Creator of Curricubits, Camille Diaz and Curricubits Volunteer, Ashley Brignoni at the BOOST Conference in Palm Springs, CA.
Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by the Curricubits booth at the BOOST (Best Out-Of-School Time) Conference in Palm Springs, CA last week. Ashley and I had a wonderful time doing the Curricubits art activity “Chalk Mountain” with you and discussing the other Curricubits themed lessons.
Please feel free to comment below about your experience at BOOST. To see more pictures of us visit the Curricubits page on Facebook.
Camille Diaz Curricubits Curriculum
When the end of the day comes and it is time for students to leave with their parents, does your orderly well structured afterschool program suddenly disintegrate into chaos? Even if your check-out time is orderly, you may be able to use some of these time honored and field tested methods to help make your check-out time even faster and smoother.
Keep reading all the way to the end because step number seven is the fastest, easiest, and most important.
1. Notify Parents that Change is Coming
After you work out exactly what your new check-out procedure will be, send home a flier to parents with a detailed explanation of what they should expect and what you would like them to do. Make announcements to students as well, reminding them of when the new check-out system will start. If you just spring the new check-out plan on everyone without coaching them first, even more chaos will ensue.
2. Close the Doors Until You Are Ready
Funnel your students in through one door and have parents start lining up outside of another closed door. Put up a sign and close that door 10-15 minutes before check-out begins so you don’t have parents coming into your meeting space and disrupting the last few minutes of your students activity time. When you are ready to begin check-out, open the check-out door.
3. Regroup Before Releasing Students
Call all of your student groups back to your main meeting space before you dismiss everyone. This will give you the opportunity to relay any last minute messages and you can make sure all your students are accounted for before parents start picking them off. Read more…
Camille Diaz Logistics check-out, Logistics
Is your afterschool program stuck in the proverbial doghouse? Do the “regular day” teachers and staff act like your program doesn’t really matter? If so, this is probably not because you have done something wrong, it is because they don’t know about all the great things you are doing right. Do a little positive public relations and open the lines of communication.
Communicate With Regular Day Teachers
Develop systems within your program to work with regular day teachers. Find out what subjects they are covering and do supplemental activities. Get the homework assignments for the week so you can make sure students finish and turn it in. Find out which students need extra help so you can reinforce what teachers are doing during the school day.
Communicate With Parents
Let parents know what their children are doing in your program. Try sending home a short weekly newsletter (just one page) to announce your plans for the week. If parents know how many great services you are providing, they will appreciate your program as more than just childcare.
Communicate With Students
Fill students in! Tell them what you are doing each day and each week. Send them home with some exciting news or experiences to talk about. As they report all the positives about your program to their parents, teachers and friends, your program will gain in popularity.
There is no better way to advertise than word of mouth. So start talking and create a positive buzz about your wonderful afterschool program.
Please leave us a comment and share your tips for creating a positive buzz about afterschool.
Camille Diaz Parents, Students, Teachers communication, marketing, public relations
Check-in is a critical part of the afterschool program day. It is your first chance to welcome students into the program and provide some relief from what may have been a stressful school day. Unfortunately, it is very easy to overlook the importance of check-in time. When students arrive are your group leaders rushing around getting snack ready or collecting supplies for the day? If they are you need to train them to do things a little differently. Here are some simple changes you can make to your check-in to completely change that first impression for the afternoon.
Arrive early
Schedule your staff to arrive at least 15 minutes before the students arrive. Make sure they have enough time to collect their supplies, organize their clipboard, prepare their table and prepare snack. Everything that needs to be ready, should be completely ready when students arrive.
Greet Students
Are your group leaders standing at their table or assigned area when students arrive? They should be. Train your group leaders to greet each child individually, using their name, when they first arrive. They need to strike up a little bit of conversation with students and ask about their day. Really devote some time to making students feel special when they get to your afterschool program.
Give Down Time
Just as adults want to relax for a few minutes when they get home before starting on dinner or chores, students want to relax, too. Give about 10 minutes for students to just sit and chat when they arrive to the program before you start making any announcements or sending groups off to their assigned activities.
Giving students time to relax and creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere for them when they arrive will help make your afterschool program something that students look forward to. This can boost your attendance and reduce behavior problems because you have created a calm friendly environment where students want to be.
Camille Diaz Logistics check-in, Logistics, Scheduling, staff training
