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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>I Really Dislike School Age Care!
Greenplasticwateringcans 12:36 PM 03-21-2012
I'm so annoyed with myself about having extra school agers
over our school term break! The boys are so loud and distruptive and rude! Goodness!
Two more days.....
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Blackcat31 12:38 PM 03-21-2012
(((((HUGS)))))
I
will
NEVER
take
school-age
children
again.



Did I mention I will NEVER ever take school age children again? Because I won't.
Reply
daycare 12:41 PM 03-21-2012
hugs to you too.... Not enough money in the world for me to be cooped up with that age...

NOW, I will say they are my favorite age to coach sports too, but that is only for about an hour, it's outside and then they leave to go home with their parents....lol

In my past 8.5 years, it took me only taking one SA to NEVER do it again. And it was only for 3 weeks....lol

just think, it's HUMP day, your half way to the weekend....then TGIF
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DCMom 12:45 PM 03-21-2012
I hear you!! I am phasing out school aged care this year. I have 6 SA's right now; all of them with me since birth. All of them leaving in the fall.

I have two school age spots that will only be used for kids who are aging up to kindy...never again will they be 'filled' so to speak.

They are truly more work than the most head strong 2 yo (and I have a couple of those too!)

Hang in there
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Greenplasticwateringcans 12:47 PM 03-21-2012
lol!

Thanks.

I love school agers for sports and other kids activities but all day here....ugh! It's kind of rough. Especially super active loud boys who do not seem to understand "shhhhhh" and "when I am done lunch we will go outside". Hehe

Happy hump day!
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Greenplasticwateringcans 01:12 PM 03-21-2012
Ugh! And the pee on the floor by the toilet! Yuck!!
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daycare 01:14 PM 03-21-2012
Originally Posted by Greenplasticwateringcans:
Ugh! And the pee on the floor by the toilet! Yuck!!
OMG gross...........but my 3 and 4 yr olds do that too....
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Country Kids 01:15 PM 03-21-2012
I love my SA this year!!! I seriously would almost trade all my little ones for my SA. I look forward to days off from school this year because we have soooooo much fun together.

I love the fact we can do older kid projects, everyone can wash their hands, go by themselves to the bathroom, can play a game, etc.

I love them-
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momma2girls 01:22 PM 03-21-2012
I have phased out SA children last yr. and will not take them again!!
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familyschoolcare 01:24 PM 03-21-2012
Originally Posted by Greenplasticwateringcans:
Ugh! And the pee on the floor by the toilet! Yuck!!
I love the school age.

Alright not the pee.

My teenagers still do that every once in a great while. I make them clean the whole bathroom when that happens. It makes the aim better atleast for a while. Not sure I would have a DCK do that tho.

School age children need even more structure and activites than the little ones.
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Greenplasticwateringcans 01:28 PM 03-21-2012
I adore spending time with my school aged children even when it's my son's pee I'm making him clean up. Crafts, outings, everything is much more fun.

Being stuck inside with a sleeping baby is not super fun for my temporary daycare school agers.

It's not fair to them or me!

What was I thinking??
Reply
wahmof3 01:36 PM 03-21-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
(((((HUGS)))))
I
will
NEVER
take
school-age
children
again.



Did I mention I will NEVER ever take school age children again? Because I won't.
This is me too!!!! I have had rounds of tears because SA kids are so hard to care for!!
Reply
nannyde 01:50 PM 03-21-2012
I don't like school aged kids. They require SO much supervision and adult time and they don't nap.

I'm a babies person. My dream would be to run a cradle care and have a house full of birth to twos.
Reply
Hunni Bee 02:25 PM 03-21-2012
I dont mind my SAs, I actually prefer them....except the loud and rough play from the boys. But my SAs are little (4, 5 and 6). I can't deal with anyone older than six.
Reply
Soccermom 04:55 PM 03-21-2012
I enjoy my SA kids but they are all girls so that probably makes it easier. Girls Rule They pretty much just play barbies all afternoon or hang out and talk about boys on the swings. Sometimes they'll turn on the tunes really loud and dance but it doesn't bother me because I like their music. They are easy to take care of. Plus they are fun to bake with and craft with on days off.

They are also really great with my 3-4 year olds. They will push them on the swings and try to include them in their play.

Of course there are those days.....like today when they all drove me to the edge of insanity with their shrill screams and nonstop laughter lol!
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AfterSchoolMom 05:02 PM 03-21-2012
I don't mind SA's for the most part. It's SA parents that I have the biggest problems with.
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Crazy8 05:04 PM 03-21-2012
I once had this crazy idea that once all my own were in school all day I would maybe run a school age only program. Then I realized I really don't like school aged kids. My own I can deal with, but a house full of them - no thank you!!!
And with our PAL program offering before/after care for so little money I wouldn't make a dime doing it anyway.
Reply
littlemissmuffet 05:05 PM 03-21-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
(((((HUGS)))))
I
will
NEVER
take
school-age
children
again.



