<p>I’m not worried about the 14 yo - he is entering high school with 16 high school credits from online courses, middle school acceleration etc. He could enter college after two years of high school if he wants to do so (although I won’t recommend it). I think he’ll enjoy it although he will probably be a little worn out after a month of language immersion summer camp. The 8 and 10 year old would be squirrelly. They are not the “curl up with a book” type that their older siblings were. I would be looking for a high school senior or a college student to stay 24 hours a day at our house if we get a babysitter. I might just see if they have friends whose parents might be willing to take them. That’s not a bad idea. It certainly won’t be a vacation for me if I am trying to keep everybody happy.</p>
<p>I’m not so worried about “happy” for the kids. With 5 kids, lots of unhappiness from being dragged places. More a matter of if the kids could handle it without getting in others’ way.</p>
<p>When I heard the mother of my son’s friend say she was taking him with his older sister on a long college trip, I volunteered to keep the boy myself! I could not picture a typical 14-year-old boy doing well at all. The mom felt like she was imposing on me, but I told her it was my pleasure. If she had taken him, I would have worried about all of them the entire time!</p>
<p>another vote for figuring out a way for the younger kids to stay home … I do not see the positives of the younger kids going … they are going to be bored out their mind and you as parents will be taking time, energy, and attention away from the oldest’s tours … and why is this preferred over one parent staying home with the other kids? If the thought is it will be fun or a vacation for the youngest I think that is highly unlikely that is how things will work out … the younger ones will have to survive an incredibly boring week with nothing for them. (PS - with our oldest … one parent took our daughter on a weeklong tourfest … and the other parent stayed home witrh #2 and #3 while they lived their normal lives)</p>
<p>I would feel much less comfortable leaving my young kids home with a babysitter (especially with the rash of burglaries we’ve had here) than bringing them to a campus and letting them play outside for a time. These are small schools - it won’t take long to tour them. Many of their facilities will be closed for the break.</p>
<p>I have been to three of those colleges in summer. They are extremely quiet, and the kid-friendly nature of the midwest means your kids shouldn’t be bothering people by playing on the campus lawn. Get a few surprise toys that they can while away time with, like a swoosh type of frisbee - it’s soft and anyone can catch it. Then, plan the rest of the day with the younger siblings in mind. For example, there is a huge water park near Rockford (south of Beloit):
[Rockford</a> with kids - family fun in Rockford for kids - UpTake.com](<a href=“http://attractions.uptake.com/illinois/rockford/family/581588576.html]Rockford”>http://attractions.uptake.com/illinois/rockford/family/581588576.html)</p>
<p>In Minneapolis-St. Paul, a fun family activity is a walk across the old railroad bridge and a visit to the old neighborhood of St. Paul. You could also check out family activities at the Guthrie or art museum. There’s not as much to do in Northfield, but the downtown is quaint and very small-town, in a good way. I hope you all have a great time.</p>
<p>It is now time to take my youngest-of-four daughter to see colleges. She has been dragged around to so many colleges - not just on tours, but also visiting siblings when they were attending colleges, that she says “I HATE walking around colleges! I’ve seen more colleges than anyone I know!” (That being said, she did OK when I finally talked her into visiting some and it was for her! But she has unfairly dismissed some of the ones that she saw before when she was younger.)
