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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We used aftercare until one of our kids was being bullied and the aftercare folks were not being responsive. We then hired a sitter for the afternoons and while she was more expensive, the benefit to our kids was even more than I'd expected. Just getting to come home, have a snack, and decompress, plus getting a start on homework was huge. Their grades and behavior improved a ton -- it wasn't bad before but I didn't realize how much better it could be. [/quote]

Thank you for sharing. At what age was this? Definitely need to pay attention to aftercare situation. [/quote]

It was first or second grade. Our older DS made it longer into aftercare because the specific bullying situation only happened to my youngest. But in hindsight it would have been better if we'd taken them both out earlier. The quality of the staff they get at the aftercare programs we have seen is just not very good. Think about it -- they have to hire people who are willing to work for very little money for only a few hours a day but who also can pass a background screening to work with kids. It's not a big pool of great talent. If the program offers enrichment classes of some sort (chess, soccer, piano, languages, piano, etc), I think that's the better way to go because it's more structured, as long as you don't have to pay for the aftercare on top of it, which makes it less of a good deal.

Another thing we've seen is that kids age out of aftercare before the end of elementary. Partly because of activities that occur outside of school in the afternoon/evenings. Perhaps also because they don't want to go and they can make their way home from school. But I'm not sure there are any fifth graders in aftercare at my kids' school. If so, it's the parents who truly have no other options or are simply not paying attention. [/quote]

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