Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the advice. I never knew there were so many services available - that's very encouraging (at least until I find out the prices . But it sounds like there are more-affordable options as well.

YOu can also post back here and ask for advice based on which area you are in.

Also, now that my guy is in K, I'm realizing there are a lot of other parents that you chat with about all this stuff....

You have some choices-you can pick one camp and send your kid to all the weeks they have, or you can pick and choose a week here, two weeks there of a variety of camps. That's what we do - I try to touch on all of my daughter's interests (theatre, art, cheerleading), two-week camps whenever possible for continuity, plus some general purpose camps that are just fun.

The trick here is that many of these camps start registration in January and February, so you have to really be on your game if you want to get into certain popular camps. (or certain good cheap camps.) That can be kind of stressful. I made a spreadsheet with all the weeks across the top and all the camp options down the side, and I filled in the weeks each camp had available and looked at some combinations of options. I looked at the hours they were open, extended day, cost, location and made sure to put an outlook reminder for signup.

Also, don't forget about spring and winter break - there are camps for those as well, though not as many.

Also, the really good summer camps fill up by beginning of February. I found that out the hard way.

Don't worry OP, you're ahead of the game compared to many of us. I never gave much thought to summers until my oldest was finishing K. Boom: suddenly I became intimately familiar with the deadlines pressure (some camps sell out in January), the costs, the difficulty of managing 2 kids in different places and the crazy logistics of pick up lines.

Now my oldest will be a middle schooler next year, and I've suddenly just realized everything changes again. Most of the places he's gone to camp (and loved - a month at the Zoo is the highlight of his life) don't have many if any options for incoming 6th graders. Half his friends will spend 6 weeks at insanely expensive sleepaway camps (which we could neither afford nor want.) So I guess the point is that it is an iterative learning curve, like all things related to parenting! Good luck!!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the advice. I never knew there were so many services available - that's very encouraging (at least until I find out the prices . But it sounds like there are more-affordable options as well.

Yes, but for the most part, you get what you pay for. Most parents also save up their vacation for the summer.

OP here. Thanks for the advice. I never knew there were so many services available - that's very encouraging (at least until I find out the prices . But it sounds like there are more-affordable options as well.

Yes, this would have been surprising to me too before children.

Basically for little kids, preschools run year round (maybe they take a week off for the summer, but it's very manageable.) The larger crisis comes when they start elementary school, with early dismissals and snow days and teacher training days. But as an other PP mentioned, unless your child is in a private school, there is a huge audience of fellow parents and an equally large market of camps that cost money to which you can send your children. I've been in shock at the scale and expense!

summer camps or you hire a high school or college student who wants babysitting over the summer while they are not in school.

Summer camps, with extended day care. Also many schools have a before - after school program on site at the elementary school and they also run summer camp at the school. Rec centers have camps. Lots of private camps. Some are drop off, some have buses.

Rec centers often have affordable summer camps.

Summer camp. It's a whole industry.

We are pursuing adoption and I'm thinking through what parenthood would entail. Neither of us have extended family within 500 miles to help care for a child. I know daycare is a resource until the kid becomes of school age. Following that, I am at a loss for what to do during the summers (since we both would need to work to make ends meet). What do families with two-working parents (without nearby grandparents/aunts/uncles) do for child care during the summer months when their children are 6, 7, 8 years old? Are there summer camps for that long? Day care for older children? Thanks for any advice!