Is Afterschooling Too Much? A Reality Check.

As our oldest children start kindergarten Crystal and I are finishing up our first two afterschooling units this month. At first it seemed to both of us that this might be a wee too much what with the homework EVEN KINDERGARTENERS bring home these days.

After considering the oft quoted maxim, “just give kids time to play after school” it occurred to me to look at The Hamster’s schedule at school…hmm. While he attends a “full day” kindergarten – 8:30 to 2:30, it actually appears that he DOES play… at school.





His schedule:

8:30- 10:00 Academic

10:00-10:30 Recess

10:30-11:30 Academics

11:30- 12:30 Lunch and Recess

12:30 – 1:30 – Class (art/music/science)

1:30-2:00 Recess

2:00 – 2:30 – Class (art/music/science)

So, 2-1/2 hours of academics more or less…not too bad. (Crystal’s son goes to half day kindergarten – with more or less the same amount of academic time – leaving early afternoon for playtime.)

Since my DS is not cooped up in a classroom all day, I feel better about afterschooling. I remind myself about WHY I chose to send him to this school (a bilingual education, a multicultural environment and a not-quite crunchy atmosphere). I remember WHY I chose to afterschool – to fill the gap usually occupied by TV watching and commercial pursuits; to provide a love of learning and to enrich him with a classical education. I remember HOW I plan to afterschool, eschewing worksheets and focusing on reading, projects and field trips.

And I now think about WHEN I want to afterschool. Home by 3:00, I give him time for free play – he misses the abundance of time he had with his toys as a preschooler, (of course much of how he plays reflects the themes we follow in our afterschooling program). Sometime before dinner we read or do a project or science experiment. On weekends we do a field trip, read and maybe do another project. Mornings, after breakfast are reserved for school homework – 15 minutes is all we need at this point!

Afterschooling for us still means substituting interesting learning experiences for TV time- OK, check!

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