Did I mention I will NEVER ever take school age children again? Because I won't.
Same here. Never...... NEVER!
Reply
sharlan 06:01 PM 03-21-2012
I always loved SA's. I couldn't wait for summer so we could go to water parks, amusements parks, the beach, museums, zoos, etc. I was always depressed come Sept when they went back to school.

NOW, I can't wait for June. The two I have now can't entertain themselves for 5 minutes and require constant supervision. They really like to manipulate and tattle on the littles.
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Meyou 02:42 AM 03-22-2012
Hahaha! I don't mind them so much but I only take SA that have aged out of my program so they're "trained" already. I also have one of those sweet but no nonsense attitude with them that seems to really work. They listen well to me. *shrug* I don't know why.

I was at a bday party for a DCG that has aged out and was turning 8 a few weeks ago (our dd's are still friends) and after 20 minutes I said, "Ok, I can't take it anymore" to the mom and dad because there were two little hooligans crawling around on the floor of the bowling alley in another lane yelling!! I went over and said, "Ok ladies! Right now you CAN go and wait in line with your friends to bowl but you may not crawl on the floor, yell or be rude anymore. Got it??" *big grin with piercing eye contact* They went right in line with confused looks and kept glancing at me for the next 20 minutes while they waited quietly. Former DCD said, "What? You think you look after kids for a living or something, showoff??" and then we laughed. lol
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Soupyszoo 05:35 AM 03-22-2012
I watched a friends SA boys last year just for a couple hours after school each day and I was miserable

I will never do that again.

I love the little kids! They're so cute and fun! They love us and most of the time they listen! They are still young enough to think we're funny for no reason

SA not so much
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CheekyChick 06:09 AM 03-22-2012
I have to agree. SA'ers are sooooooooooooooooo hard to entertain. They are always bored, always complaining, always attitude-y. Not my fave age group.
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Meeko 10:04 AM 03-22-2012
Our after school kids are aged 8, 9 11 and 12. The noise level doubles when they get here...but as they are all from the same family and take a 2 and 4 year old with them when they leave......I like the sudden DROP in numbers and noise!
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countrymom 10:27 AM 03-22-2012
don't like them either. Now I do have some that are 4,5 and 6. they are not too bad. But one year I had 8,9,and 10 yr olds. Never ever will I watch that group, they require so much supervision, that I didn't get nothing done. And they don't like to do anything. I love my 4 and under group, they are so much fun and my kids love playing with them.
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littlemommy 10:51 AM 03-22-2012
I haven't taken SA'ers yet, and haven't wanted to. If a child I had since birth was getting ready to go to school, I'm not sure how I would tell the parents that I can't continue care.

What do you consider SA? If the child goes to preschool a couple hours do you allow them to come?
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momma2girls 10:57 AM 03-22-2012
The worst part was the boredom, pickiness in eating, snacks, etc.. Then be prepared if you are doing before and after school for them only. What happens, when they are out of school, school gets out early, late starts, etc. etc... I didn't charge near enough for all this!! Plus I have all teachers, besides the two I had last yr. so it definately was not fun!!!!
Reply
Greenplasticwateringcans 12:26 PM 03-22-2012
Originally Posted by littlemommy:
I haven't taken SA'ers yet, and haven't wanted to. If a child I had since birth was getting ready to go to school, I'm not sure how I would tell the parents that I can't continue care.

What do you consider SA? If the child goes to preschool a couple hours do you allow them to come?
If the child is old enough to be in K then they are too old for my program. K here is 5 by Dec 31st. We do not have the red shirting issue here but if we did I would still not take a child that should be in K.

I do and have done preschool drop off/pick up but it's only a few hours 2x/w and quite the norm here.
Reply
BigMama 03:41 PM 03-22-2012
All of my school-agers are drop-ins so I don't have them around enough for them to get bored and have other issues. I have two lovely young ladies, both 7 1/2, who come over on Wed. afternoons. I have another assortment of children, mostly 5-6 year-olds but a few 8-9 year olds, that come over on half days, over school vacations, and a few full days per week in the summer. I agree that they are more work in some aspects and they don't nap so there is no down time with them, but overall I don't think I would not do it over these issues.

One thing I will say is that my philosophy toward school-agers is completely different than for younger ones. While I do plan activities for them over the summer, for the most part I expect them to entertain themselves. They have access to all of the materials the younger children do plus additional art supplies and games. I never hear an "I'm bored." Also, while the younger children nap, they are expected to read for 1/2 an hour then play quietly in the playroom. We have a "three strikes" rule during that time: if you get too loud or are playing inappropriately I will give you 2 warnings. The third time I have to speak to you lands you upstairs resting with the little guys. Not once in five years have I gotten to "strike three."
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