Latch Key Kids..

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the law states that 10 years old is the youngest that you can leave them at home alone. Like I said, maybe I'm wrong.

If 10 isn't the law, then I'd go with how mature is he, and I'd get someone to check in on him at random.

Hi K. - You didn't say where you live, other than the school, or how old your children are. But when my older kids were younger, 3 boys..5,8 & 10 yrs old, I was suddenly divorced with no money coming in. I had to get a job immediately..& did..& thought I'd try seeing if my 10, nearly 11 yr old, could watch his brothers. On the 3rd day, I got a call from my neighbor. Two of the kids were on the ROOF!!! Needless-to-say, I made it home quickly & had a babysitter by the next day!! Though you do what you must when you have no money, fortunately for me & thanks to my neighbor, it all turned out well. I have learned kids cannot be trusted alone, even when you call & check on them often. There's just too much temptation & what one doesn't think of, the other does. lol Good luck. I hope you find a wise solution.

Starting when my children were in 1st grade, we've gone over how to let themselves in the house and what they can and cannot do. While I wouldn't recommend it on a regular basis, I think that by age 7-8 (depending on the maturity of the child) they can be left for 20-30 minutes. I always make sure that within minutes of them getting home, I call them and remind them to start homework and get a snack. I would also recommend doing some "practice runs" like leaving your child home when you run to the grocery so that the child feels confident being left alone. If you really need to regularly leave your child after school I would recommend setting up play-dates where he/she can just go home with a friend. Check around your school, there are usually a lot of other parents in your position who would be happy to swap.

Any neighbors or school friend parents who could cover that hour? Though a short time, it's also a critical time for the child to know there is loving supervision so thoughts don't linger toward "what can I get away with". Even with a very well-behaved child, I think that time is critical, so I'd try to get the time covered through junior high ages. I know that's older than the age they could be left alone, but on a daily basis during that critical time, I think it's important to have their still immature minds not routinely left unsupervised at that point in the day. Likely not the answer you were looking for, but I know kids in my old neighborhood who their parents trusted them a lot more than they should have because that "what can I get away with" idea entered in their young minds.

My sister didn't start this with her kids until they were 12 years old. That may be a little older than most, but some people do it as early as 7 or 8 years of age.