Is after care too much for a kindergartener?

[Anonymous]

My dd will be in K this fall. School starts at 7 a.m., we are looking at after care until 5:30 pm. Most days, she will not be there past 4 pm. Sometimes we will get her at 2:30.
Is that too much? Do they start to hate school because of the long days?

[Anonymous]

My kids are in school from 8:30, and are in aftercare from 3:00-5:30/6:00. They really like playing with the other kids, and are usually very happy. There is an occasional tired day, but for the most part, I have found that they adapt to whatever schedule you give them.

[Anonymous]

depends on the child and the program...
If you HAVE to do it, pack an afterschool snack for her, cos hungry kids don't cope well

[Anonymous]

I know from pre-K that my dd needs a lot of time alone to recharge after a full school day, so I came to the conclusion that aftercare would be too much for her. Might be great for more extroverted, high-energy kids, though.

[Anonymous]

Our elementary school provides snacks to kids in aftercare (but you should see if it's something your kid likes so you can send a snack if not).

A lot depends on your child's personality. When we started doing aftercare one day a week, my son liked it so much he wanted to go every day. Art projects! Playing with his friends! Wheee! We tried it, and although he was happy, I think he was also overstimulated; by the time he got home in the late afternoon, he was very wound up and didn't behave very well. If your daughter is social, she will probably love getting to stay late and play. Whether you'll love the results of that . . . . Honestly, though, if it's only occasional, everything should be fine.

[Anonymous]

My son loves his aftercare program - he gets annoyed when I pick him up too early. They provide a snack, as well as tutors to help with homework (very nice because then we only have to review homework and do reading at night.) The projects, activities, etc, are endless, but not overdone. And honestly, he isn't doing anything that is different from the days he comes straight home after school. He colors, paints, reads books, plays outside and plays board games or indoor games with friends - same as he would if he were home with me.

[Anonymous]

Wow, what school starts at 7 am??

[Anonymous]

Ditto the previous poster who said their kid gets annoyed when they are picked up early. My son loves his aftercare program. During the school day they really don't have a chance to interact with other kids in the school and sometimes not even in their class rooms. So for my very busy boy he loves being able to have free play with other boys his age and some of the "big kids" as well. In his program they offer really great snacks too(fruit cups with whipped cream, ice cream, you know all that junk that will spoil dinner) so he definately doesn't want to leave before snack time EVER. LOL!

He was in kindergarten last year and never wanted to leave before 5. However his aftercare at camp this summer was boring to him, so we picked him up on time. Hopefully if you have to put your child in an aftercare program it would be one that suits your child's interests. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Where do you find after care programs?

[Anonymous]

Aftercare was definitely too much for my child last year. We are in the process of hiring a part time nanny rather than send her to the school's aftercare program.

[Anonymous]

My shy, generally introverted daughter who is also an only child, went to after school care at her school last year in Arlington for KG. She initially had some trouble adjusting, mainly b/c she did not feel comfortable around the other kids, who she did not know, and b/c she did not know the teachers.

After 2-3 weeks, she was very much adjusted, and began to LOVE it. She really opened up and became more outgoing, talkative, and confident. It was a wonderful experience for her and she made a lot of friends. The school provides a snack, but she was still hungry when we picked her up (we brought a snack for the car ride home). After a few months, if we picked her up early, she would be a bit disappointed b/c she wanted to stay longer and play. Other times, she was happy to go home, but also had a good day.

Yes, it is a long day. I would not schedule anything at all after school and after care -- once we got home for us it was dinner, shower, homework (if any), play or read a little, and go to bed. She also got to do some enrichment programs at aftercare, such as art class or other stuff (you can sign up for it, for extra money like softball, skating, martial arts, etc). Overall a positive experience and she will do aftercare again this year for 1st grade.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Where did I find such a program?

Arlington!!!!

[Anonymous]

OP here, we decided to do three days a week only. We will just have to figure out how to get out of work the other days.

[Anonymous]

Don't forget, if it doesn't seem to be working out after a while, you can start looking into other options. When I was in high school, I used to babysit kids every day after school until their parents got home. Maybe there are some responsibile teenagers in your neighborhood? FWIW, I plan to do exactly what you just said when my kids hit schoolage (aftercare 3 days a week, and out early the other two days). But mine have been in day care all day 3 days a week since they were infants, so it won't be that big a change for them.

[Anonymous]

The poster that asked where you find aftercare programs - first try your school. The school itself should have a list of programs that service their school. My son is in private school and they have an aftercare program until 6 pm but no other options aside from that. Our neighborhood public elementrary school does not have an aftercare of its own however they have several programs that service the school. One is a daycare center that has a bus that picks up the kids from the school and takes them to the daycare. THe other is a Karate School that picks up the kids from the school and takes them to the Karate School where the kids have lessons until the parents pick them up. Our neighborhood community center also provides an aftercare service, but I don't think they pick up the kids so I am not sure how parents get their kids their.