i know it is a favorite, but anyone else underwhelmed by Mundo Verde open house?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
I don't think that they miss any of the general education, but I think that there is a value to an additional 3 hours of time in the program. Not three hours worth in terms of programming, as much of it is play, but the kids in aftercare get more exposure to some of the specials that they are learning about during the day and they get more exposure to spanish (if that isn't their home language, of course). I thought a lot about this issue, as I had a choice to use or not use, and I have gone back and forth. In the end, I think that my child gets more benefit from spending the additional time at school than she did with spending the additional time with me because the only way that I could do it was by sacrificing my own sleep and thus being a less enthusiastic parent. Moreover, when she was with me, I found myself not giving her enough time to play with other kids, which is a real benefit for an only child. So, no, I don't think that kids that don't go are being deprived or have less value in the regular day, but I do see great benefit for at least my child in attending. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the reply! Sound like I'm in a similar boat thinking about aftercare or no aftercare, and this perspective is helpful. |
Anonymous
I don't have a choice since my DH and I both WOH full time and barely make it to pick up at 6:00. But I can honestly say that even if we could pick up at dismissal, even at a less popular charter that had very mid-range quality aftercare (but adequate and some good teachers), my DC loved it and got something out of it. If nothing else just time to wind down and play with other kids his age, but also there was some efforts to do a little follow up from things they were doing in class, at least have consistency in the themes when they were drawing, singing, and playing games. I appreciated that and it reinforced the themes for my child. So even if I could skip aftercare, I mostly would not have because my child seemed to get something out of it. |
Anonymous
| Wow- I'm in MOCO and aftercare typically costs $400+ a month. I've never seen anything less than that. Cheap aftercare and free pre-k... I'm starting to wish that we had stayed in DC. |
Anonymous
|
We have our kids in aftercare at an immersion school (not YY or MV) and initially tried to find another solution for fear that it was too long a day for the kids.
In hindsight, those worries were unfounded. The kids love the time with their friends and always want to stay longer. Our evenings have to be fairly structured to make the dinner, bath, bedtime routine work, but they got used to that fairly quickly as well. |
Anonymous
Interesting... what do FARMs families pay for aftercare at your school? |
Anonymous
|
At my child’s immersion DCPS the aftercare ranges from 160-200 per month depending on the days of instruction. I could never afford 400 bucks and we are a middle class family with 3 kids.
|
Anonymous
| To the aggrieved poster: there are several lower-cost alternatives that will come pick your kids up from school to go to their cheaper (and let's face it, worse) aftercare. You can go to MV or YY but don't have to pay the aftercare fees. BUT the rest of the school community values and wants quality care. And it costs. So quit being so entitled. |
Anonymous
Not sure who you think is aggrieved, but our family would love to know this info. Please name 3 or more specific such lower cost alternatives that pick up from school and provide aftercare, all for a lower cost? |
Anonymous
What charter do you attend? Still waiting to hear what school this is. |
Anonymous
Given that all the interest in finding ways to cover the lowest SES families for aftercare has been expressed by parents who have already found a way to pay aftercare at MV and YY, who is it you are accusing of being entitled? And hopefully you're not a parent at either school - I feel for whichever parent population has to deal with you. |
Anonymous
Not sure- I don't think that is published, though I know that they can get subsidized care. There is a significant FARMS population at the school and my sense is that most don't use aftercare, but I don't know for sure. |
Anonymous
| What did folks who can't afford $450/month aftercare do before their kids were school-aged? |
Anonymous
They probably only budgeted for 3 years of daycare, maybe they stayed home for 1st 3 years, maybe they had their thumb in their butt! It doen't matter. What does matter is the cost for MV and YY are high and not accessible to many families. You can argue against it until you're blue in the face, but the fact remains. Some schools use aftercare as way to earn a few more $s at the cost of working class families. |
Anonymous
Don't know about others, but the 2 families I knew in this situation each had family who kept a lot of people's kids. Only thing is, neither of those family members could travel to pick up or transport kids. If the kids were dropped off and picked up from their house, everything was fine (and they were paid, just not much). But once the kid is at school and needs to be picked up for aftercare/daycare, it all fell apart. It's not unusual to have a childcare situation that worked when kids were babies/toddlers and could all be in one place. A lot of the challenges come if that caregiver cannot pick up (usually because they care for more than just one family's kids) and also when there are kids at different schools, which everyone tries to avoid but there are plenty of people who only get one kid into the school they really want and have to hope sibling preference works for the next year so they're together. I knwo a family where that was the main challenge for their old caregiver. |