how do minders cope with schoolies and little ones????

[ziggy]

School finished today for the summer.

So this afternoon i have a 5month old, 2 almost three yr olds, a 4 yr old and now a 9 and a 11yr old. The schoolies are playing with the little ones and it is getting a bit mad.

one is leaving any minute, 2 are off to bed, hopefully the baby will sleep soon

BUT just wondered how others manage to do this all summer.

[lizduncan72]

Thankfully I don't have this problem this year for the first time!! I don't do school kids any more (except my own!! ) and my two little mindees are term time only so finish this afternoon for nearly 6 weeks :) I found it really hard trying to occupy older mindees in the holidays, they seemed to think we could go out on expensive trips every day ( free things like the park and beach are apparently 'boring') and got really crabby when told they couldn't :(

[The Juggler]

i used to do this. don't anymore. I found it too hard to entertain both ends of the spectrum. I managed quite well for 3 years but then I was exhausted

[moggy]

I will not take school age because of the hassle.

[Koala]

I just take pre schoolers too because I am not Superwoman, which you have to be to do all ages. :thumbsup:

[The Juggler]

i don't mind either age group in the holiday - just not both together. I know lots of minders locally and on here who do have lots of both ages and I take my hat off to them.

I just find it mentally exhausted to find time to do structured actvities with older ones whilst supervising and provdiing stimulating activities for little ones.

Same with outings, either older ones are bored or more interesting activities involve LO's being stuck in buggies for long periods - too much for my poor old head to cope with :laughing:

[ziggy]

It's not just me then???:laughing:

As from next week schoolies will do 3 days and little ones the other 2. Baby will do 4 days but he is an angel.

Good to know i'm not only one who finds it difficult.

Last summer I had 6 schoolies and just one toddler so it wasnt so bad and they were all gone by 2pm

Well done to all minders who manage all summer with both age groups.

[ajc]

Im finishing with the couple of schoolies I still have at the end of term and cant wait to just do under fives, like everyone has said I found it too difficult and manic trying to entertain all age groups especially full days.

[sarahmc]

I have a mad summer holidays with up to 10 children ranging from 1yr to 13, mostly siblings.
It's manic but my older ones have been with me since babies and I can't get rid of them they keep coming back!! Luckily they are mostly part time so we usually have different combinations most days. This makes a good variation as you can tell when you have the same ones day in day out!
We don't venture far and I encourage older ones to source activities for the younger ones which they love doing. It is also nice to see 11/12/13 year olds playing shops or dolls with the younger ones just because they can.
It is hard work and very loud but also very rewarding.

[WibbleWobble]

i am lucky as two of my EY children are TTO and the other one is 2 going on 22...and is the sibling of one of the schoolies.

I only have 4 at the most each day during the hols so we can all get in the car....looking forward to some fab trips out where i dont have to worry about feeding times, sleeps etc. will take a single buggy with us for the 2 yr old but it will also be useful to carry all our gubbins

wibble the mega organised x

[mrs robbie williams]

i only do littlies now, used to have 2 or 3 schoolies during the school hols aswell ast little ones and it drove me mad lol - i dont have any schoolies now and much prefer it :thumbsup:

[munch149]

I don't have any schoolers this summer but normally do. I think it depends on age. The 5 year old I have is fine but probably wouldn't take children older than 7/8 anymore they get bored to easily. Obviously I wouldn't get rid of a mindee at that age but she's been with me since 21/2 so will no the routine well by them so shouldn't expect any different. I do go out a lot in school hols tho but to cheap farms, soft plays etc and I charge parents for trips so am only limited by there willingness to spend not my own and they only have one to pay for whereas I would have loads (under 3s are free alot of places anyway and most of mine are at the mo)

[ziggy]

well if my full timers were here all summer then i wouldnt have agreed to have schoolies but their mummy is a teacher so they will only be here 2 days a week, schoolies other 3 days

Also when I agreed to take schoolies I didnt realise I was going to be minding baby.

Ah well all is quiet now, one gone home, 3 sleeping and schoolies watching TV as weather is awful here today:(

Thank goodness this is only day i will have all of them.

Next summer I am not going to have more than 4 children a day as i only have small car.

Although money is nice I would go insane if I had to do this for the next 2months:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Still on a positive note their mummy left me a bottle of wine for this evening:clapping::clapping::clapping:

[Dragonfly]

Ear plugs and blinkers :laughing:

[funemnx]

I've always done both, it's stressfull!

I can't seem to say bye bye to my lo's when they go to school. I like the older ones but they are hard work. Sometimes it's nice because the older ones play with the lo's but sometimes they just find it annoying. I aim to take them all out every morning to run off steam even if just to the local park. Then they are a bit more chilled in the afternoon. Last holidays my older ones wanted to do baking EVERY afternoon! :rolleyes:

I have to admit to having all ages because my own children are adults and we take our hols in term time (it's cheaper) so I make most of my money in the holidays - it's a bit scary though and I NEED wine and a week off in September..... :laughing:

[Mrsh3103]

Primary school was shut yesterday so I had 1x 8months, 1x21 months 2x5yrs 1x8yrs. By the time they all went home I was sat in the corner rocking. I tweaked each activity to suit all ages, the 8yr took about 5mins to do everything whereas the others spent hours playing. It was a mission keeping her entertained. At one point I had to put a DVD on for her because she was "so bored" not looking forward the the 6weeks hols :(

[ziggy]

welll that wasnt a very pleasant afternoon, wont ever do it again.

I think next summer i will just stick to under 8's, really doesnt work having older children

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I love the age groups - the older ones look after the younger ones, pairing up when we go out walking , and they all play together

I think the secret to this is "planning" and continuous. We have the whole summer planned out but for hot and cold days. This doesn't mean we are out everyday and there are child led activities for all ages. Balance....