Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/joining-the-quality-circle-developmentally-appropriate-practice-in-school-age-care/5008919/
In the past, school-age care has been the neglected member of the child care family, getting less attention than programs for younger children. Increasing numbers of school-age children need care while their parents work. As a result, the number and range of school-age care programs is expanding; and schools, child care centers, social service agencies, and churches and synagogues are increasingly interested in providing these services to families. In addition, they are seeking definitions of quality and developmental appropriateness for programs serving school-agers.High quality school-age care programs, like good programs for younger children, are tailored to the developmental characteristics and needs of the children they serve. Developmentally appropriate programs understand that children change dramatically during the school-age years and that the rate and nature of change vary both among children and youth and across developmental areas within the same child or youth. A school-ager may be of average height for her age, for example, while showing more advanced cognitive skills and less social and emotional maturity than her peers. This variability is seen by quality school-age care programs as an opportunity rather than as a problem.
This basic premise makes it possible to identify key ingredients ...