Americans have a love-hate relationship with work. Many of us would be all too happy to not have to go to work and would love to have more free time on our hands, but the fact is that we also work some of the longest weeks and take fewer vacation days than most other nations in the world. This work schedule can mean many things, but the biggest is that it can be hard to watch your kids after they get out of school.
In today’s world, it is estimated that somewhere around 11.3 million children take care of themselves after the school day ends. Either due to having both parents at work, or only having one parent in the home, who is working.
There are many after school care needs programs throughout the country, especially for younger children. Programs that could be run by the school, or privately ran by individuals like a business of sorts. They aren’t daycares in the traditional sense, but more of a location to have your child be to learn, be safe, and mind by adults experienced with kids.
Day care centers are generally a good place to leave your toddler to learn, as a child’s early education is one of the most important time periods in their lives. In the first few years of life, 700 new neural connections are formed every second. That is the most developing of any time of a child’s life.
Some of the benefits of an after school care needs program are that your child’s learning experience could be dramatically improved. A national evaluation found that over 40% of students attending 21st Century Community Learning Center programs improved their reading and math grades.
The programs can also have the benefit of helping your child become more well mannered in the classroom, improve or increase school attendance, academic aspirations, and significantly reduce the likelihood of a child dropping out at some point in their learning career.
This can also have a dramatic effect on worker productivity, as parents concerned about their children post-school can miss on average of eight days of work per year. That means a loss of money for parents and this worker productivity which can cost $300 billion annually worldwide for businesses.
If you have any questions concerning after school care programs for your child, feel free to contact us. We’ll be happy to help.