by Mitzi Saltsman

Created on: June 04, 2009   Last Updated: June 05, 2009

A Summer Survival Guide for Parents

Having your children home for the summer is much more complicated than it used to be. With more mothers in the work force, it's not just a matter of keeping children entertained. To survive the summer with peace of mind, you must have adequate child care. Many teachers are out of school for the summer, and use this time to make extra money. Ask around your school for a suggestion of school personnel who might be offering this service. Depending on the age of your children, high school students may also be available for a summer job. Recruit others in your family or friends who are in same boat, and try for a child care co-op, or at least a car pool.

If you do have the opportunity to stay at home with your child, you still need a plan of action to survive. Sure, summer is meant to be breezy and relaxing. Try not to over organize and add unneeded stress to the summer. Some thinking ahead will make the summer beneficial for all, and will keep your kids from sleeping away 3 whole months of their lives.

At the beginning of the summer sit down with your kids and brain storm ideas. If you start this as a summer tradition when your kids are small, they will want to continue doing things with you as they grow older. Once a child turns 13, it is hard to incorporate new traditions into their life. Encourage your children to think in categories. Try a fun activity, a learning activity, a continuing education activity, a free activity, an active activity, a community or service activity, etc.. You don't have to have everything every day, or even one thing a day. Try a different theme for each week, and do small activities every day in preparation for a weekly project.

On the continuing education week, go to the library, or think of things that your children learned about this past school year. This way it won't be so hard to get back into the school year. Retaining what they learned over the summer is especially important with small children learning to read. Do you remember a science experiment that your child talked about? This is a great spring board to get them to do more research into the same area. Is math a tough subject for them? Find a math related activity ... Anything that involves earning money! Watch the stock market, add up money from extra chores, let them actually earn the money they are keeping track of.

A service activity may include cleaning up a road, or volunteering at your church. You might help an elderly

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