Anyway, if you must take the younger kids, Midwesterner has great ideas. In case of rain, could you call ahead and ask if the gym or indoor pool has open hours? This is what saved us sometimes - having one parent or sibling shoot baskets in the gym with the younger ones while the other parents or siblings went to info sessions. Another time, there just happened to be a science program for kids (one of those whiz-bang demonstration entertainment things) at the same time at a college, so we lucked out and she attended that. Call ahead - you just might get lucky with something going on at the campus.</p>
<p>Five kids are a lot of young people to keep occupied for a week of confinement to a car/hotel/campus. Too much togetherness will wear on everyone. You need to split up the family- one parent goes with the two older kids on college tours while the other parent and youngest plus the camper (who will be sick of college campus life by then) choose other activities. This is a plan if you want family togetherness. Otherwise if you can get good childcare the younger two are old enough to delight in being away from the older sibs and the older ones will delight in not having to accomodate their needs.</p>
<p>I presume when at home everyone doesn’t partake in all of the same activites. You have a bimodal family- teens and elementary school agers. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving your youngest with anyone one parent should stay behind and the others go. It may be a nice time for the parent who spends the most time away from home/kids to stay at home and the other parent to get away from household duties. It is a lot easier to find tables for 4 than 7 at restaurants, hotel rooms… I’m sure there will will be more time for one on one conversations with a parent this way. Divide and conquer. The next trip to see colleges the other parent can go.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine why you would even consider this… 2 parents, right? One goes and one stays with the littles.</p>
<p>^Personally? I’m with post #28 there. But to be wide-minded:</p>
<p>Picking my brains for any ideas I haven’t yet read above. If you decide to bring all the kids along in the car, at least set up the college tour time for only the college-aged children:</p>
<p>Call the colleges to ask if you can hire a college work-study student for the entire day you are on their campus. </p>
<p>Ask Admissions at each place if there’s a one-day bonded/licensed drop-in daycare situation in their community they can recommend; perhaps something used by staff families. Sounds pretty hard to nail it in all those locations, however.</p>
<p>Send only one parent on the entire journey. With the leftover energy, that parent (or your child from Concordia) is charged with the responsiblity of FILMING the campus tour for the parent who’s at home. Keep the camera away from the admissions meetings, and perhaps away from the campus tour itself; just pan the campus. In other words, don’t film the tourguide unless they allow it and your own kids don’t mind much. Instead, consider the l4 y.o. can make an independent film during that same time. A 14-y-o- can certainly do this, and if it fails, no harm done. It’ll also help your touring students recall the campus. </p>
<p>Is there a second driver among your oldest children to spell the parent who goes (if you take the plan to leave one parent completely at home with the 2 younger ones).</p>
<p>Any more carspace left? Bring along a friend of your oldest children and hire them to be the babysitter/car entertainer for the entire trip. Pay Well. That person sits between the two youngest, reads them stories, for the long car ride and does the frisbee toss thing with the 8 and l0 y.o.'s during the campus visits. With cellphones, a parent could leave the tour to find that group in emergency. Then at least it’s a l7 y.o. not a l4 y.o. trying to improvise for hours (Olymom’s concern, in part). </p>
<p>Contact a professional nanny agency in each campus region for one day. You’ll pay through the nose and might not like the person, but if it’s only a day and they’re bonded the kids will live through the day, even if it’s not their most fascinating.</p>
<p>Me? I’d stay home and depend upon the films and retells of my spouse and the older kids.</p>
<p>For whoever got to go to Concordia (the l4 y.o.) this tag-along is just payback for having that marvelous opportunity. Accept no complaints from the l4 y.o. espec if he/she ends up being the youngest in the group w/o the youngest 2 sibs. Just tell that one to endure.</p>
<p>I do believe this question is very “kid specific”. Some just are not made for this kind of thing.</p>
<p>My 14 year old son was dragged along on college tours from the time he was 11. He brought his Gameboy and silently played games during the info sessions. He did not seem to pay much attention, but now that he is going into 10th grade he can rattle off what he does and does not want in a college. He is very focused and so much more knowledgeable about the whole college selection process than my daughter ever was. I feel that, in his case, it was very beneficial.</p>
<p>Another brainstorm: Check flight costs plus rental car, more than 2 weeks ahead so you might find a discount fare. It could be, with all the hotel and food costs on the road, you’re better off sending one spouse with the two teens at another time completely. Fly to the northern Midwest and do a 3-campus tour right then by rental car. </p>
