SCHOOL AGE - DEVELOPMENTAL OBJECTIVES
Most family childcare homes accommodate children of all ages. Generally, it is the toddlers and preschool children that are attending full time and the school age children may only attend before and after school. Therefore, your primary childcare environment may be set up to accommodate the younger children.
A quality family childcare program will accommodate the specific developmental needs of each child in care. When you accept a child into your program, you are accepting the responsibility and obligation to provide an environment that has materials, equipment, and schedule of activities that meet the developmental needs of each child enrolled in your program. School age children will greatly benefit from a positive after-school arrangement. In some cases, the support a child receives at a family childcare program will have a dramatic effect of the level of success the child achieves at school.
Forming developmental objectives for your family childcare school age program is essential in the preparation of your schedule, activities and supplies for your program.
Here are some objectives to consider:
• Developing a sense of responsibility
• Developing the ability to sympathize
• Children will learn to channel emotions
• Children will be able to release creative potentials
• Developing a sense of honesty and fair play
• Children will learn to live in harmony with each other
• Children will learn good health habits, including good nutrition and good hygiene.
When developing school age activities to meet your goals, here are few things we know about school age children:
• School age children are able to make conscious decisions about art, music, dance, and theater and respond to them with feelings and emotions
• School age children learn to compare and contrast different sounds, pictures, and movements
• School age children become progressively skilled at creating art, including: songs, stories, and dance movements
• School age children learn in an integrated fashion. It is important their learning experiences incorporate multiple domains of development including cognitive, physical, and social-emotional
• School age children generally have good body control and are able to do cartwheels and ride bikes independently
Although we know there are many challenges in meeting the developmental goals for every age group, most providers are able to accomplish these objectives every day. When you develop your program using your information of where school age children are developmentally and what they are able to achieve, you will be able to establish a quality program that will assist school age children in the following ways:
• Promote health and nutrition
• Promote independence
• Promote a child’s ability to relate to the world around him/her
• Offers opportunities for fun and enjoyment
• Offers opportunities for rest and relaxation
• Providers supervision for homework
• Promote the development of self-confidence
A family childcare program is only one of the many factors that influence the life of a school age child. When you create an environment that is positive and nurturing, you are contributing to the successful development of the children in your care.