Program Design and Content

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Effective after-school programs do more than provide kids with a safe place, a snack, and free time. They are carefully designed to foster a love of learning and opportunities for personal growth. They build on the lessons of the school day in ways that excite kids and make their school lessons meaningful.

Elements of Successful Programs

Homework help and tutoring are essential parts of most out-of-school time programs, but good programs also offer much more.

Enrichment

Young people need to discover themselves and the world around them through different experiences, many of which are not academic. Great after-school is all about opportunities such as arts, sports, entrepreneurship, new cultures, chess, cooking, fashion design and woodworking.

Variety

Kids need a balanced variety of academics, arts, life skills, cultural exploration, discussions and recreation. Diverse programming, ranging from "The Trip of the Month" to "Book Clubs" to "Tech Clubs," is a sure way to keep kids involved.

Learning by Doing

Hands-on activities not only reinforce skills, they also can bring new interest and relevance to any school subject. Activities that illustrate abstract principles and material that demands student participation all bring learning to life. Kids will jump at things that allow them to jump in, such as adapting a story into a play, mapping flora and fauna outside the classroom and exploring a culture by cooking its dishes.

Connecting to Community

A good after-school program gives young people a chance to connect to their communities. Students can select possible service learning projects from a menu or they can generate their own ideas. Projects planned by youth make afterschool more meaningful — such as raising awareness on gang violence or AIDS prevention or creating a garden that can offer the community flowers and vegetables.

Fun Learning.

Good after-school programs "sneak" in skill-building in fun ways — basketball and statistics, cooking and measurement, song lyrics and literacy, craft sales and economics, hip-hop and history. Afterschool offers teachable moments to master skills.

Cohesive themes

Good after-school programs build programming around common themes. Young people who study local wetlands ecology may be interested in how the wetlands affected their community’s history. They might express what they learned about that history in a collage, a mural or a play. They could do a local survey of wetlands awareness, requiring math skills. Holistic learning helps kids improve school performance and spurs interest in higher education.

Low Student-to-Teacher Ratios

Effective after-school programs keep student-teacher ratios low. Kids learn more with personal attention from adults. They want role models and mentors, especially if few exist in their lives. Adults can form those relationships when they work with fewer kids.

Programming Based on Staff Interests:

Teachers’ and youth workers’ personal experiences are tremendous tools for creating programming. Not every passion makes for good programming, but tapping teacher talent and interest is a great tool in designing programs.

Aligning Learning Standards and After-School Programs

The DC Public School system has new learning standards in English/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The challenging, comprehensive standards prepare students for new high-stakes tests. Learning beyond the school day can use these same standards to support student growth.

You can find the learning standards, activities, calendars and reading lists at: http://www.k12.dc.us/DCPS/standards2005/standardsHome.htm

Learning standards offer advantages to after-school programs:

• Continuity Of Effort Afterschool aims to help young people master skills. After-school and school professionals to be on the same page, working toward the same academic goals.
• Curriculum Ideas The standards are great for designing after-school programming. After-school programs are particularly effective when they relate specific standards to their programming. Using “themesâ€? to create activities and projects is a terrific tool in program design.
• Promotes Your Program Publicizing how your program helps kids meet standards lets parents, foundations, schools, city leaders, and kids know that your program helps young people succeed.