needs different from older children; any programs you contemplate should take this into consideration.
- Recognize that experts in child development consider a child 10 or younger to be too young to spend any time without adult supervision. At this early stage of development, children are not able to make safe choices.
- Involve your child in choosing satisfying activities
- Be willing to change if a planned activity doesn't meet your child's needs.
Begin planning by getting out your calendar and marking all the summertime events that will influence the plan. These include vacations, your child's visits with family and friends, doctors' appointments. Rough in time for purchasing clothes and supplies for the next school year. Count the number of weeks during which your child will need formal care. List others in the neighborhood or family or friends who might be interested in working with you. Among your group, children can be car-pooled to short term, special activities, such as sports camps, museums, programs in the park or athletic events. Explore what options may exist. One mother may be planning to take a week of vacation to chauffeur her children to computer camp in the morning and to a variety of fun activities in the afternoon. She may be willing that your child join in, if you pay gas money or some other compensation.
Talk with your child about what activities would make a fun summer. Before this conversation, be sure that you have looked over the family budget and decided on an amount to spend for summer childcare. With your budget clearly in mind, planning with your child can be an important lesson in understanding possibilities and limitations.
The next step is to contact your local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency about available programs that meet your family's needs. This group maintains in-depth information about all kinds of summer experiences from day camp programs, such as the YMCA and YWCA, to childcare centers to in-home childcare. If you live in Jefferson, Clear Creek, Gilpin or Park counties, call Family Resources/Child Care Education at 303- 969-9500. In Boulder, call Boulder Children's Services at 303-441-3180. The remainder of the Denver Metro Area is served by the Work and Family Resource Center at 303-534-2625.
Remember to consider the extras, such as admission fees to special attractions, sports equipment needed for sports camps, additional food that will be purchased, and sun screen for outdoor activities. Also consider your back-up plans should your child be ill.
It's important to avoid over-programming your child says Beth Pfalmer, Director of the Work and Family Resource Center in Denver. Plan a few days or even a week of down time when your child can just "hang out" and relax. School age children benefit from decompression time that allows for day dreaming and goofing around with nothing too intense scheduled. But, too much unstructured time can be as negative as too little.
For more information about quality child care, contact Beryl Jacobson, Douglas County Extension agent at (303) 660-7316
or contact your local
Colorado State University Extension office.
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