by Right At School
Before School Programs
Your day doesn’t wait to start until after school does – that’s where before school programs come to the rescue! They ensure that children have a safe, enriching place to go before school starts if they need to be dropped off early. Typically, families are able to drop their children off 1-2 hours before school begins, depending on their schedule.
Just like you may need your morning cup of coffee, before school programs give kids a burst of fun energy to start their day! They should offer games, crafts, and activities that children can join in on once they arrive at the program.
At Right At School, kids can choose their fun at Inspiration Stations – a variety of creative activities like building or crafting.
These programs help children ease into their school day by helping them transition from home to the school environment, getting some of their energy out, and allowing them to play with friends before they begin their formal learning.
If your child attends a before school program on-site at their school, when the school bell rings, children will be escorted to their classrooms to begin their school day.
After School Programs
When school lets out, an afternoon of fun awaits! After school programs begin once the school bell rings and typically last until 5 or 6pm. If your school’s program provider hosts programs on-site, students will walk to their designated program site. If your school partners with an off-site daycare or Parks and Recreation department, they may have a pre-arranged agreement to pick students up and bus them to another location immediately after school.
While every after school program has a unique schedule, common components of a program include snack time, games or physical fitness, homework time for older children, crafts, and learning activities. Students typically are grouped with peers of a similar age to complete age-appropriate activities.
High-quality after school programs emphasize building durable skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and friendship through group activities, STEM learning challenges, or crafts rooted in intentional learning objectives.
At Right At School, our daily curriculum is grouped into themed units, or Journeys. Kids spend days exploring the deep sea, distant planets, countries on the other side of the world… and also the beauty that’s just outside in their backyard.
Here’s just one example of the hundreds of after school activities that students completed at RAS during our Passport to Paris Curriculum Journey. They collaborated together to plan and build a model of the Eiffel Tower!
Families can pick up their children at any time during the program – but at Right At School, we hear that some kids get upset when their parents pick them up ‘too early’ because they’re missing out on action-packed crafts, games, and activities!
Check out Right At School’s After School program schedule and sample activities!
School Break Camps
Break camps are typically offered during single days off school for holidays or teacher in-service days, or over longer breaks like winter and spring break.
Break camps typically last from early morning until the early evening to accommodate the schedules of working families. Families can choose to drop their children off and pick them up as it works for their schedule.
A full-day camp should have a host of diverse activities throughout the day, spanning games, group activities, arts and crafts, learning or academic-focused activities, and ‘down time’ individual activities like reading and writing.
Longer break camps, like winter or spring break camps, may have an overarching theme with contributing activities, and a culminating project that wraps up at the end of the week.
Much like Right At School’s school-year curriculum journeys, our break camps also have a theme!
During our Mission Possible-themed Winter Break Camp, kids underwent a top-secret mission to construct a marble run, testing how they could deliver important materials from one point to another.
Summer Camp
When you think of summer camp, you may picture log cabins and canoes or hours spent on the soccer field—but the most well-rounded camp for your child may be in your backyard!
Day camps are a well-rounded option for families needing flexible summer care. These camps offer a mix of activities—sports, water play, crafts, and outdoor activities—without focusing on just one skill. Often, camps will have special field trips so campers can explore new places like zoos, theme parks, museums, or other local gems.
Even though school is out, high-quality summer camps can help prevent the ‘summer slide’, defined by the Mayo Clinic as the loss over the long summer break of new skills gained during the school year like reading and math. Look for camps that work academic skills like literacy and critical thinking into activities during the camp day to help your child stay ready for the coming school year.
RAS Summer Camps are packed with themed activities – no two days are alike! Pictured here are kiddos building their own dream island during our Imagination Island-themed week of summer camp.
Your summer schedule may vary depending on the day or week. Some camps require a multi-week commitment, as missing days or weeks would negatively impact the child’s experience. With RAS, each Adventure Week is a self-contained adventure, so no matter when they start or how many weeks they miss, RAS Camp kids can jump right into the action without feeling left out.
Check out how we’re making a splash at a summer camp near you!
In Conclusion
When school isn’t in session, you may have options for out-of-school time childcare in your community. This includes:
- Before and after school programs
- School break camps
- Summer camps
These programs help busy parents get care for their children, with most offering flexible scheduling to fit each family’s unique needs.
Right At School is a leading provider of enriching, engaging After School, Before School, Break Camps, and Summer Camps. RAS programs emphasize student development and play-based learning, and are hosted on-site at schools in our partner districts. Visit the Program Finder on rightatschool.com to find out if your school partners with Right At School for out-of-school-time programs.
