Working with School-Age Children

Description

A practical look at the roles of adults in children’s lives outside of the classroom.

Through the experiences of real people in a wide variety of settings and with a diversity of needs and insights, this book helps to define the role of professional child and youth workers in the lives of children and families. Working with School-Age Children builds on a foundation of child development theory and provides an historical overview of the subject and an overview of school-age care in other parts of the world to help ground the work done by the people represented in the book.

The book describes the issues children face in today’s world and the attributes and skills critical for people who work with school-age children. Included are strategies for adult involvement, healthy and productive activities, and guidelines for developing and sustaining afterschool programs.

The new edition features:

• The most current information in the field, including the latest research, programming, and hot topics, including:
• Updated statistics and survey research from a variety of sources.
• A look at 21^st Century Skills, including creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication, and the role of after school in developing and advancing these skills.
• 2011 Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards for after school adopted by the National After School Alliance.
• A look at several effective approaches for working with children, including:
• Mindset Theory.
• Thrive Foundation Theory of Change.
• The evidence-based approach for achieving specific desired outcomes.
• Moderate to vigorous activities and the use of research and evidence-based curriculum for achieving the desired outcomes.
• The Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships.
• Learning in After School and Summer Principles.

Marlene A. Bumgarner is a college instructor and consultant who works with schools and afterschool programs to develop high quality experiences for children and staff. For many years she was a single parent and depended on school age programs to provide her four children safe and nurturing care while she was at work. As the need for afterschool programs grew in her community and the nation she was drawn into the world of lawmaking, fundraising, and advocating for the needs of school age programs. She developed courses and certificates at her community college and participated in professional development workshops and seminars resulting in more than 50 colleges doing the same. Both personally and professionally, Dr. Bumgarner continues to be committed to improving the quality of out of school time for all children and is a frequent conference speaker.

Mary Hoshiko Haughey has worked with children and youth in YMCA program and administration for 37 years. Mary is currently the Vice President of Operations for Youth Development and Social Responsibility with the YMCA of Silicon Valley. In this role, Mary provides direct leadership and support to over 105 child care, after school, and day camp programs throughout Silicon Valley. Mary is passionate about education and uses innovative YMCA programming to help close the achievement/opportunity gap through after school and summer programs. She builds collaborative relationships with school districts to create out-of-school time education and enrichment programs, manages federal grants in health, nutrition, food security and afterschool, develops staff resources and materials, writes foundation grants, and supervises the youth development department. Mary is active at the state and national level in achievement gap work, afterschool and summer food policy and speaks at national conferences on these topics. Mary has been a child development college instructor for 13 years and is passionate about working with students in the child and youth development fields.

• Readers get the most current information in the field, including the latest research, programming, and hot topics.
  • Updated statistics and survey research from a variety of sources, including the Afterschool Alliance 2014 America after 3pm: Key Findings report show students the importance of after school care in the United States and around the world.
  • A look at 21^st Century Skills, including creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication, and the role of after school in developing and advancing these skills let students explore the need to design programs that promote 21 ^st Century skills in all youth.
  • 2011 Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards for after school adopted by the National After School Alliance shows students science-based standards for healthy eating, physical activity, screen time, and social supports for these behaviors including staff, family, and child engagement (Ch. 11).
•  Several effective approaches for working with children are covered, including:
  • Mindset Theory from Stanford educator and researcher Dr. Carol Dweck.
  • Thrive Foundation Theory of Change based on Dr. Dweck’s, Dr. Benson’s, and Dr. Yeager’s research.
  • The evidence-based approach for achieving specific desired outcomes of a planned activity—the S.A.F.E. framework for instruction practices.
  • Moderate to vigorous activities and the use of research and evidence-based curriculum for achieving the desired outcomes, such as fighting childhood obesity.
  • The Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships, a framework for building developmental assets.
  • Learning in After School and Summer Principles, five principles used to guide interactions and the intentional implementation of high quality programs.

Here is a practical look at the roles of adults in children’s lives outside of the classroom examined through the experiences of real people in a wide variety of settings and with a diversity of needs and insights. Working with School-Age Children helps to define the role of professional child and youth workers in the lives of children and families. The book builds on a foundation of child development theory and provides a historical overview of the subject and an overview of school-age care in other parts of the world to help ground the work done by the people represented in the book. The book describes the issues children face in today’s world and the attributes and skills critical for people who work with school-age children. Included are strategies for adult involvement, healthy and productive activities, and guidelines for developing and sustaining afterschool programs.

Chapter 1 Where Are Our Children After School?

