At 15 last summer mine did a lot of their sport because the school coach had about 5 things happening each week.

He did some test prep on his own for PSATs (just Khan Academy, which he acutally enjoyed).

Worked a few weeks at a local camp as a junior counsellor.

Attended a week long camp out of state.

We went on a few short trips, nothing major.

Hung out at home, saw friends.

This summer at 16 the sports remain the same - several times per week. He needs to do driver's ed class and lessons and practice, wants to do more formal test prep (aiming for perfect scores, which are within reach, but god help him we will see about that because so much of it at a certain point is luck!). He may take a class at a local cc, online. He will probably not work unless he can find a very flexible part time job. Looks like he will not attend camp which is fine by me. He's been hanging out with friends more and is into playing music and generally developing healthy hobbies and interests. My schedule is very light and home-based in the summer so we spend time togeher. We wil also travel a bit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is doing 2 weeks at a precollege engineering program, 3 weeks at his sleepaway camp, and 5 weeks at a volunteer through the schools in their summer elem program in title 1 schools. He did it last summer and helped kids in math and science. Next summer he wants a paying job for math tutoring so the classroom experience will help.

which college was the pre college engineering through?

He wants MMSS at Univ of Michigan. Have to see if he's accepted. If not, we have CTY programs lined up. We've also looked at Missouri Science and Tech, PROMYS BU, and UMD's precollege engineering programs.

Also being a CIT he can request working with older kids - like 4th/5th. The boys that age live teen boys and they get majority girls at jobs like this. When my kids were CITs we could pick the weeks to go

Sports camps here in Oregon hire at 14, if he has experience in a sport. They are usually a week at a time so he can work a week and then have a week which will seem less daunting.

You’ll have to force his hand. Tell him he needs to pick one camp and one structured activity (like a class that is weekly) or a job. Who cares if he’s not interested, I mean I’m uninterested in working or cleaning but do it anyway.

How about drivers Ed ??

Anonymous wrote:Mine is doing 2 weeks at a precollege engineering program, 3 weeks at his sleepaway camp, and 5 weeks at a volunteer through the schools in their summer elem program in title 1 schools. He did it last summer and helped kids in math and science. Next summer he wants a paying job for math tutoring so the classroom experience will help.

which college was the pre college engineering through?

Mine is doing 2 weeks at a precollege engineering program, 3 weeks at his sleepaway camp, and 5 weeks at a volunteer through the schools in their summer elem program in title 1 schools. He did it last summer and helped kids in math and science. Next summer he wants a paying job for math tutoring so the classroom experience will help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:40 again and lifeguard wasn’t an option for us since he was never on a swim team and we don’t belong to a pool.

Mine took a life guarding course and passed the test. He was never in swim team and we hadn’t belonged to a pool in many years. Those aren’t required. Look into Red Cross lifeguarding courses.

I’ll rephrase my post. He was never on a swim team, we don’t belong to a pool, he didn’t have confidence in swimming ability to be responsible saving people as a job since he never spent a lot of time in water and I wasn’t going to force that at 15 so he took a summer course for drivers Ed instead.

Anonymous wrote:12:40 again and lifeguard wasn’t an option for us since he was never on a swim team and we don’t belong to a pool.

Mine took a life guarding course and passed the test. He was never in swim team and we hadn’t belonged to a pool in many years. Those aren’t required. Look into Red Cross lifeguarding courses.

12:40 again and lifeguard wasn’t an option for us since he was never on a swim team and we don’t belong to a pool.

Mine couldn’t get a job. He applied to over 40 places, started early, went on a few interviews and was told to come back at 16. He ended up doing online PE with drivers ed and some of the BTW classes. We are in VA so getting the in person BTW classes done to get the license was very motivating for him. I have him a choice to do that or personal finance.

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is gold. What jobs did 15 y os get? Mine can't do lifeguarding or jr firefighting. Also not interested in small kids so no CIT.

What did the 16 yo do once they were eligible?

I will also look at pre-college programs.

Yes, teens are often not interested in lifeguarding or being a camp counselor. If you live near an amusement park, that may be an option. There are a few other things out there they can do, and if your teen really searches, asks around and applies early they may find something. But the reality of the summer job market for teens is that camps and pools are the biggest employers.