After School Programs: How to Pick the Best Ones

The summer is winding down and your starting to make plans for the school year. Maybe your thinking of sending your child to a after school program. Or, maybe you have unanswered questions about the current program. Is my child's after school program up to par? Whichever one is the case the following criteria needs to be in place in any after school program.

The first is location. Is the location convenient? Is it in the school that your child attends or is it at another different location. An optimum location would be where you can drive there in a relative short time if there is an emergency or an early closing.

What about transportation? Most after school programs do not provide transportation. But, if you should find one that provides it that is an extra benefit for you and your child. Typically, your child would be picked up at the school at the end of the day and dropped off at home in the evening. The one thing about transportation is that you must be there at pick up and/or drop-off times. And, this person must be a legal guardian or a person known to the after school staff. It is also very important to know what the procedure is if someone is not there at drop off time in the evening. All programs have their own procedures. Make it a priority to find that out.

Who can you call? You need to know who to call if you have questions or there is a emergency situation. Do you need to call a main number or can you call someone direct? The best scenario would be if you can call the program and speak to a supervisor with your questions during program time. It's not good if you have to leave a message and wait for a call back whenever it is convenient for them. The more important thing would be to have the supervisors cell phone number to call during program or transportation times. Just in case your child is running late coming home on the van. Or, you can arrange that one of the staff on the van calls you about five minutes prior to your child being dropped off at home. Do they have a automatic phone system or a number everyone can call in an emergency? It's fine to ask the van staff how your child's day was but bigger issues will be best answered by the supervisor of the program. The main thing is to have someone you can call when you need to.

What about the staff? To evaluate the staff it would be best to take a tour of the program with your child. Pay special attention to how your child interacts with everyone. Are the staff interacting with the children and your child. How exactly does the staff interact with the children? Any staff using a very load voice? If so, that can be a potential problem. If you should see a few of the staff talking between themselves about non program things for more than three minutes. That is not a good sign. Even if it is play time all staff should be attending to the children and interacting with them. It is the staffs duty to provide a safe and positive environment for the children and to provide interactive recreational activities to maintain or increase your child's skill level.

What are the staff's qualifications? Are the staff certified in first aide and CPR? Are the staff checked out when hired in regards to criminal and background checks. Are those checks done at least once a year? Do they have crisis management training? Does the staff have medication training? Make sure to ask if they have the necessary training that your child may require ex. Seizure disorder, special needs or allergies. The most important thing here is to make sure that the staff are qualified to handle emergency situations and has the skills necessary to interact appropriately with your child.

What about the program activities? There is an old saying when it comes to children. If you do not give a child something to do they will find it on there own. That says a lot. You can ask the supervisor for a calendar or daily program schedule to look at. If they do not have one that is a bad sign. That means that they are creating activities as they go along. If they do have an activity calendar make sure that it is exciting and it possesses activities that your child will enjoy and/or benefit from.

Can you visit your child? Can you stop by for a moment or two any time you want? Can, if you want, go on field trips with your child? Do you have to make an appointment to see your child in program? All programs have different procedures on visits but I would steer clear of one that says that you cannot visit your child unless it is scheduled a few weeks in advance.

Do they have a non restraint policy? Ask to see what there policy on restraints are? Is there a policy? How do they handle meltdowns and behavioral outburst? Do the staff have proper training on redirecting behaviors? Do they only use positive reinforcements? The use of positive reinforcement is the optimum choice for a after school program with a non restraint policy.

What about the snacks and juice? Do they provide snacks and/or juice? What exactly do they serve? Are the staff aware of how certain foods are more susceptible to choking hazards. Do they only serve high fat sugary snacks? Do you need to provide a snack and juice? Do they have certain food restrictions such as peanuts? Are the staff trained in food allergies? How do they document these allergies so that everyone knows to be aware? How do the staff communicate daily changes in a child to other staff and you?

Basically, after you have your tour of the after school program you should go over the above criteria and see if the program is up to par or a great match for your child. Whichever after school program you do choose, I'm sure it will be the best you can find. Because now you have some tools to evaluate the program and make an educated decision. Just don't be afraid to ask the questions.