Chapter 2 A View of the Field: School-Age Care and Youth Development

Chapter 3 Developing and Ensuring Program Quality

Chapter 4 What Does It Take to Work with School-Age Children?

Chapter 5 Theories of Child Development

Chapter 6 The Adult’s Role in Socialization and Development

Chapter 7 Concerns Facing Today’s Children

Chapter 8 Understanding and Guiding Children’s Behavior

Chapter 9 Environments of School-Age Children

Chapter 10 Cooperative Program Planning

Chapter 11 A Health and Fitness Curriculum: Fighting Back Against Childhood Obesity

Chapter 12 Engaging Children in Indoor Activities

Chapter 13 Engaging Children in Outdoor Activities

Chapter 14 Working with Older School-Age Children and Teens

Chapter 15 Developing Partnerships with Families, Schools, and the Community

Chapter 16 Administrative Issues: Licensing, Policies, and Personnel

Appendix National Afterschool Association Code of Ethics

Index

• Readers learn from the experiences of real people sharing their diverse insights about interacting with children in a variety of situations and settings.
  • Each chapter includes a relatable perspective from the field.
  • The experiences define the role of professional child and youth workers in the lives of children and families.
  • An historical overview, as well as an overview of school-age care in other parts of the world, helps ground the experiences presented.
  • The attributes and skills needed by people who work with school-age children are presented and described.
  • The issues facing children in today’s world and strategies for helping children deal with the fear and anxiety that often result combine to give readers ready-to-use tools.
• The book’s organization is set up to ensure maximum success with school-age children.
  • Chapters are organized by key elements in quality school-age care identified through research.
  • The importance of human relationships, environment, guidance strategies, health and wellness, and continuous quality improvement provide a foundation for later chapters on behavior and guidance, curriculum development, and child-centered activity planning.
  • A separate chapter addresses the ideal characteristics of programs for working with older children.
  • A separate chapter suggests ways in which staff in school-age settings can develop partnerships with parents and community agencies to develop cohesive and responsive programs that offer a wide range of activities and services to families and are sustainable without continual external funding.
  • A final chapter provides an overview of the administration function within school-age programs.
• Additional pedagogical features help ensure student understanding of the material.
  • Perspective Boxes highlight one or more of the concepts presented in the chapter. The essays in each box were written by practitioners or researchers familiar with school-age programming and reflect the writer’s point of view.
  • Consider This Boxes expand students’ knowledge and practical application of the concepts. Each box asks students to pause and reflect on their experiences with children and offers ways to implement ideas or handle difficult situations in the afterschool setting. Questions require students to connect the theories and strategies to real life.
• NEW! Readers get the most current information in the field, including the latest research, programming, and hot topics.
  • Updated statistics and survey research from a variety of sources, including the Afterschool Alliance 2014 America after 3pm: Key Findings report show students the importance of after school care in the United States and around the world.
  • A look at 21^st Century Skills, including creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication, and the role of after school in developing and advancing these skills let students explore the need to design programs that promote 21 ^st Century Skills in all youth.
  • 2011 Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards for after school adopted by the National After School Alliance shows students science-based standards for healthy eating, physical activity, screen time, and social supports for these behaviors including staff, family, and child engagement (Ch. 11).
• NEW! Several effective approaches for working with children are covered, including:
  • Mindset Theory from Stanford educator and researcher Dr. Carol Dweck.
  • Thrive Foundation Theory of Change based on Dr. Dweck’s, Dr. Benson’s, and Dr. Yeager’s research.
  • The evidence-based approach for achieving specific desired outcomes of a planned activity–the S.A.F.E. framework for instruction practices.
  • Moderate to vigorous activities and the use of research and evidence-based curriculum for achieving the desired outcomes, such as fighting childhood obesity.
  • The Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships, a framework for building developmental assets.
  • Learning in After School and Summer Principles, five principles used to guide interactions and the intentional implementation of high quality programs.

For Early Childhood Education courses in School-Age Child Care

A practical look at the roles of adults in children’s lives outside of the classroom.

Through the experiences of real people in a wide variety of settings and with a diversity of needs and insights, this book helps to define the role of professional child and youth workers in the lives of children and families. Working with School-Age Children builds on a foundation of child development theory and provides an historical overview of the subject and an overview of school-age care in other parts of the world to help ground the work done by the people represented in the book.

The book describes the issues children face in today’s world and the attributes and skills critical for people who work with school-age children. Included are strategies for adult involvement, healthy and productive activities, and guidelines for developing and sustaining after school programs.

Additional information