Is this a good idea?

[Anonymous]

Instead of sending my second grader to summer camp, I am thinking of hiring a colleage student to take care of her for one month. They can do craft, reading, etc together, and if the student can drive her around the better. I am willing to pay more if the student can coach her on writing, or even Spanish. Anyone tried this before? What's the monthly or weekly rate? Where can I put ad to find such a student? We are in Fairfax. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I did this every summer I was in college and it was great. You could advertise at George Mason but do it soon as their classes end in mid May or so. I'd pay $15/hr plus gas. Leave money for activities and join a pool.

[Anonymous]

I will do it this summer. I am big on kids having down time. Too nervous about the pool thing.

[Anonymous]

$12-$15 an hour was the rate I paid (a few years back) and it worked out well (we did it for 6 years). We ended up with college students in education and/or suburban kids just back from a year abroad in a foreign city and eager to explore DC. That said, we live in DC itself and I printed out calendars of events and suggestions and left spending $$ or tickets for such outings. No tutoring involved.

DC's been more interested in camps/other kids since about 3rd grade, but she enjoyed the one on one when she was younger. And it's much easier for a working parent. No need to get the kids dressed and out of the house in the AM and more flex time in the PM.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but at 12$/hr., it's going to be minimum of $480 a week, which is way more expensive than a week of camp and aftercare. If you can afford that, more power to you, but this approach makes more sense to me if you are hiring a sitter for 2 kids and/or the sitter will start dinner or do some light chore like do kids weekly laundry, empty dishwasher, etc.

[Anonymous]

I do this for my one child every summer and love it. Yes, it is more expensive than camp, but when I looked into camps dealing with the before care, aftercare, and safety issues drove me crazy. I have much more peace of mind hiring a student and my kid has a ball.

[Anonymous]

I think you can also hire summer au pairs through some of the AP agencies. That might be the same idea, but a little cheaper with the cultural element thrown in. Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

We did this for years and it was either hit or miss. Some were absolutly excellent and some were awful (wanted to play computer games all day and never took them outside or anywhere). I'd caution that the ones we hired wanted full summer work and not just for a month.

[Anonymous]

I nannied school-age kids during the summers when I was in high school and we had a great time. I wasn't driving yet, but we went to the pool a lot, hiked around the neighborhood, played sports, etc.

Maybe if you have trouble finding a student who is willing to work for just a month, you could team up with other parents and split their services over an entire summer? Such a situation could be good backup for the gap weeks between summer camps.

[Anonymous]

I think the problem will be finding a person for one month...