After-School Care In Middle Childhood

After-school care is the time between the end of the school day for children and the end of the work day for parents. In that time, children may be involved in activities, be watched over by a relative or parent, look after themselves, or attend a day care or school-based after-school. The settings of after-school care vary from child to child and so does the amount of time they are in the presence of this care or caretaker.

1. Parent Care & Self Care

When parent care comes to mind, this GIF is exactly what I picture when my father used to watch my brother and I. Today, more and more mother are becoming employed and about 97% of families have at least one employed parent in their household. Most of the time if one of the parents in a household are unemployed or only have a part-time job, that parent will look after the child. Statistics also say that in 2015, 61% of families had two employed parents. This means that the child may have to take care and provide for themselves before one of the parents come home. Self-care is when a child stays home alone and this type of care may increase in grades first to fifth.

2. Center-Based Care (Day Care)

Just like the meme says, child care providers are there to teach, nurture, and love children just like the way a parent would. It is important for a child's development to have someone to look up to and a child care provider can be that person. Center-based care is when the child attends a formal after-school daycare program with adult supervision until one of the parents get off of work. Child care providers are usually used in early years of life and then the use of them tends to decrease in grades first to fifth. This type of care is more often used in high SES children, but low SES children in day care had higher levels of social competence.

3. Sitter & Relative Care

Using a babysitter is common when a child comes from a household in which both parents are employed. Most sitters are relatives like Grandparents or aunt and uncles. A relative that babysits a lot may take on another role as a parent just like in this meme how the baby wants his grandma. Sitter care is informal adult supervision that can be in the child's home or the caretakers home. Sitter care increases during the ages of first grade to third grade but decreases from third grade to fifth grade. This decrease may be due to the fact that children are starting to participate in more school activities. In low SES studies showed that there are higher GPA achievement scores when using this type of care.

4. School-Based Care & Activity-Oriented Care

School-based care and activity-oriented care is usually tied with some type of extracurricular activity this is supervised or coached by an adult. These activities happen after school and can be a program or a sport. Some of the after school programs may be band, woodshop, or theater. Some of the sports can be volleyball, basketball, or soccer just like the child in the picture is playing. This type of care increases in grades first to fifth grade and can continue on into later grades. Having these after school activities helps parents to not have to find someone to specifically watch their child and it helps the child to socialize and grow developmentally.