Well, for mothers that work during the day (for whatever there cheshbon is) these last few weeks of summer are quite difficult to arrange. I have 3 young children, one of whom is home with a babysitter that I share with a neighbor. The 2 school aged children spent there summer as follows: Their schools ended on different days of the week of June 15th, then they went to a Pre-Camp camp for 1 week. Then they each went to a backyard camp for July and a different one for August. (We had a few short vacations in the middle when I was able to take off a few days.) Those camps ended August 20th. My daughter’s elementary school starts Thursday, Sept 10th, my son has orientation for his kindergarten the following day, but doesn’t start a full day untile Monday,Sept 14th. So for me, it is nearly 3 weeks to fill up since the camps ended (no, not everyone goes to the country!). the last week of August, both of the went to Post-Cmap Camps (in different neighborhoods), my son’s camp continues through this week but my daughter’s did not. Today she is home with the babysitter, but we will take it day by day. (don’t even ask how we managed all the carpooling!)
While I love spending time with my kids, and if I could , would quit my job on a dime and stay home to do just that, it is not an option for me at this time. So for us working moms, I would much rather have my children in a structored school setting then home with the babysitter (which is not always an option as I share the babysitter with a neighbor who also has 3 kids – we cannot both leave all our kids as that would be having onr babysitter watch 6 children! Thus the need for all these Pre and Post Camp options. I grew up out of town where schools started the last week of August – uusually the 29th or 30th and ended slightly before the NY schools, therfore spacing out the breaks more evenly between the end of June and the end of August!
Maybe the day camps also can run a bit longer?