After school program

After discussion on Friday, 02-05-2010, we were pointed in the direction of an After school program. Using the idea of improving the students scores, specifically those that are performing below basic, we would begin the program as follows:

• Possible after school program consisting of 4 hours after each school day.
• Parents required to attend 2 nights a week from 6 - 8pm. At this point they are learning parenting classes at the very beginning. Then we will figure out what else to teach. Based heavily on what the kids are learning at that time.
• Kids are broken into specific triads in which we take 3 diverse background's and put them together.
• Parents broken down in the same manner. Parents triads are different from their children's triads.
• The whole goal is that the children learn to pick each other up by learning how to teach each other.

At the conclusion of each section, we would evaluate and tweak. The majority of the children's curriculum is based on the schoolwork that they are doing at that time. Here are some of the actual program highlights:

1. Program takes place over an entire school year.
2. We take 3 kids, 1 who is stronger in school, 1 who is weaker, and 1 who is a balance of both and we team them up for the duration of the school year.
3. The initial class would consist of 2nd and 3rd graders. In reading comprehension, the 3rd graders, who might have poor reading skills, improve their reading skills by teaching the 2nd graders who are learning how to read. They are teaching the 2nd graders how to read with 2nd grade level readers so the work is not too hard for them.
4. In the meantime, the parents are working together building a community. The parents are required to commit to 2 nights a week participation. These 2 nights consist of 2 hours each night teaching things that encourage the parents on how to raise their kids - parenting, finance, the same subjects their kids are learning so that they can help their children in the subjects their children are learning about. for example, kids are learning a certain type of math in a week. The week prior, the parents are given a lesson in this math so that the next week they can help. 

There are 2 advantages to this:

1. The parents can help and build a better relationship
2. The parents can teach the kids a little of it the week prior to them actually learning it.

There's more to work out but the key is that this is a program where the parents and teachers have to be 100% committed to this. The parents will fall in line after. Kids will do exactly what is expected of them. 


This document is a study of after school programs:
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/190_publication.pdf