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By
Catherine M. Pruissen
Currently
across the United States and Canada, school-age child
care is a patchwork of programs run by community groups,
parents, school boards, associations, and recreation
programs. Quality is as varied as the number of programs.
Availability is also a problem resulting in a grave
shortage of care options for children aged 5-12 or
simply falling short of meeting the needs of children
and their parents.
There
are an estimated 2 million children in the U.S. who
look after themselves both before and after school.
"Surveys in some communities find that as many
as 25% of all six to 12 year olds are on their own
for some part of the day. The percentages are much
higher for children over the age of nine or ten."
Says the Child Care Action Campaign, in their Information
Guide 15, School-Age Child Care.
Canadian
children fair no better. Research conducted by the
Policy Research Centre on Children, Youth and Families
on school-age child care (1993), found that Canada's
lack of an integrated, planned system for this type
of child care was creating a hardship on parents and
children.
School-age
child care differs in many respects from that of pre-school
care, though the need for stimulating activities and
opportunities for quiet times, contact with attentive
and caring adults, as well as a need to feel safe
and to socialize with peers exist for this group as
well. In their Vision Statement for Healthy School-age
Children: An Agenda for Healthy Communities, the Policy
Research Centre notes that: "During their school-age
years, CHILDREN need opportunities
to:
- Develop
significant friendships
- Acquire
new skills and interests
- Express
creativity and imagination
- Be
increasingly independent and responsible
- Be
fit, well nourished, safe and healthy
- Explore
both the natural world and the community in which
they live."
A
good school-age program is designed to meet the developmental
needs of older children. In addition to the basics
of nutritional snacks and a caring environment, "There
should be enough equipment, toys and games for outdoor
and indoor activities for all the children. There
should be access to community resources such as ice-skating,
swimming, libraries, youth organizations and centres."
Says the CCAC.
Such
programs require trained staff capable of working
with large groups of independent-minded children as
well as with the individual child. Here, like the
shortage of programs themselves, recruiting and retaining
qualified staff is an ongoing concern. While the majority
of supervisors have an ECE diploma, a substantial
number of caregivers possess little child care training
specific to the needs of school-aged children.
Locating
accessible, affordable, safe and caring after-school
care programs for children is not always easy. To
find out more, CCAC recommends talking with other
parents about their arrangements for older children;
contacting a local Child Care Resource and Referral
and/or child care licensing agencies; civic organizations
(i.e. Boys and Girls Clubs, women's organizations,
National Counsel of Jewish Women) and checking with
the teacher and principal at your child's school for
programs in their area.
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