My kid stopped in 4th bc most of his friends did. He walks home and just reads, plays with toys. He gets a snack himself and a glass of milk. He's usually home alone for 45 min.

There are a handful of 4th and 5th graders at our school in aftercare. They all seem like the kids who enjoy it and have at least one friend.

My 11 year old goes to aftercare and loves it, she is a people person, so loves to socialize. She'll continue next year.

My 10 year old eats a snack and plays on his own if he arrives home before us. No screens allowed and no outside play are our rules. Its less then an hour time, generally 30 to 45 minutes only so its not a big deal.

Mine will be in aftercare until he goes to MS when he’s 11.

We stopped aftercare in fourth grade because of a bullying issue. 10-year-old now walks home in one of us is either here or arrives home within an hour of end of school day. We live very close to the school or probably would’ve found an alternative.

Nope. None of his friends still do aftercare so we pulled him out. When it’s reasonable weather though, his friend group is almost always at school an extra hour to play basketball or football.

My 9 yr old does, with my 6 yr old, and they will probably go to aftercare through middle school since there's no busses and they don't go to our local school (all the schools here are title 1, but I drive them to a slightly better title 1 school lol).

I usually pick up quick though, if I'm not working at their school I am at the high schools which get out an hour after theirs. They do complain on the days their Dad picks them up though, he doesn't get there until 4-5pm, which is a long day considering school starts at 7:45

Anecdotally, there are fewer 4th and 5th grades in aftercare than kids in younger grades. But some are still there. Some have younger siblings , or parents who need 3 hours of care rather than one, or I know an ADHD kid whose parents won’t leave him alone, or there are caregivers in the house and a requirement is no kids under X age. Or maybe they walk home two to three days a week with after care on other days.

OP here. Thank you. I noticed that many of the 4th graders walked home themselves and I was wondering if that was the norm.

Those who go home, what do they do at home? How long are they typically home alone?

We sent our 5th grader to after care with her 3rd grade sibling. They weren't there that long in the afternoons, and it seemed weird to split them up, and it seemed too young for the 3rd grader to be home alone every afternoon. Yes, 5th grader was one of only 2 kids her age and didn't love it, but it also wasn't a big deal.

No my fifth grader doesn’t go to aftercare. B cause none of their friends go.

But on days off and half days, they go - that’s too long to be home alone bc they would be on screens all day.

My 10 year old is in 5th grade. He walks home after school. If both parents are at the office, which happens about 50% of the time, he is home alone for about 45 minutes.

This seems like what all of his friends do too.

Our 10 year old stays at school for aftercare. We’ll do the same next academic year.

Ours isn't quite ten, but she does beforecare but not aftercare. We work our schedules so that I'm usually home, and if I'm not she can be by herself for a bit.

I have been working part time and am considering a return to full time job. I have a 10-year-old and an 8-year-old. I noticed that the community center that is near our ES has mostly younger kids. Do most 10-year-olds just stay home with their parents/older siblings/by themselves? My older kid said that his friend just stay home until his parents return from work.