<p>Separate it from this l4-y-o’s pickup. It’s a cost-comparison, and I’m sure many other factors, too (job schedules).</p>
<p>My D went on every college tour with her older sister when she was 12-14. Her opinion was valued as a family member and it was bonding time for the two of them. They have always been very close and it helped make the adjustment easier for both of them when it was time for my D to leave. My younger D had a feel for what college life would be like and felt comfortable sending her big sister off.</p>
<p>By the end of our search, she would somethimes raise her hand at info seessions to ask questions. She would often sketch or make cartoons as the admissions counselors spoke. Some of her cartoons were extremely witty and at one info session she almost cracked up a whole row of people because they were so amused by her drawing which made fun of the boring speaker who droned on and on.</p>
<p>We joked that we were going to put her cartoons together and publish “The Little Sister’s Guide to College.” Not an entirely bad idea…</p>
<p>I had to take my five year old daughter along on many college visits, and it was just fine. (She was well-behaved!) The only challenge is the one hour information session. (A movie on an IPOD is great for keeping them quiet.) The walking tour itself was not really any challenge, because of the constant motion. Be sure to let your older child hang out on campus alone for some of the time, because the presence of parents and siblings changes the dynamics of interactions. Also, be sure to include some other interesting activities/sightseeing for the whole family in your trip. This is important not only for the younger siblings, but also for the child looking at colleges. You want your child to enjoy college visits.</p>
<p>At several college visits, admissions officers told me they loved to observe the close relationship between my 16 yo and my 5 yo, so I believe it was a plus for her. Some of the admissions officers are already trying to recruit my little one–to top notch colleges.</p>
<p>My 11-year-old also tagged along on a week of visits to New England colleges. No one was at all upset by this (and it was during spring break, when all of the tours/sessions were jammed). He played his GameBoy quietly during the info sessions and he and I would lag behind on the tours (this also gave D a chance to be more up front, by herself). At the third college, several parents commented that they recognized him from earlier schools. We got him a T-shirt at each college we visited. We did arrange for D to eat separately from us, as she did feel conspicuous in the dining room with us there. </p>
<p>Other things being equal, I would have preferred to leave him home and go alone with D, and he would have preferred to stay home. But we’re a family unit, which means not everyone always gets their first choice of how to do things. In other words, if you have to take the younger kids, do it and don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>My 10 year old got dragged on some college trips and absolutely hated the tours. In fact, I think the older D didn’t apply to one school simply due to the bad vibes given off by the younger sister who was present at that tour.</p>
<p>We wound up with the one parent goes on the tour the other parent does something more kid friendly in the vicinity strategy.</p>
<p>I vote for summer camp that week for the little ones.</p>
<p>When my daughter was 16, I took her and her seven year-old brother on an East Coast tour – Harvard, Yale, Brown, NYU. We made it into a fabulous trip. We could have seen more schools but it’s like househunting. See too many houses in a day and you can’t remember which one had the hideous purple bathroom. Anyhow, we had a great time seeing Boston and I made sure to get some sightseeing in before we hunkered down for the other schools. This was before everyone had ipods. We took an MP3 player and headphones and plugged my son into his favorite music CDs during the info sessions and tours. He was perfectly happy. With ipods I think it would be even easier. You could probably download children’s books to listen to, etc. We always made sure to get something to eat after a tour and to do some fun things along the way. I have four kids – spending time with two of them like that was a great experience.</p>
<p>Taking one “extra” kid along is one thing, taking four is another. The technical term for the idea is “nutso.” The OP’s “sounds awful” is a good point of departure. Work alternatives from there.</p>
<p>My then 10-year-old sister accompanied my mother and me to tours all up and down the East Coast, way back when. It was at least a week’s worth. Pre-Game Boy 
I’ll have to ask her if she remembers any of it!</p>
<p>I am feeling terribly guilty but dh asked his parents to take care of the the 8 and 10 year olds and they said yes. I am hoping to find a vacation bible school program to spell them a little during the week that we are gone, but they think they are up for it. I used to say I married my husband for his parents. They are pretty amazing. So 16 yo D2 and 14 yo S3 are going with us to visit Beloit, Grinell, Carleton, St Olaf and Macalaster, any of which might be a good place for D2. We’ll be picking up S3 at camp but he is excited about it too. He enjoyed visiting Denison, Kenyon and Oberlin with his older brother and sister when he was 13 and they were 15. 17 yo S1 said forget it - he’s planning on applying to Purdue but at least he’ll stay home and work and dogwatch for us.</p>