After school care in your area?
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After school care in your area?
| Fri, 01-22-2010 - 2:58pm |
I was just wondering what sort of after school care programs are available in your area for middle school kids. Here, there seems to be this assumption that kids in 6th grade or older can let themselves in and just stay at home alone until the parents return from work, so there isn't a lot of support for structured care programs. There are also a lot of SAHPs as well, so maybe this is part of the reason there isn't enough demand for after school care to warrant having a program.
Do you think middle school kids need after school programs to fill in the gap until their parents get home from work?
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During the time frame that DD3 was in middle school the school she attended had grant money to provide after school care. It was more of a club atmosphere. They had different "clubs" in various parts of the school and a child could choose to do what interested them that day. It was open to all students not just child of working parents. I do not know if it is still going on or if any other middle school in the area has/had the same thing.
I think most of the childcare centers provide care until age 12 so in theory that could cover a 6st grader. But I do not know of any centers in the area that provide transportation between school and the center like they do the elementary schools so that does not really work.
I think that there is a need for after school (and summer care) for middle schoolers. But like so many other things it often comes down to funding. A business will not provide that service unless they are fairly sure that they will have a large enough customer base to make it feasible. Those that have the financial means usually only do something to take care of the issue (work part time, sign kids up for sports/clubs etc to fill in those gaps). Those that have already been struggling to pay childcare would probably not use the service.
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Most of the daycares here offer before/after school care and include transportation to/from neighborhood schools.
structured, er, supervised after school activities at my DD middle school too.
Our local YMCA offers after care at our schools through 6th grade.
"but I know a few families who will make the choice to have their children go home to an empty house, even though they aren't quite comfortable with that."
Yep, this is what I'm talking about. It's an uneasy age. They're old enough to be left alone for a short while, though not on a regular basis, and not for hours on end.
I find it interesting that so many programs end at 6th grade, or that the programs themselves end an hour after school lets out.
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