Reply to Aftercare is cruel to kindergarteners

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP,

You could have phrased your post with less judgment, but I mostly agree with you. I'm a working Mom and my daughter started preschool last year. My husband and I adjusted our schedules so that we could both pick her up twice a week and my Mom/Dad picked her up on Fridays. It worked great until my Dad got sick. So we moved to aftercare.

On the one hand, I like it in warm weather because she got to go out and spend free time with her school friends. On the other, I didn't like that she spent 9 hours at school (we usually picked her up around 5:15). [b]And I really didn't like it when the weather was not good, so those 2 hours were spent indoors[/b].

This year she's in pre-K and we will not do after-care. I just don't like keeping her there so long and I don't want to pay for the luxury of her staying only an hour (the amount of time I'm comfortable with her staying in aftercare). I also don't like that the "quality" of care changes in aftercare. [/quote]

During bad weather, wouldn't those 2 hours be spent indoors with you?  Or would you just send her out in the rain/snow/freezing cold anyway?  You really have some misplaced mommy guilt if this is what upset you.[/quote]

EXACTLY.

The thing is, obviously the quality of "aftercare" programs vary by school. Hell, even within a specific school, the quality probably varies by day. Is it great for kids to be parked in front of a TV with a dozen other kids at their school watching Dora the Explorer from 3-6? Probably not, in my opinion, but it also won't completely destroy them forever if they are living otherwise fulfilling lives. Most adults I know waste 3+ hours a day on things that are probably not good for them. Is it great for kids to have extra dance class, or supplemental languages, or arts, or whatever? We can disagree on whether it's healthy for kids ages 3-6 to be scheduled that much in general, but I know a lot of kids who really enjoy the things they do and learn in aftercare, when it's actually an enrichment program, rather than a glorified parking lot.[/quote]

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