Career and Kids

After School Care

by elizabeth on January 5th, 2007

Good grief. It looks like someone has given a name to worrying about your kids after school while you are working. Apparently researchers call it PCAST: Parental Concern over After School Time. Shouldn’t that be PCOAST?

Anyway…

From that link above, at least parents can take solace in the fact that it can be a concern the world over as that article is from a paper in the United Arab Emirates, and, not the Florida Gulf Coast as those of us in the Southern United States usually assume.

OK, focus here. Me, not you.

What to do with children after school when both parents, or, the primary parent works has been an issue for a long time, so, it’s no great surprise that companies are concerned about employee performance when they are worried about children who may be home alone (so lovingly called “latchkey kids”).

Writers and researchers say that this wouldn’t have to happen if employers offered “flexible schedules”. But, we’re just not there yet for everyone, and, people have to work scheduled hours that likely extend beyond the end of the school day.

This article brings up an important point, many after school programs don’t serve tween and young teen ages, and, not every school has after school activities such as sports or clubs. Therefore, many kids this age are home alone for a few hours after school, and, it can be a vulnerable time for them.

But, there are also kids who are home alone without issue until their parents arrive from work. Only you know what works for your family, but, it would be nice if there were more options specifically for older kids, other than GPS Tracking.

Though my oldest is 12 (others are 10 and 4), them staying home alone isn’t usually an option because of where we live. It’s not unsafe or anything, but, since we live out near the “country”, we don’t have neighbors nearby, and, the house sits a bit off the road.

We’ve cobbled together an after school plan, and, it kind of evolves each year. We are fortunate that our kids’ school has an on-site after school program, but, as my kids have gotten older, it’s not something they really want to do, and, it’s pretty expensive to use for only an hour or so, since, my husband who is a teacher, can pick them up not too long after school is out. Additionally, they get out of school every Monday at 2pm, so that’s another challenge.

So, 2 days a week, we have a friend who picks them up from school, and, it’s nice because she makes them do their homework, and, in turn, my daughter helps her with childcare. The other days they go to “Late Pick-up” which is sort of an in-between of leaving right when school is out and full-out After School Care.

I actually somehow talked the school into starting this program (so say a prayer it is working out for them, since it is saving our hides right now) because I though maybe there were other parents like us who couldn’t quite get there at 3pm because they are teachers themselves, or, perhaps they work a 7-3 shift, but, who could get there shortly after dismissal. In that situation, using the After Care Program for a few minutes doesn’t make since because it is a flat fee no matter how many hours you are there.

For the Late Pick-up program, the school asked for 2 volunteer teachers to agree to watch kids from 3-3:50 pm in the cafeteria. The cost is $2 per person, and, you pay the teacher directly when you pick them up. The kids use that time to do homework, talk quietly, or, read, and, it’s been kind of nice to have the homework done before they get home.

So, my point (ha, you didn’t think I had one, did you? Truthfully, I’m still not sure if I do or not) is, as working parents, many of us have to consider after school options, and, most of us worry about those plans to some degree. And, as children get older, the options are fewer.

Perhaps if we learn from each other, we can come up with new ideas for after school care that work for our families, and, make us more focused employees at the same time.

(However, if you were really focused, you wouldn’t be reading this at work, now, would you? ;))

Share This

Related Stories

When the child care plan is no plan
A four day school week?
Back to School. Kind of.
Library Daycare
School’s out for October?

POSTED IN: Childcare