After-school activity
Encyclopedia
An after-school activity is any organized program which invites youth to participate outside of the traditional school day. Some programs are run by a primary or secondary school
and some by externally funded non-profit or commercial organizations. These after-school youth programs can occur inside a school building or elsewhere in the community, for instance at a community center, library
, park
, etc. These activities are a cornerstone of concerted cultivation
, giving children experience with leadership and dealing with adults. Such children are believed by proponents to be more successful in later life, while others consider too many activities to indicate overparenting.
Some feel that programs run by schools allows students to take courses or compete in intramural sports they would not otherwise enroll
in, for fear of failure
.
before they finish work. They can also occur in the evening and weekends
.
The motivation for participating in an after-school activity is often that working parents wish their children to be supervised. Proponents often believe that if unsupervised, children may fall into criminal or undesirable activity such as drug
-taking or teenage-sex.
believe that children should be allowed to develop their own ideas. Getting bored is a step towards having an idea for something else to do. Having no adult organizers allows the children to find their own structure.
In her book The Price of Privilege
, psychologist Madeline Levine
found that children of wealthy families were more likely to suffer psychological dysfunctions such as anxiety and depression. By spending so much time in organized after-school activities, and missing out on time or emotional closeness with their families, they fail to develop self management which is a powerful precursor to both psychological inner strength and academic achievement.
Not all children fit ideally within any single mould. While there may be some that benefit from being supervised and pushed towards didactic
goals, others will end up achieving more on their own, or with minimal supervision according to the Chinese philosophy of wu wei
.
are typically organised commercially and paid for by parents. Many children attend several a week, and occasionally even more than one per day. Similar activities also occur at weekends.
There is typically less focus on the managed "enrichment" than in the USA, beyond the basic choice of activity; for example football (soccer) is physically active and develops teamwork.
Afterschool Plus Alliance and the California Afterschool Network provide resources on the state level. On the national level, the Afterschool Alliance
serves as a national advocate for after-school activities.
In California
, after-school programming at the secondary level is funded primarily with 21st Century High School ASSETS (After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens) program grants. These grants stipulate programs must include academic, enrichment, and health and nutrition components.
The after-school programs at California's elementary schools are predominately funded with ASES (After-School Education & Safety) Program grants mandated when voters statewide approved California's Proposition 49 (2002). These grants provide for much of what the ASSETS grants provide at the secondary level, though there is an added family literacy component.
Throughout Southern California, non-profit providers work in partnership with school districts to provide after-school programs for k-12 students. Typically school districts apply for the grants to fund the local after-school programs. Then districts either elect to manage those program internally or outsource management to a Community-based organization (CBO), Non-governmental organization
(NGO) or other local non-profit provider. Beyond the Bell is a district run and managed after-school program offered to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD). THINK Together, Inc., California's largest non-profit provider, contracts with approximately 20 Southern California school district partners to run and manage academically oriented after-school programs at approximately 200 school sites located across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
and some by externally funded non-profit or commercial organizations. These after-school youth programs can occur inside a school building or elsewhere in the community, for instance at a community center, library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
, etc. These activities are a cornerstone of concerted cultivation
Concerted cultivation
Concerted cultivation is a style of parenting that is marked by a parent's attempts to foster their child's talents through organized leisure activities. This parenting style is commonly exhibited in middle and upper class American families...
, giving children experience with leadership and dealing with adults. Such children are believed by proponents to be more successful in later life, while others consider too many activities to indicate overparenting.
Typical activities
There are a myriad of organized after-school activities for children including, for example:- Sports such as soccer, baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, scooter racingKick scooterA kick scooter or push scooter, originally scooter, is a human-powered vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. The most common scooters today have two hard small wheels, are made primarily of aluminium and fold for convenience...
, hockeyHockeyHockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, swimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... - Performing artsPerforming artsThe performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
such as danceDanceDance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and balletBalletBallet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with... - Creative artsCreative ArtsCreative arts is the term used to describe different types of art. Specifically, to introduce fine art ideas, techniques, skills and media. It is generally used as an umbrella for Dramaturgy, Music , Graphic Arts/Cartooning, Performing Arts, Film and Publishing, Galleries and Museums and the Visual...
such as paintingPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, drawingDrawingDrawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
, craftCraftA craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
s - Cramming schools for literacy, mathematics, etc.
- ScoutingScoutingScouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
, Girl GuidesGirl GuidesA Guide, Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. It is the female-centred equivalent of the Scouts. The term Girl Scout is used in the United States and several East Asian...
, Boys and Girls Club of America, Boys' BrigadeBoys' BrigadeFor the 80s New Wave band from Canada, see Boys Brigade .The Boys' Brigade is an interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values...
, cadetCadetA cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
s
Some feel that programs run by schools allows students to take courses or compete in intramural sports they would not otherwise enroll
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
in, for fear of failure
Failure
Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury, the province of forensic...
.
Filling time
Many of these activities take place in the afternoons of school days, thereby helping parents with childcareChildcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
before they finish work. They can also occur in the evening and weekends
Workweek
The workweek and weekend are those complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest respectively. The legal working week , or workweek , is the part of the seven-day week devoted to labor. In most Western countries it is Monday to Friday. The weekend comprises the two traditionally...
.
The motivation for participating in an after-school activity is often that working parents wish their children to be supervised. Proponents often believe that if unsupervised, children may fall into criminal or undesirable activity such as drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
-taking or teenage-sex.
Independence
Advocates of slow parentingSlow parenting
Slow parenting is a parenting style in which few activities are organised for children. Instead, they are allowed to explore the world at their own pace...
believe that children should be allowed to develop their own ideas. Getting bored is a step towards having an idea for something else to do. Having no adult organizers allows the children to find their own structure.
In her book The Price of Privilege
The Price of Privilege
The Price of Privilege is a non-fiction book by Dr Madeline Levine. The book’s primary thesis is that teenagers from affluent families have more intense psychological problems than expected.-Overview:...
, psychologist Madeline Levine
Madeline Levine
Madeline Levine, Ph. D., is a practicing psychologist in Marin County. She is the author of three books: Viewing Violence published in 1996, See No Evil: A Guide to Protecting Our Children from Media Violence published in 1998, and The Price of Privilege: how parental pressure and material...
found that children of wealthy families were more likely to suffer psychological dysfunctions such as anxiety and depression. By spending so much time in organized after-school activities, and missing out on time or emotional closeness with their families, they fail to develop self management which is a powerful precursor to both psychological inner strength and academic achievement.
Not all children fit ideally within any single mould. While there may be some that benefit from being supervised and pushed towards didactic
Didacticism
Didacticism is an artistic philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature and other types of art. The term has its origin in the Ancient Greek word διδακτικός , "related to education/teaching." Originally, signifying learning in a fascinating and intriguing...
goals, others will end up achieving more on their own, or with minimal supervision according to the Chinese philosophy of wu wei
Wu wei
Wu wei is an important concept of Taoism , that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Another perspective to this is that "Wu Wei" means...
.
Management
Some after-school activities are provided free of charge at the point of delivery, while the majority are for-profit businesses which charge for membership. They are sometimes government-funded, especially where it is believed that the parents may not be providing a good home environment, and so professional care may be better.United Kingdom
After-school activities in BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
are typically organised commercially and paid for by parents. Many children attend several a week, and occasionally even more than one per day. Similar activities also occur at weekends.
There is typically less focus on the managed "enrichment" than in the USA, beyond the basic choice of activity; for example football (soccer) is physically active and develops teamwork.
