Enriching Children's Out-of-School Time (continued)

These creative partnerships between after-school programs, schools, and community organizations are increasing the availability of extracurricular activities for all school-age children.

Another way to challenge children and youth after school is to deepen their learning about themselves, their community, and the world beyond. Mentoring and service learning can provide youth with the opportunity to explore a variety of work environments. In addition, students who have not performed well academically in school may find an area in which they feel competent (Miller, 1998). Citizens Schools, a not-for-profit corporation, successfully combines both mentoring and service. Through its Apprenticeship Curriculum, children work directly with Boston's best performers, artisans, and tradespeople. These mentors help youth to develop high-quality, useful products or inspirational performances that are a service to their community (U.S. Department of Education & U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).

Academic Enrichment Programs

Increasingly, parents want after-school programs to provide homework help. O'Connor and McGuire (1998) caution, however, that a balance between remedial tasks and informal learning is needed to motivate and challenge children. After a full school day, children need time to blow off steam, have snacks, play with friends, and build consistent relationships with caring and competent adults. These hours provide not only a time to address the day-to-day needs of completing homework and practicing academic skills, but also an opportunity to develop talents and hobbies to enrich children's lives over the long term. LA's BEST--"Better Educated Students for Tomorrow"--takes the mandate of "balance" seriously. While the overall program goal is to increase educational achievement for 5,000 children in the Los Angeles Unified School District, many enrichment activities, involving computers, music, science fairs, camping, video productions, and field trips, are offered. A 1995 study by the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation found that children participating in LA's BEST showed more improvement in grades than children in a control group (Brooks, Mojia, & Land, 1995).

At a time when basic skills development, calls for academic excellence, and standardized testing are increasingly in the forefront of school reform, academic enrichment programs are increasing in number. Voyager, Sylvan Learning System's Mindsurfing USA, and EXPLORE are for-profit companies providing school districts with prepackaged, school-led or teacher-led curricula that can extend the school day for up to 3 hours. The military, the largest provider of out-of-school time programs, has also established homework centers as part of the mentoring, intervention, and support services provided to children and youth during parental work hours. The training of program staff and volunteers to implement these academic programs is key for their success. The BELL Foundation, which provides tutoring for low-income children, requires tutors to attend a 2-day orientation plus monthly training workshops (O'Connor & McGuire, 1998).