Today is Lights On Afterschool, the Afterschool Alliance's annual national rally for afterschool programs. This is its 27th year, and organizers expect about 8,000 events and a million participants across the country: open houses, science nights, student performances and family dinners at schools, libraries, community centers and youth programs.
Most of our families have children too young for afterschool. We still think today is worth marking, because it points to a problem many parents don't see coming.
The next gap after preschool
Many families spend the first five years searching for child care, and many assume the problem eases once a child starts kindergarten. In one way it does. In another, it just moves.
A typical school day ends around 3 p.m. A typical workday doesn't. The hours between the final bell and the end of a parent's shift are their own child care problem, and for many families it is a hard one to solve.
The Afterschool Alliance's most recent national survey, America After 3PM, puts numbers to it:
- Parents of nearly 30 million children, more than half of all school-age kids, want an afterschool program for their child.
- More than three in four of those children aren't in one.
- Among parents whose children aren't in a program, the most common barriers were cost (56 percent), no safe way to get to and from a program (49 percent), inconvenient locations (48 percent) and no program in their community at all (42 percent).
- 89 percent of parents said they support public funding for afterschool programs.
If that sounds familiar, it should. Cost, transportation and simple availability are the same barriers families face with infant and toddler care. Earlier this week we looked at new research from Louisiana showing how many parents cut their hours when care isn't available. The same thing happens at 3 p.m.
What good afterschool looks like
For children in the early grades, a good program isn't just supervision. It is a continuation of what a strong preschool does:
- Play and movement after a long day of sitting
- Relationships with the same caring adults, day after day
- Low-pressure learning, like reading together, building, art and science projects
- Help with homework for older children, without turning the afternoon into more school
- A snack, which matters more than it sounds for a six-year-old who ate lunch at 11
It's the same thing we look for in early childhood programs: quality comes from the interactions, not the label on the door.
Planning ahead if you have a preschooler
If your child starts kindergarten next fall, now is a good time to start asking:
- Does your school offer afterschool care, and is there a waitlist? Some programs fill their kindergarten spots early.
- Is there a free or low-cost option? Many schools run programs funded through the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program or through local partners like YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs.
- How would your child get there? Transportation was one of the biggest barriers in the national survey. Ask whether a program picks up from your school.
- What happens on early-release days and school breaks? These are often the hardest days to cover.
Our guide to getting ready for kindergarten covers the classroom side of the transition. The afternoon side deserves the same planning.
If there's an event near you
Lights On events are usually free, open to the public and family-friendly. If a school or community center near you is hosting one tonight, it's an easy way to see a program in action, meet the staff, and ask questions a year before you need the answers.
