Extended stays - what are your experiences?

Who actually dictates the curriculum? Does every school set its own standards, or is it all coming from the Department of Education? Could you drop a link to the actual syllabus here?

Here’s an update on my colleague 🙄
People were talking about this last week, but I didn't think to bring it up again until I saw the thread yesterday.
So, in the meantime, my colleague went to the school. She complained about how things are being run and how her kid still has to do work at home. She argued that the child is exhausted and the whole system just isn't working.
Anyway, two days later, the kid comes home crying because she was furious with her mom for pushing her. Turns out, the teacher called the girl out in front of the entire class. Apparently, the teacher told her that since her mom came into the school and said she couldn't do work at home due to being tired, she'd be staying behind to finish her homework and reading while everyone else got to go play.

Now my colleague is stuck wondering what to do. She tried to intervene once before and it completely backfired on the kid. Now she's worried the teacher might target the girl if she makes too much of a scene...

I honestly don't get this. Is she just completely checked out, or is this how all kids act in school nowadays? She isn't doing anything to support her students, yet she’s supposed to be handling all the homework, reviewing lessons, you name it—all of it. And then, as an adult, she acts like... well, I'll be polite... and starts blaming the kid?
Get back in the classroom, lady!

At our after-school program, we let them go outside if the weather is nice, review their lessons, and get through all their homework. We send books home on Wednesdays and Fridays so parents can actually see what the kids are working on, and for now, they're getting a decent amount of homework done before the weekend.
The kids start watching cartoons at 3:40 PM once classes wrap up and the afternoon supervision kicks in, right when some of them head home. I walked in yesterday at 4:10 PM, the TV was already on, and three girls were busy working on a puzzle.

Kids these days just don't do anything. So she decided to leave her little girl behind to study as a "punishment" while everyone else went out to play. They bring books home every single day and have "homework" where they have to sit with their parents and memorize specific texts.

Brenda Doyle5 said:Here’s an update on my colleague 🙄
People were talking about this last week, but I didn't think to bring it up again until I saw the thread yesterday.
So, in the meantime, my colleague went to the school. She complained about how things are being run and how her kid still has to do work at home. She argued that the child is exhausted and the whole system just isn't working.
Anyway, two days later, the kid comes home crying because she was furious with her mom for pushing her. Turns out, the teacher called the girl out in front of the entire class. Apparently, the teacher told her that since her mom came into the school and said she couldn't do work at home due to being tired, she'd be staying behind to finish her homework and reading while everyone else got to go play.

Now my colleague is stuck wondering what to do. She tried to intervene once before and it completely backfired on the kid. Now she's worried the teacher might target the girl if she makes too much of a scene...

Don't the other kids also play during after-school programs and end up bringing homework home, and their parents don't seem to have an issue with it? Our teacher only managed to pull that stunt exactly twice. After the second time, a pretty large group of unhappy parents showed up at the school entrance, and she hasn't thought of doing it again since. Of course, we tolerate a child occasionally bringing home something they didn't quite finish or didn't feel like doing, but it really shouldn't become a standard practice just to cater to a teacher's personal convenience.

Now, how to actually fix this is a whole different story. Regardless of where or when homework ends up being assigned in the future, I honestly don't think my child could make it through the next grade in a classroom run by someone who is willing to lash out at children like that.

She claims everyone brings homework home and that nobody’s complained until now.
I don't even know how to respond to that...
It’s possible her kid is just lying, but if that were the case, you’d expect the teacher to step in and say, "Look, all the other kids are working, why is yours slacking?" or something like that. I have no clue.
But if things were actually running normally, there wouldn't be a need to point out, "You're writing now while the others are playing." If everyone was busy with homework, she'd just focus more on what the little one is actually doing.
I haven't dealt much with this age group, but I honestly don't think first graders are capable of lying like that quite yet... or are they?

Brenda Doyle5 said:She claims everyone brings homework home and that nobody’s complained until now.
I don't even know how to respond to that...
It’s possible her kid is just lying, but if that were the case, you’d expect the teacher to step in and say, "Look, all the other kids are working, why is yours slacking?" or something like that. I have no clue.
But if things were actually running normally, there wouldn't be a need to point out, "You're writing now while the others are playing." If everyone was busy with homework, she'd just focus more on what the little one is actually doing.
I haven't dealt much with this age group, but I honestly don't think first graders are capable of lying like that quite yet... or are they?

I wasn't trying to imply that the little one is lying, but I just find it hard to wrap my head around parents who don't push back against a situation like this. Every seven-year-old is absolutely exhausted after spending 8 or 9 hours in school, and it just doesn't seem right to force them into more studying once they get home. If you look at it that way, how long is their actual workday? It's like they're pulling 10 or 11-hour shifts.

