What You Need To Know About The After School Child Care Program And Social Development
How can an after school child care program help your young student's social skills? If your child struggles with social development, take a look at the benefits of after school child care.
Extra Social Time
Your child gets plenty of time to interact with other students during the school day. But the more opportunities they have for social skill building, the better. Whether your child attends an after school program for an hour or the entire evening, the added time provides them with a chance to practice key social skills such as sharing, turn-taking, and communication.
Extra Emotional Time
Social and emotional skill development goes hand-in-hand. Not only will an after school program provide extra social time, but this type of activity may help your child to grow emotionally. As your child interacts with other students, they'll develop skills such as emotional identification and expression.
Whether they learn from the program staff, other children, or through extra practice time, they can carry these new abilities into the classroom and home environments.
New Social Ties
Does the after school program offer your young student the chance to meet new children and make new friends? If the program includes children who aren't in your child's regular school class or grade, they'll have the chance to expand their social circle and build new friendships. This provides your child with a sense of belonging and a way to make friends outside of classroom cliques.
Additional Social Roles
An after school program may go beyond helping your child to make friends. This type of education-based experience can put students into new social roles. A multi-age program allows older students to take on mentorship roles and assist their younger peers. The younger children can learn, grow, and develop new skills-bases as they watch, follow, and interact with older program participants.
Increased Communication Periods
How do children build language and communication skills? While literacy-based classes and in-school activities play pivotal roles in your child's education, an after school program can also assist the young student in building critical communication abilities. These skills go beyond talking and include non-verbal expression, conversational turn-taking, and negotiating group conversations.
An after school program provides more than basic child care. Even though the program staff will carefully supervise your child while you're at work or school, the young students also have the chance to build valuable social skills. From extra time spent with other children to changes in typical social roles, your child will expand this area of development and grow in new ways.
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