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I have read ALL of your truths, wisdom, experience and advice.
I will keeping my sanity. I am going to stick to my no SA kids.
THANK YOU!
I will keeping my sanity. I am going to stick to my no SA kids.
THANK YOU!
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Awww shucks. I was hoping to get another hour consult with Ms Kid Grind to talk her out of going to SA he!!.
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Wow are school agers really that bad ? I work with mostly 4 year olds, that's only a few years younger than school age .Comment
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YES..... SA is just a whole different animal.
Some people can deal with them, most people can NOT.
I love coaching sports in this age group, but I have them in an open field for about an hour and if they misbehave, most of the parents are about 15 feet away I make them sit out.
Think of yourself as throwing a lamb to the lions but WORSEComment
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After reading the comments I'd have to think I must be the insane one here.
I love SA kids and wish I could do either all babies or all SA. There isn't much money in school age kids especially since the full time rates are so low here.
But I consider the money worth it since I only work 2 hours after they get here (SA have to be picked up by 5:30 even though I have other kids here afternoon.)
I give their snack and by the time they eat that and do homework, they are on the way out the door. And I charge $60 a week and parents send the snack. They pack a snack for school and one for my house including drink. Considering full time here is around $75-90 here a week, I make a lot more per hour doing after school and hey don't eat all my food. Lol
Sigh... And here I thought I was mostly sane.....Comment
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I have 5 kids right now. All SA'ers. Two going into 1st grade, and one each going into 4th, 5th, and 6th. I've had two of them since birth (now ages 6 and 11), and the rest since age 2.
I know it's not for everyone, but here are a couple of reasons it works well for me:
I think it makes a big difference when they've grown up with you. These feel like my nieces and nephews. If I were to take in "new" SA'ers, I agree they'd drive me crazy. They'd have behaviors and idiosyncrasies I'm not used to, and it would be harder, if not impossible, to "re-train" them.
We have had various activities going on for the majority of days this summer. I would much rather be out and about taking them places than sitting at home where, yes, they definitely DO get bored.
I've taken them to organized things like vacation bible school, basketball football and lacrosse camps, all the Friday library programs, and to our local Lego store for their mini classes on how to build something, etc. And also things we did on our own like going to a small pond to feed ducks, playing at the park, etc. ALL these things were FREE, which is awesome. Also, our town (and I think most places do this) has a free lunch program. We got about 99% of our lunches for free ALL summer long! I took them to McDonald's as a treat once, and ordered Domino's as a treat once. And a couple times, we just felt like chillin' at home, so we had sandwiches here. Otherwise, it was free, and I didn't have to make it!
I've taken younger kids all along, but this is the first time in 20 years that I've had all SA'ers. I'm used to them now. When I think about younger ones, I groan. I think about diapers, crying, not being able to take my eyes off them in case they trip and fall, hit each other, bite, fight over a toy, etc., etc. Ugh!
So it's all in what you're used to, and what suits your personality. I guess that's my long-winded point. LOL
ETA: Yes, it's 100x harder with mixed ages. Been there, done that.Comment
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I actually almost requested an emergency one yesterday. I was livid. The DCM called trying to confront me about their issue. I went from:
REALLY B****?
to
OH H*LL NAW
to
TERM
back to REALLY B****?
to
I am typing up the term letter, right now. I can’t do ungrateful and blatant disrespect.
We will definitely do another consult. I put your expertise into action and saw an immediate improvement.Comment
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You have some good points! When I first started doing childcare I did it during the summer only (worked at school during school year) and that did work out well but ONLY because I didn't also have little ones. I had forgotten about that.
We went to parks, nature trails, and swimming almost daily. I had my own SA kids as well. So I watched my 3 and 2 other GREAT kids full time and another 2 girls came 3 days a week. That was a good group.
It is way too hard with littles also though. If you can take them places then it works out I think.
LaurelComment
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Honestly, there is nothing wrong with school aged kids.
Just so long as they aren't part of a mixed group child care setting geared mostly towards the younger kids.
THAT ^^ is where the insanity begins.
If you just have one age group it's a breeze.
The closer the age gap of your kids the easier they are.Comment
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Years ago, I had a group of school agers that could only be described as magical. They'd work on ongoing projects for weeks at a time, played board games, would actively play outside without ever being told "GO PLAY!". As they aged out, they were gradually replaced with.....the maniacs I have now. Honestly, I do agree with everyone who says it's difficult to mix ages. I think this would've been a great summer if we could've been on the go, but we were stuck here every day.Comment
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It's OK when just school agers. Mixed age groups with SA tend to be a zoo. Especially if you have older kids who are just STUNNED that the younger kids actually have the nerve to play with toys in the same area as they are.
Stay away.Comment
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