Each year while my son was growing up, a summer full of mixed activities was planned. Day camp weeks, sleep away weeks, vacation time and down time. This year my son did not want to go to any of the camps he had gone to in the past, including last year's month long sleep away camp which, financially, was fine with me. Luckily, he did get a part time job for some of those long weeks of the summer but if he hadn't, we would have had to discuss how the summer should be shaped.

First, no one is too old for some type of camp. There are a variety of camp week programs that provide educational content while still delivering some summer fun. Ten weeks is an awfully long time to let a young person's brain go into idle especially when these are the final years before your child will be going to college. One or two weeks of camp are enough to keep some academic stimulation going and still leave time for other activities.

Many colleges provide summer week long programs for middle and high schoolers on topics as diverse as forensic crime lab, modeling and fashion, introduction to nursing, web design and digital photography. These educational weeks can be "sold" to your teenager as introductions to the types of activities colleges might like to see on a student's application or even as a way to explore what kind of major your teen thinks they might study later. Better to try a class for a week in the summer then sign up for a semester in high school to find out it is a poor match.

Volunteering at a summer location with a weekly commitment is the first step in practicing how to perform a job for a future summer position. Find something your teen enjoys doing such as visiting the animals in a shelter or helping at a summer play school. That first job application will ask if the applicant has worked anywhere and your teen will be able to answer "yes." It doesn't matter if it was paid or not, it was still regular performance someone expected the teen to do and relied on them to complete.

If it feels better to provide your teen with some weekly stipend so it is like a real job, then do so. Tell your teen that the cause they are volunteering for is so valuable in your mind, that you would be pleased to pay them. Most children, and adults for that matter, perform best when there is structure and time commitment to an activity as well as a reward when the performance is done well.

There are a slew of places that your teen can be dropped at and picked up from now that they are old enough to be on their own. Library's have summer programs, our town pools allows kids over 13 to be left alone without an adult, bowling alleys sometimes have summer programs and movie matinees are cheaper than night time shows.

Video game and TV watching time of course can't be avoided but put time limits in place. Encourage teens to read more than the school summer reading list and to get out and walk or bike to those places that in winter they are so used to being driven.

Summer is a great time to be released from the restrictive schedules of school and enjoy some sun and fun. It can be tough to figure out what activities will work for your teen but with some thought and planning, these summers can lay the ground work of how one blends down time with activities that might shape their future.

Learn more about this author, Michele Blacksberg.
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