2 1/2 year old lab chewing

Question
I have a 2 1/2 year old female lab who has been crate trained. We decided to do away with the crate in the kitchen during the day time when we work, leaving her in the kitchen. She has plenty of toys. She has gotten into some mischief while we are not home. However, yesterday, she chewed a rung of a chair in the kitchen, badly damaging the chair. How do we break her of this chewing and develop trust that she won't get into trouble when we are not home? She is in her bedroom crate today. Is this separation anxiety, boredom, or immaturity. She does go to dog daycamp once a week. We can't afford any more days than that.

Answer
I don't think there is a good alternative to crating.  The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition to destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a "safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving itself.

I do like too see the dog get a mid day break.  If you can't make it back, see is a neighbor or a professional dog walker can.