What do teachers do in summer?

[Anonymous]

Why most of camp counsellors are college students? Are all teachers taking vacation in summer? Are there any camps that are held by real teachers? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

My mom was a teacher and she worked as a head camp counselor the summer I was nine years old (I did not go to her camp). She refused to do it ever again, saying I, at nine, would have made a better camp counselor than the ones she was in charge of, and that the four and five year old kids were actually easier than the college-age camp counselors.

She spent all her other summers giving me awesome supplemental work to do that was fun and challenging, and reading, watching soap operas, and driving me around places after I got home from camp.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher and it wouldn't be financially worth putting my 2 kids in summer camp or hiring a summer babysitter so that I could work. I've crunched the numbers many times and the only thing I've done in the past that makes sense is to tutor or babysit PT. The family I babysat for needed before and after camp care for their child so they didn't care that I brought my 2 kids with me since it was only 2-3 hrs a day. I also have to do a one or two week professional development course in the summer. In addition, some summers I have to take online courses to renew my certification. So, out of the 7-8 weeks I am off, I am really only truly off for 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Our next door neighbor, who's a teacher, teaches a Lego camp in the summer, but his children are adults. I imagine that many teachers who have young children are home with their kids during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here,
The only campus I worked, I was in charge of. You hire US students to cut costs but I would also coach at the camp.

Most teachers need to make close to their hourly pay in the summer for it to be worth it.

[Anonymous]

It's a really short summer when you think about it. We're not off as long as the kids are when you factor in staff development days.

Some teachers take classes, some catch up on house projects because we take home a lot of work during the school year, or we save on child care and keep our kids home.

Also, this is the best time for teachers to travel. We're limited by how many days off we can take during the school year and traveling during breaks is extremely expensive.

The best teachers try not to miss too many days during the year, so that's often a lot of catching up to do during the summer for appointments and home projects.

The camps that are run by teachers are often the shorter, one or two week academic focused programs sponsored by the counties. I have friends that run a STEM camp in Loudoun. Other teachers I know run a fine arts camp.

[Anonymous]

Before I got my current 12 month position, I taught extended school most summers, and often got a stipend for a few weeks of curriculum writing over the summer. I usually picked up a few extra summer tutoring kids as well.

[Anonymous]

My friend and her husband are teachers and are in their late 20s. She is a head lifeguard at a beach in CApe Cod. He runs a summer crew program at the Cape. They have a small 3 bedroom house and there are many times I'm so jealous of them.

[Anonymous]

I spend time with my kids.

Before kids I used to take classes, volunteer, etc. We actually didn't do very many vacations.

[Anonymous]

My mom, sister and BIL are all teachers, who have done a large variety of things during the summers over the years.

When we were younger, my mother tutored out of the house. She generally only needed to work a few hours a day, and didn't need to worry about child care for us. As we got older and could stay home alone, she often taught summer school (she's Special Ed certified, so usually in high demand for summer school). Now she's on an extended contract, and only has a week or two off in the summers.

Sis and BIL generally switch off with one of them caring for their kids and the other working. He has run sports camps, she has occasionally taught summer school or run less formal summer enrichment classes at her school. This year she'll be teaching Adult Ed classes.

[Anonymous]

Take classes for recertification.
Teach summer school.
Home improvement projects.
Travel a little bit.

[Anonymous]

I was an assistant camp director for the Y the year I graduated from college. I made $12/hr. The following summer I was a camp director and made $15/hr. After going to grad school and entering teaching, no I am not working at a camp for $15/hr.

I do know teachers who have taught summer school, which pays more like $30/hr.

Some tutor, some travel. I have worked with teacher prep programs, coaching new teachers.

[Anonymous]

Some of my old elementary school teachers painted houses for extra money during the summer.

I'm not sure why you think they would automatically work at summer camps.

[Anonymous]

Look for programs offered through your child's school. These will very likely be taught be that school's staff.

As a teacher, I prefer to work at this type of program because I know my instruction will benefit students at my school. I also have autonomy in curriculum design, so I know the material being taught will meaningfully support our regular instruction.

You could also look for teacher tutors during the summer. As others have mentioned, I tend to pick up a few extra students during this time "off."

[Anonymous]

Why would a teacher want such a low paying job? They can make more tutoring. If they have kids it's not worth the cost of day care.