Forums

Hello!  What a wonderful idea!

As for the school, here in the U.S. the (free, public) formal schooling only starts at age 5, and anyway, that's out during the summer. Therefore, there are many, many options for "school" during the summer or before age 5. Some programs are specifically for a short period and others are permanent but would certainly accept your kids for a month or two.  The questions are really a.) how much can you afford to pay for it, and b.) what type of program you would like.

There are many children's summer programs connected with museums, universities, local city governments, and churches where your kids can learn about sports, science, art, religion or almost anything else you can imagine. These are designed for small children with a lot of hands-on activities, so limited English skills should not cause any problem. However, you do not have to do a special program if you don't want to. Here, it's so normal to have both parents working and there are daycare places everywhere. Most places you pay by the week or by the month and they are open 6am-6pm (you bring your children according to your own schedule), but others allow "drop in" for a few hours, or only a few days a week, or are open 24 hours. All are private businesses licensed by the state. These daycare centers are where many of our kids are (maybe, I would say, most of them?). Like any business some places are better quality than others and I would say it'd be very difficult for you to be really confident about its quality until you are physically there and have the opportunity to actually see the place. But a good quality place will give your kids a real experience of playing, making friends, eating, etc. just like all the other kids, in a normal everyday environment. All daycares welcome visitors and will explain their facilities and programs to you. They are also familiar with children perhaps having "separation anxiety" and helping children adjust. There are so many childcare places and different types of options that I would say, unless you know somebody here who specifically recommends a certain place, as long as you are not going to a really tiny tiny town or a really really big city, just choose a place when you come.

However, if you are interested in a special SUMMER "enrichment" program through a museum or municipal government, those do fill up several weeks or even months in advance, so go to those websites and get their registration info. Google "summer day camp" or "summer program" and the name of the town where you want to be. If you are interested in a religious program, google "vacation bible school". There are some national non-profit organizations that work with children all over the country. Try googling YMCA or YWCA, or Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, and the name of the town. These special summer programs are slightly more expensive than a regular daycare and the schedule is more limited. But they offer a lot of fun activities, almost everything from swimming to painting.  

If you don't have family or friends in the U.S. leading you to a certain location I would suggest you just choose a place where you would like to spend your time. Although you are not planning to stay at a hotel, have a look at hotel prices on the internet. I say this because the places with expensive hotel prices are also expensive for everything else like food and– childcare. Also those places like New York or Los Angeles are just more crowded and the childcare places do not have as many openings.

As far as a residence: you best bet would be to find someone to help you locally, perhaps connected through some club or church that you belong to at home? Does your city have a "sister city" in the U.S.? If you don't know someone here, it could be difficult to rent an apartment for only a month or two. Generally apartments are on a 6-month contract (or 1 year). There are, however, special hotels called "suite" or "extended stay" hotels which are less expensive than normal hotels, and have a small kitchen etc. You would pay by the week with no contract.

If you want to go someplace like Orlando (Disney World), or anywhere on the coasts where there's a decent beach, there are "time shares" for rent. That is basically an apartment. I would try googling for example "time share rental South Carolina" or wherever you might like to go.

Hope all this info helps! Please come back and post how your planning is going for you!