|
The field of school-age care is sometimes referred to as after-school or out-of-school-time. These terms refer to an organization or program that provides care to school-age children during their time before and after school, on holidays and summer, at a particular site such as school, community center, or private facility. The term school-age care is used intentionally because school-age care is, in and of its own, an important part of the lives of children and families, not something to merely occupy the time of children when they are out of school. School-age care is not less than school.
Children are in school for about six hours per day, five days per week, for 39 weeks per year considering school holidays, in-service days, and vacations, totaling roughly 1170 hours per year. Many children spend an average of 35 hours a week in school-age care, considering before school, after school, and school holidays and vacations, totaling roughly 1820 hours per year. Many children spend the majority of their waking hours in school-age care programs. School-age care programs can have an enormous impact on the education and personal development of children. The quality and practices of these programs determine whether this impact is positive, neutral, or negative.
In order for school-age care programs to be beneficial rather than detrimental to the development of children, research-based standards and practices for the environment, relationships, experiences, and policies of these programs must be articulated and implemented. The purpose of this book is to provide school-age care practitioners with a research-based description of the specific practices that will facilitate the positive development of children.
This book is designed to encourage schools and communities to view quality school-age care programming as an essential and integral part of enhancing the academic program and educating children. It seeks to demonstrate to families, community members and professionals in allied fields that they must take a leadership role in guiding these programs toward standards of high quality. This book seeks to demonstrate that community resources need to be available for the development of a high quality school-based program. It describes the need for, and benefits of, providing quality school-age care.
end of excerpt
|