I wouldn't know.
I'm just passing along what I've heard from others. There's probably more to the story than what's being said here...
We were also given the option for after-school care one day, so when I hear stories like this, it actually hits home.
My mom works at a local school, and I talked to her about it. She says parents at her school are also fed up with the afternoon teacher. The real issue is there’s some friction between the morning teacher and the afternoon one, so they barely even speak to each other. On top of that, the afternoon teacher doesn't really engage with the kids, which is why parents are complaining...

Nykas, I’m a little lost here—is my kid in an after-school program or just staying for that extended afternoon session?

Honestly, the way the teacher handled this was just a total mess; but what I’m trying to figure out is if one of those two teachers assigned to the full-day program isn't actually doing anything with them during their shift, or if the teacher watching them after school just completely ignores homework time?

Karen Richardson3 said:Nykas, I’m a little lost here—is my kid in an after-school program or just staying for that extended afternoon session?

Honestly, the way the teacher handled this was just a total mess; but what I’m trying to figure out is if one of those two teachers assigned to the full-day program isn't actually doing anything with them during their shift, or if the teacher watching them after school just completely ignores homework time?

I didn't realize there was a distinction... honestly.
What’s the difference between after-school care and full-day care?
....I can't even remember which term my coworker actually used...

Brenda Doyle5 said:I didn't realize there was a distinction... honestly.
What’s the difference between after-school care and full-day care?
....I can't even remember which term my coworker actually used...

With the full-day option, you usually have two teachers handling things, and the schedule runs from about 8 AM to 4 PM. It’s pretty fluid—they might swap a lesson for an hour of playtime, or maybe do two hours of math followed by two hours of arts and crafts 😁 or whatever.

For the after-school program, kids stay with their regular classroom teacher at first, but once those core 4 or 5 hours of school wrap up, the kids staying late basically go into supervised care. Usually, they get grouped together with kids from other classes, and they're looked after by whichever teacher is on duty for that day or week.
Parents can swing by to pick up their little ones as early as 2 PM or 3 PM, and ideally, while the kids are hanging out in that supervised period, they could knock out some homework and have the teacher take a quick look at it—though, let's be real, that doesn't always happen in practice.

Karen Richardson3 said:With the full-day option, you usually have two teachers handling things, and the schedule runs from about 8 AM to 4 PM. It’s pretty fluid—they might swap a lesson for an hour of playtime, or maybe do two hours of math followed by two hours of arts and crafts 😁 or whatever.

For the after-school program, kids stay with their regular classroom teacher at first, but once those core 4 or 5 hours of school wrap up, the kids staying late basically go into supervised care. Usually, they get grouped together with kids from other classes, and they're looked after by whichever teacher is on duty for that day or week.
Parents can swing by to pick up their little ones as early as 2 PM or 3 PM, and ideally, while the kids are hanging out in that supervised period, they could knock out some homework and have the teacher take a quick look at it—though, let's be real, that doesn't always happen in practice.

I didn't realize that. I thought people were just using different terms for the same thing. 🕺 I was talking about the full-day program, though.
I'll go ask her.

We don't have that kind of setup in Chicago 😁 It's just an extended school day, so there are still two groups, but classes are in the morning while the activities happen in the afternoon. They don't combine the grades together.

rowdypanther12 said:We don't have that kind of setup in Chicago 😁 It's just an extended school day, so there are still two groups, but classes are in the morning while the activities happen in the afternoon. They don't combine the grades together.

They don't group them together while regular classes are running until 3:40 PM. At some schools, they merge everyone into one supervision group until 5:00 PM. We don't do that, but a school over in the next neighborhood does. Plus, kids have to carry their bags home every single day because there's nowhere to leave them; since they aren't in their usual classroom, or someone else is using it, nobody wants to deal with the responsibility of who owns what. I honestly don't get why they do it that way.

At our place, one teacher is there in the morning and another stays until 5:00 PM. The main programming ends at 3:40 PM, so you can pick up the kids then. They don't group anyone together here.

I mean, I get that, but here in our town they actually have two distinct versions of that. You don't see that kind of variety back in NYC. 😁

Does anyone know if I can end my stay at the end of the fifth month? It feels wasteful paying for a sixth month $67 plus meal costs near $33 just for those last few days of school, since they wrap up on June 10th...

We got word at our school that after April 1st, they aren't letting anyone terminate their contracts anymore.
My kid isn't staying overnight, but since they're still on the roster, we're being charged by the day—including lunch. I'm assuming the boarding fees will end up being lower too.

boldfox15 said:Does anyone know if I can end my stay at the end of the fifth month? It feels wasteful paying for a sixth month $67 plus meal costs near $33 just for those last few days of school, since they wrap up on June 10th...

Look, in our local school district, you can't just unenroll a student during the final month of the program. They make sure to hammer that point home to parents right from the start.

Does the daily rate get reduced if my child ends up being sick?