Catherine Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I am at home, but I need to keep him involved in something positive this summer. This is a child who seems to be drawn to the wrong people at times. He will be at summer camp for 2 weeks, but I will be at work during that time. What has worked for you all before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 My ds would just veg with his video games or watch movies. Two come to mind in terms of positive adult mentorship... How about volunteering at an animal hospital/shelter? They always need volunteers. Our local library has teen volunteers run their reading rewards program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 BS activities Bike Swim Mow lawns Soccer Too many vid games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 well, my son is a ballet dancer so he attends a 6 week ballet intensive in town. He is also usually in a community play over the summer. The kids involved all seem to be wonderful people. And dancing for 8 hours a day certainly does leave him too tired to get into trouble, lol. My mom had 4 kids and worked all summer. She signed us up for lots of sports type activities. At that time it was heavily subsidized by the town, I know for a fact that the program no longer exists anymore. But we had lots of swimming lessons and gymnastics and basketball and tennis and stuff like that. It was all at a local park and we could walk there on our own. I would take my younger brother and sister to their lessons when they were too young to walk alone. Looking back on it, it really did keep us out of trouble. We would go from swimming to basketball to gymnastics and then go home and collapse, lol. So, I say look for anything active! ETA: ask your friends whose kids are in public school. They are usually working all summer and know where all the local activities and day camps are. I know in my town there is an entire industry that springs up to provide activities for kids during school breaks. Nature camps, art camps, music camps, theater camps, farming, sports...you name it. You sign up for a number of weeks. Some of them have half day options. The summer my son was 12 we didn't sign him up for anything because I thought it would be good for him to have the summer to just hang out with friends and do what he wanted. Big mistake! All his friends were busy or traveling. It was a very, very lonely summer for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Camp and when not at camp at town pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 My son will start junior life guarding this summer. A lot of camps also have counselor in training programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Like redsquirrel's son, mine is a dancer/performer. The summer he was 13, he did a summer stock production at a local youth theatre. They rehearsed four hours a day, Monday through Friday for five or six weeks and then had three weekends of performances. In addition to being in the show, he volunteered as a junior counselor for day camps for younger kids for several weeks. He finished the summer with a week of intensive at his dance school to prep for auditions for the competition team. The summer he was 14, he couldn't do a full-length intensive because he had a tour scheduled with his choir for three weeks in August. He still volunteered with the theatre, though. He had weekly rehearsals with the choir to prep for the tour and several fund-raising performances. He also took dance classes a couple of evenings a week. The following summer, he did a four-week dance intensive at a local community college followed by three weeks of recreational swim team at the community center (three mornings a week). He took dance classes at his regular dance studio two or three evenings a week and finished with the one-week intensive for competition team members. Of course, he also spent time with friends and read a lot and watched TV and played video games. But keeping him busy with some scheduled, physical activities made summers pass much more pleasantly for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Sleeps until noon, mows the lawn when needed, mows other people's lawns when they're on vacation, bikes to our small town downtown area and buys sugar, hangs out with friends at night because their parents can afford to send them to activities all day long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I am at home, but I need to keep him involved in something positive this summer. This is a child who seems to be drawn to the wrong people at times. He will be at summer camp for 2 weeks, but I will be at work during that time. What has worked for you all before? Last year my ds was working pretty intensively on preparing for his violin RCM grade 8 exam that he took mid-August. He also attended a ten day violin camp. He had a lot of time with his friends - at the pool, at the beach, and at our house and friends' houses. He also volunteered four hours a week at the hospital. We had family come and visit for a week so he visited with family, too. If he hadn't been so busy, I would have required a part-time job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Do school during the summer. We school year-round. We also hike a lot. We do things that make the kids tired. Then, when we come home, they go to bed. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I think that summer was the hardest one. Too young for a job, too old to be entertained 24/7 by LEGOs. The kids I know who spent that summer building a lawn mowing business have done really well with that over the years. They have also expanded into power-washing which makes more money over time. We did swim team for 12 years and that was a good structural thing--it got my son out of the house every single day and we had 2-ce a week meets for 6 weeks into the summer. He also volunteered as an assistant coach for the youngers, and he loved that, and it gave him something to do. His friends were always a "drive" away and all were busier than he was so it was hard to get together with them. I really felt for him that summer. It was sort of a sea change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 We school year round. So it's business almost as usual. We do go out more, spend time at the park, etc. Mine just turned 13. I don't have special plans beyond what we normally do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rieshy Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 One week of camp then he volunteers for 4, 1 week sessions of karate camp: these are spread out over the summer. One to two weeks visiting grandparents. Karate class 3 times a week. Otherwise swimming, reading, video games, running, movies, chores and church activities and friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 At that age my son was on the town summer swim team. He volunteered at the library. He spent the rest of the time hanging with friends at the pool or at their homes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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