Kinder aged kids in afterschool
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/18/2008 - 5:58pm.
I am a site coordinator at a small.rural, k-5th grade school. Does anyone have experience with the pacing, curriculum,and expectations of what a successful Kinder aged afterschool program looks like? Sometimes those little babies fall asleep! Please help me guide my activity leaders to greatness!
Off campus afterschool program for kindergarten aged kids
Speaking of kindergarten aged kids I'm curious if anyone has experience with sending a kindergarten or even 1st grade student to an after care program that is not hosted on the school's campus. I am concerned about our public school's decision to no longer provide facilities for the after school program because they need to accomodate more grades next year. As a result, young students including kindergarten will be bussed 10 to 15 minutes away (it will be a longer trip if pick ups or drop offs happen along the way) on a district school bus to be joined with students from other campuses in one central location. I really think its important for an after school program for young grades to be on the campus of the school. Am I being overly critical or is my concern valid?
re: Kinder after-school program
I'm the site coordinator at a K-5 elementary school, and my K class leader is wonderful. She begins each class by reading a story and lets a volunteer sit up front with her and help turn pages. After the story, students are excused to their assigned tables where they work on a daily project: lots of painting (often with the help of a 5th grade helper for each table who cleans paint brushes!), coloring, and alphabet work, or practice writing their names.
Each Friday, the K teacher names a student of the week (based on behavior and work completed) and that student decorates a picture where their photo is later placed while the rest of the class draws pictures for the student of the week and sign their names. The teacher compiles all the drawings into a booklet with the decorated photo page as the front and the student gets to take the booklet home.
The Kinder class is one of our most well-behaved classes because they're very trainable at that age! The teacher assigns a line leader and a "linebacker" every day, and the students know to stay in line. She also takes the kids straight from snack in the cafeteria to the bathroom, where they all wait in line outside until everyone who needs to go can go, and then to the classroom. The teacher plays fun music in the room while the kids work on their projects.
Best of luck with your kinder kids! The after-school program can be tough for them because it's such a long day, but keeping them entertained with lots of fun projects is key.