How to choose an after-school program

4:30 p.m., Aug. 17, 2005--Finding the right place to send a child for after-school care can be a difficult task, Martha Buell, professor of individual and family studies, says.

But, she says, resource and referral agencies can help parents find and evaluate after-school programs. In Delaware and nearby parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, Family and Workplace Connection links parents with after-school programs in their areas. And, word-of-mouth referrals from other parents can be useful, too.

Once several after-school options have been identified, nothing substitutes for a visit to each program. Parents should use these visits to talk to the after-school staff and observe procedures, Karen Rucker, director of UD’s Early Learning Center, says.

“Just like you wouldn’t buy a car without driving it, you shouldn’t enroll your child in a program that you have never seen in action,” she says. “Although this is time- consuming, placing a child in someone else’s care is worth the investment of an informed decision.

“Pay attention not only to the program, but to the interactions between the providers and the children,” she says. “There should be a mutual respect. One way to evaluate this is to observe how the adults solve conflicts among the children.”

And, be observant about health and safety issues, Buell advises. “An alarming lack of hand washing occurs in some child-care settings,” Buell says. “When workers or children don’t wash their hands after the bathroom and before snack, it can be a real problem.”

Security measures and sign-in/sign-out procedures also should be assessed. “It is important to make sure that anyone can’t just walk in off the street and access the children,” Buell says. Other safety issues to ask about include fire-drill procedures and playground equipment safety.

Child-to-instructor ratios have an impact not only the safety but also on the well-being of children. “Under current child-care regulations, there is no restriction on group size, and a program may maintain a ratio of 25:1 for school-age programs,” Rucker says. “This means it is legal to operate an after-school program with, for example, 50 children and two adults.”

In Buell’s opinion, the best after-school programs require staff members to hold a degree in education or have some college-level credits in education.

“High school workers can be great support staff, but should not be in charge of ensuring health and safety policies,” she says.

After-school programs are a great place to get homework done, but the afternoon schedule should include more than just that. “Look for activities that are both purposeful and educational, outside of just doing homework,” Rucker says.

A program should include a balance of academic enrichment, outdoor play, sports, fine arts, games and character-building activities. And, it should be fun, she notes.

One indicator of quality after-school care is accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children or the National School Age Child Care Association. “These accreditations hold the program to higher standards than state licensing requirements,” Buell says.

“After-school programming is really important,” she says. “It is the area of child-care that deserves the most attention, but gets the least.”

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