United States
A number of states have organizations that work to give local after-school providers resources and training. For instance, the Rhode IslandRhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
Afterschool Plus Alliance and the California Afterschool Network provide resources on the state level. On the national level, the Afterschool Alliance
Afterschool Alliance
The Afterschool Alliance is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is "to ensure that all children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs." It uses communications and advocacy strategies to try to increase public and private investments in afterschool programs...
serves as a national advocate for after-school activities.
In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, after-school programming at the secondary level is funded primarily with 21st Century High School ASSETS (After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens) program grants. These grants stipulate programs must include academic, enrichment, and health and nutrition components.
The after-school programs at California's elementary schools are predominately funded with ASES (After-School Education & Safety) Program grants mandated when voters statewide approved California's Proposition 49 (2002). These grants provide for much of what the ASSETS grants provide at the secondary level, though there is an added family literacy component.
Throughout Southern California, non-profit providers work in partnership with school districts to provide after-school programs for k-12 students. Typically school districts apply for the grants to fund the local after-school programs. Then districts either elect to manage those program internally or outsource management to a Community-based organization (CBO), Non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
(NGO) or other local non-profit provider. Beyond the Bell is a district run and managed after-school program offered to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
(LAUSD). THINK Together, Inc., California's largest non-profit provider, contracts with approximately 20 Southern California school district partners to run and manage academically oriented after-school programs at approximately 200 school sites located across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.
India
A number of players have started providing after-school support but still the number is very small. Considering the India's demographic profile and education as an important priority for the Indian Middle Class and others. More players should be out in the market to provide quality support which the normal schools doesn't provide with the skewed class size and traditional teaching techniques. From the existing set of After-school providers the ones with individualized learning modules, complimenting school (K-12) are the most sought after. Way2Success Learning Systems, India's first of its kind for-profit provider, runs and manage academically oriented individualized after-school programs complimenting school syllabus across New Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad areas.See also
- Soccer momSoccer momThe phrase soccer mom broadly refers to a middle-class suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to their sporting events or other activities. Indices of American magazines and newspapers show relatively little usage of the term until a 1995...
- Concerted cultivationConcerted cultivationConcerted cultivation is a style of parenting that is marked by a parent's attempts to foster their child's talents through organized leisure activities. This parenting style is commonly exhibited in middle and upper class American families...
- Parenting stylesParenting stylesA parenting style is a psychological construct representing standard strategies that parents use in their child rearing. There are many differing theories and opinions on the best ways to rear children, as well as differing levels of time and effort that parents are willing to invest.Many parents...
- Slow parentingSlow parentingSlow parenting is a parenting style in which few activities are organised for children. Instead, they are allowed to explore the world at their own pace...
- AYSO
- YMCAYMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
- YWCAYWCAThe YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- buildonBuildonbuildOn is an international nonprofit organization that runs youth service afterschool programs in United States high schools, and builds schools in developing countries...
Further reading
Lindsey, Jennifer, "Quality After School Time: An Evaluative Study of the Eastside Story After School Program in Austin, TX" (2010). Applied Research Projects. Texas State University Paper 322. http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/322External links
- AfterSchool.gov - US GovernmentFederal government of the United StatesThe federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
website for after-school programs - Way2Success Learning Systems For-Profit After School Program in India
- Afterschool Alliance
- Willamette After School
- Center for Afterschool Education
- National Institute on Out-of-School Time at the Wellesley Centers for Women
- Out-of-School Time at the HarvardHarvard Graduate School of EducationThe Harvard Graduate School of Education is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University, and is one of the top schools of education in the United States. It was founded in 1920, the same year it invented the Ed.D...
Family Research Project - The After-School Corporation
- Hot Topic: Character Education - Service-learningService-learningService-learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting, frequently youth service, throughout the community. As a teaching method, it falls under the philosophy of experiential education...
-related after-school program information at Learn and Serve AmericaLearn and Serve AmericaLearn and Serve America is a United States government program under the authority of the Corporation For National and Community Service. Its mission is to provide opportunities for students nation-wide to participate in service learning projects, and to gain valuable experience while helping...
's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse