When my mom finally decided to take that plum posting as a Divisional Head, I knew I was in trouble. Her office hours stretched way beyond my school hours. And anyway, I was privy to the many discussions my parents had about ‘Honey, what do we do with the kids?’ Well, finally they struck gold - an educational after school program. Won’t that be just grand? Kids are learning new things while parents are happily minting greenbacks!

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There is often a trap in the words ‘after school activities’. One may easily believe that since these activities are after school, they are not of much importance. But, one couldn’t be more wrong. Research suggests that children pick up some of their most important skills from after school programs. That is why children who do not participate in any extra curricular activities are generally slow and less vibrant.

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What marks a successful after school program? What are the things that you should look for when enrolling your child into one such program? Other than the obvious advantage of learning something new, successful programs incorporate many things that help the development of the child.

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In an effort to keep children motivated and safe, the U.S. Government sets aside a good amount of fund for financing after school programs every year. A report by the U.S. Department of Education and Justice points out that after school programs are very effective and is in the interests of the society as a whole. Interestingly, it was found that Americans liked providing school-based after school-programs in their community.

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After school programs can be divided into 3 broad categories: academic,recreational and social. Balanced development takes place when there is compatibility between the physical, mental as well as the educational achievements of the child.As the name suggests recreational after school programs are based on a sport or recreation. Some of the more common physical activities include football, swimming and basketball.Some clubs offer programs like gymnastics, trekking and hiking. In this case, youngsters are often given a short class in first-aid class also.

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In a world that is slowly but surely turning away from books and getting glued to monitors or television screens, the importance of developing a passion for reading cannot be overlooked. Reading is a habit and should be established when the child is relatively young. What can you do to foster this habit?

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With the growing interest in after school programs shown by the Governmentas well as parents, new and hitherto unheard of programs are being explored. In an attempt to make a child aware of his responsibilities as an individual and as a citizen, these after school programs make use of a child’s natural curiosity and his irrepressible energy.

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With children becoming the primary focus of society, ways and means to ensure their safety and development are being researched. The Government too has pooled in to make a success of such programs. Here are some of the reasons why after school programs have become so popular:

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Several studies are expressing a growing concern that after school programs are pressurizing kids to do too much too soon. They point out that when a child’s afternoon is filled with classes, trips, sports and other forms of organized activities, kids do not really get the time to be just kids. They are even being deprived of the cherished family time.

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When children are literally up to their gills with the learning and sportactivities in school, it may seem superfluous to enroll them for after school activities. In spite of this, after school programs are sprouting up in large numbers and most of these are booked full. This shows that there is a real need for after school activities.

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