Which ones do you like? What do you look for in one?
2 kids, different schools, same time pick-up.
He'll actually like this as home can be boring.
You're probably going to have to use two different ones since they have pick-up at the same time. The van can't be in both places at once.
For after school, I just looked for someplace where homework could be done, and was clean. The after school programs at the school are usually very good.
The YMCA has one that is right at the school.
I look for a combination of what he likes, and what I want. What I want - for him to do his homework. What he wants - to have free time to play either outside or, in case of bad weather, in the gym. He wants to MOVE after sitting all day. The Y-program does both. The first 20 min are homework time, then a quick snack, then they go outside or to the gym and play four-square or kickball or whatever. Perfect.
My kids liked going to the after school care at their school, because that's where all their friends were. Since that doesn't seem to be an option for you I guess you just need to pick based on what your SON likes. Does he need quiet/down time? Lots of running around? Arts and crafts? You really should be basing your choice off of HIS interests.
Too bad he's bored at home. Maybe he's had so much structure he's lacking in imaginative and independent thinking skills. You may want to think about that as well. Children need to learn how to use their minds without constant direction and planning from adults. I think young parents are so quick to constantly entertain their children they forget this is a very important life skill.
My kids go to a daycare center. They actually ride the school bus there. There is now an afterschool program at their school, but there wasn't one when my oldest started going to school there. Now I see no reason to move them.
At the time I was looking for a daycare center for my youngest. I did visit several places. I had no idea what I was doing when I started, but after visiting a few I realized it's more gut feeling than anything else. At least that's true for me. I did see 2 places I really liked - one in our school district (busing :-), and the other not in our school district. So transportation was important to me.
If you're not sure where to start (because this can be overwhelming), you could start by calling one of the schools and talking to the secretary. They get calls about after school care and should at least know who/what some of your options are.
My daughters school has a YMCA program at the school and she goes there. She loves it. The first hours is help with home work or reading and the rest of the time is working on a craft or science project. If the kid is still there after that then it's organized play time. My daughters friends are there so play time is fun for her. I love the Y program.
YMCA is awesome.. My son has been going after noons after kindergarten. They have done so much with him, it was amazing to me.
Most schools have some kind of program. Just check it out.
Keep them in the after school program. Easier that way.
Our school runs its own after-school care program, and it has been fine for us. It combines some homework time with supervised outdoor play, crafts, and videos later in the day. For our younger kids, they like the socializing and the outdoor part, as well as using computers. We like that they have a safe place to be and a structured homework time, along with different activities than we might provide. By fifth grade or so, however, more and more kids seem to outgrow it and don't really want to be there.
I would certainly look to make sure the staff do seem to care about the kids and supervise them.
We did the one that our Community offered right at the school. There is also one that the County offered but that one picked you up from your school and drove the kids to the main school where they were. i preferred the one done by our community since it kept the kids at teh school and didn't transport them anywhere. Oh, and I only did the before care but they did an after care program too so he was only there for about an hour and a half before school started.
I would see if one school or the other had in-school care and/or could be bussed to one that did. We used after school care in the school for SD til she aged out. She had a snack, play time with friends, and homework time. It worked well for us overall.
I love my school-based after care. It's so convenient. And it's very, very good.
