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@Momma_bear: He'll be 15 in August and get into 10th this fall.
That makes more sense than being over 15 and going into 9th. It is a difficult age in the summer. My son will be taking a class on a university campus and going to some lacrosse camps. The rest of the summer he will spend some time with friends and with his brother. He is 14 and it is nearly impossible for a 14/14 year old to get a job around here.
At 14/15 mine spent time at the pool, attended sports/activity camps. I also left lists of chores I expected to be done. Not an overwhelming amount but there is no reason a kid that age can't have the bathrooms cleaned, dishwasher unloaded, house dusted/vacuumed or lawn mowed and/or garden weeded - not every day but over the course of the week (a task or two every day). If someone got whiney/bored I could come up with all kinds of other things. I didn't hear about how bored they may or may not have been very often.
I also had a list of more in-depth chores that they could do to earn some spending money: clean the garage; organize photos (this was pre-digital photos and I had boxes of stuff to go through)....
Last edited by maciesmom; 05-28-2013 at 03:11 PM..
This is going to be the first time my son is going to be home alone during summer. He has friends at school, but don't hang out with them outside of school, so spending time with friends is not an option. Not sure what he would do all day long home alone since both of us are working. Can parents with high schooler's give me some suggestions?
I have the same issue with my 9th grade daughter!
I know she and I will be doing some day trips together but I'd rather have her out and about. There are no jobs available and I don't want to treat her like Cinderella cleaning all day.
She used to go to YMCA camp but that is way too expensive. I was fortunate enough those years to get a financial scholarship to the camp. She no longer wants to go and she doesn't want to be a CIT.
What about an online class through your district's virtual school (if you have one)?
My 16-year-old son will be taking one the second half of the summer. I gave him the option of volunteer work, a sport, a PT job, or a class.
I'm also making him spend a few weeks at his grandparents, and he has some basic summer rules: out of bed by 10 am, clean bed or bath or a similar chore every day, do something out of the house at least once a week, etc.
My son is 14 and will be entering the 9th grade next year. He is going to the Junior Varsity camp run by our City for the last year. Next summer, he will have aged out. However, my son is entrenched with the BoyScouts. Tomorrow he will become the new Patrol Leader for his Troop. He has lots of activities planned for the summer (including two weeks at a Boyscout camp). He also went today for an interview to volunteer with the local hospital. They have needs in the critical care unit. He will start next week. Last summer, he went around our neighborhood with flyers to market his "Dog Walking Business." If he wasn't involved in these activities, he would have gone to the sports clinics that are run by the city. They run basketball, baseball, soccer and swimming. I am sure my son would have no problem doing absolutely nothing all summer. But my husband and I feel it's best to keep him active (not to the point of complete and utter exhaustion of course!). Good luck!!
At age 13 my daughter volunteered at the Humane Society, prepared baby bird feed (ground up worms), fed baby birds by hand, washed dishes and did general clean-up. You had to be 15 to walk the dogs and care for the cats and other animals.
She also spent a lot of time at the local YMCA, swimming, exercising and "hanging out" in the teen area.
I can highly recommend Camp Brookwoods in Alton, N.H> right on the lake.
My daughters have all gone to the girl's camp; Deer Run next door.
It is a non-denominational camp; Christian Camps and Conferences - Home
We are Catholic; people of all faiths attend this camp.
They may have a couple of spots left; not sure.
They have their own beach on the lake; tons to do; sailing, canoing, kayaking, water-skiing
all field sports. Best thing is that the cost is the equivalent of a less expensive and waay less nice
YMCA camps. It will be one of the best experiences your boy could have!
My daughter is the one who actually discovered this camp; three years ago, when I gave her a realtively lower budget to find a camp, and she is about the same age as your son. She begs to go back
every year. Now all my kids want to go; now I have two daughters going for two weeks each.
My DD will be 15 in late August and going into the 9th grade.
Her summer consists of holding down the couch. She will become a night owl and will sleep all day.
We recently moved and most of her long time friends are 2000 miles away in a different time zone. She will stay up all night on xbox live and skype with them also.
In addition we are looking into her volunteering at the local library as well as she will have friends flying down during different times this summer. She is also scheduled for a week at Girl Scout camp.
DD is entering into an IB program and has several summer projects to read/complete as well.
It doesn't really bother me if she just lays around. I remember being that age and having weeks of down time would have been something I would have loved but never got. To this day, I love to stay up all night and sleep the day away but with a 9-5 schedule and a family its a luxury I very rarely get to indulge.
She has to pick up after herself and she starts dinner a few nights a week.
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