Do After School Programs Help Children’s Development?

Posted On: June 20, 2018 By Jim Newton

Every parent wants what’s best for their child, but it’s not always easy to do it alone—that’s where the saying “it takes a village” comes from! There’s no shame in outsourcing your child’s development; after all, it’s a complex process that takes plenty of external influence and help. The “village” is comprised of your close family and friends and other support systems, but it also includes schools, your child’s peers, and positive influences from other adults in their life, such as in after school programs.

A child’s psychological development is influenced by many different factors, including social influences, and the consistency in their environment. After school programs offer children a place where they can develop, grow, and learn in several different domains, and can take a lot of pressure off of parents and families to solely provide these things for their children on their own. In this article, we’ll talk about a few of the different ways after school programs can help your child’s development and wellbeing.

Keeps Kids Out of Trouble

A majority of risky or experimental behaviors that kids participate in occurs in the after school hours before their parents come home and they’re unable to be supervised, or they’re being supervised by a temporary “stand-in” adult whom they do not have the same set of rules and expectations with. Simply by enrolling your child in an after school program, they’re able to be in a supervised setting where they can be monitored and guided appropriately by trained professionals and childcare experts.

Engages Children in Outdoor Activities and Exercise

Today’s children are notoriously sedentary, which can lead to significant health concerns in the long run, such as early onset diabetes and heart conditions. Furthermore, a lack of exercise can contribute to depression and anxiety. By being outdoors in sunshine, becoming more active, your child’s brain begins creating natural endorphins that not only help their mind stabilize, but helps their bodies develop muscle mass and gross motor skills.

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Fosters Social Skills and Communal Awareness

People are communal beings; in other words, we have a drive to do what’s best for the community at large and a compassion for other humans. After school programs often foster communal awareness by involving kids in creative ways to help others in the community. Furthermore, on a daily basis children interact with one another, learn to share, and learn social norms that help them become more aware of others around them.

Increase Academic Performance and Enthusiasm

Academia is a huge concern for most parents, but our children aren’t always as interested in or enthusiastic about academics as we are. When your child can be in a setting where other children are being helped to learn more effectively and they’re making the learning environment interesting and enthralling, academia naturally becomes exciting—especially when they’re able to grasp concepts they hadn’t before. After school programs are designed to incorporate education into children’s daily routines, without extending their normal school day. They learn new skills and activities, including sports, games, and creative tasks. When your kids can extend their learning to other areas that they’re genuinely interested in, they are enhancing their ability to retain new information—this can be generalized to academic endeavors. Furthermore, after school programs are often geared to help children with specific academic struggles, offering different and unique ways to get children to learn and enjoy learning in subjects they otherwise aren’t interested in.

Our Approach to Childcare, Child Development, and Education

Here at Great Beginnings Child Care and Learning Center in Sugar Hill, GA, our focus is always on how to help children and families learn, grow, and develop together. Our team of childcare professionals works cohesively to provide after school programs that address multiple domains of child growth, including their physical, psychological, and emotional development. At Great Beginnings, we foster learning and development as a supplement to the family and school environments—in other words, we’re simply a part of the “village” that it takes to raise a healthy child. We love our community, and we are dedicated to providing resources for families that they can feel proud of utilizing. To learn about our childcare philosophies and qualifications, or to find out more about our afterschool programs, please contact one of our helpful professionals today.