Introduction
Chapter 1: Examining Perspectives on Out-of-School Time
Chapter 2: Children’s Development
Chapter 3: Health and Safety
Chapter 4: Schedules, Programming, and Transitions
Chapter 5: Using Environments To Support Children
Chapter 6: Using Relationships To Support Children
Chapter 7: Using Experiences To Support Children
Chapter 8: Promoting Staff Collaboration, Creativity, and Communication
Chapter 9: Families, Host Facilities, and Community Resources
Chapter 10: Seven Social Skills

What is the Purpose of School-Age Care?

School-age care is a place for growth, nurturing, and life skill development. It is a sad fact that, as a nation, we are losing our children in sizable numbers. Every day, children and youth experiment with at-risk behaviors and begin negative developmental pathways. The school-age care professional can be a powerful force for a child’s growth.

School-age care facilitates positive development in children. Professionals in SAC are in the premiere place to guide and mentor the optimum development of life skills. There is no better place, outside the home, where adults can be attentive to the child’s growth and, when necessary, intervene so that the child continues to learn and grow.

School-age care teaches social skills and life in a community. School-age care is a microcosm of community. All the things that happen in life happen in school-age care. As adults, we need to get along with others, resolve conflict, communicate effectively, cope with disappointment, and take responsibility for our own actions. These social skills are learned, to a large degree, in childhood. The learning of social skills doesn’t just happen. We must be intentional about teaching these skills.

School-age care is a place to learn peaceful living skills. When we lose a child or youth to delinquency, addiction, or other life-destroying problems, we not only lose a future productive citizen; we also add to our societal costs by trying to rehabilitate the child, and by protecting the community from destructive influences.

School-age care works with families, schools, care providers, and the community to build a safety net for children. School-age care professionals should be critical partners in facilitating the positive development of children and youth. Parents cannot do it alone. Schools cannot do it alone. But all of the community’s influences together can create an environment where children have a better chance to grow up positively.

School-age care plays a part in the efforts of the community to ensure our future. If our society does not have the systems in place to ensure the next generation’s workforce, then we cannot secure our future. We are assured a societal future by having children with peaceful living skills, who will grow into productive adults. We not only support the current workforce, we develop its future.

School-age care programs are intentional. Quality school-age care programs don’t happen by accident. They are intentionally constructed by people who have a vision for quality and a passion for children. They are socially and recreationally rich programs that provide children the opportunity to practice real-life skills.