Goal of the Series
The School Age Youth
Summer Program
orientation series has been
designed to help you
understand the basics of
caring for school age youth.
Understanding the Series
Each module consists of:
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Overall objective of the module
Terms and definitions
Specific learning objectives
MN Core Competencies and NAA Standards
addressed
Module training content
Learning activities
Resources
The learning activities include:
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An application activity focused on school age youth
A personal reflection activity that is not shared
A reflection activity to be done with a peer or
supervisor
What you will need
You will need the following items to
complete the module:
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Print the PDF file that goes with this course. The
link is located by the link you chose to open this
module.
Paper and pencil
Approximately one hour of “quiet time”; some of the
activities will be completed outside of this hour
Access to a printer
Optimistic outlook to gaining new knowlege
Module 7
Programming for School Age
Youth
Objective
To provide an understanding of
meaningful and appropriate activities
that support learning in school age
youth programs
Terms and Definitions
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Academic achievement - academic scores or grades
Academic support – activities that support learning
Activity plan - written plan to explain how to lead an activity,
provides information about when, where, what and why
– activities, interest centers and other options that are
available for school age youth to use
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Choices
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Developmentally appropriate – activities, opportunities,
choices that meet the developmental level of the school age youth
– activities that support and enhance the regular
school day learning
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Enrichment
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Experiential learning - hands-on, ‘learning by doing’ type of
learning opportunity
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Intentionality - planned with a clear purpose or reason in mind
Program Design – the overall plan for delivering the school
age program, this needs to match the program’s mission
Introduction
Specific Learning Objectives
In this module you will:
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Learn best practices that support learning
activities and opportunities in school age youth
programs
Explore the importance of ‘intentionality and
purpose’ in planning activities for school age
youth
Define and explore the importance of offering a
variety of developmentally appropriate choices
in school age youth programs
Discover strategies for successful
implementation of choices, activities and
opportunities
Programming for School Age Youth
The Challenge: School age youth are
out of school and looking forward to a
fun summer!
Your role in your program is to plan and/or
lead activities that are fun and engaging
and
at the same time, are meaningful and
age/developmentally appropriate.
Best Practices
MN School Age Core Competencies
The MN School Age Core Competencies address
the expectations of staff relevant to providing
appropriate activities in:
Content Area 2: Learning Environment and Curriculum
General
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Gives school age youth choices
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Supports and encourages the participation of school age youth in a
variety of activities, experiences, and social interactions
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Actively participates with school age youth in a variety of activities
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Provides a safe environment through active supervision of school
age youth, materials and equipment
Physical Development
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Interacts appropriately with school age youth during physical
activities
Best Practices
MN School Age Core Competencies
Language, Literacy and Cognitive Development
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Encourages school age youth to explore their environment
through activities related to literacy, math, science, geography,
history etc.
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Provides opportunities for conversation and language
development that includes support for English Language
Learners
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Supports school age youth in creative activities and problem
solving
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Reads books with school age youth and models reading
behaviors
Personal/Social Development
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Acknowledges and shares the school age youth’s excitement in
discoveries, exploration, and manipulation of items in the
environment
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Acknowledges the efforts, accomplishments, and innate gifts of
each school age youth
Best Practices
NAA Standards of Quality
The NAA Standards of Quality recognizes the
importance of learning using choices and
activities. The standards are listed in the
Human Relationships and Activities categories.
Human Relationships
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Staff interact with school age youth to help them learn.
Activities
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School age youth can choose from a wide variety of
activities.
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Activities reflect the mission of the program and promote
the development of all the school age youth in the
program.
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There are sufficient materials to support program
activities.
Best Practices
Theories: ERE, Five Foundations of
Childhood, and Generations of Care
The ERE, Five Foundations of Childhood, and
Generations of Care have been explained in
previous modules (you can access the handouts
in Module 1).
The ERE tells us why the things we do and provide in
our program (the environment, relationships, and
experiences) are important to school age youth.
The Five Foundations of Childhood explains why
school age youth need to accomplish these tasks:
empowerment, play, community building, maturity
and self-direction.
The Generations of Care help us to see where we are
in our personal development and philosophy
relevant to school age youth.
Best Practices – Quality Equation
Core Competencies + Standards + Theories =
Quality programs for school age youth
The ‘What’
The
‘How’
The
‘Why’
The quality of activities and opportunities (the ‘How’) we
offer are based upon our knowledge of school age youth
(the ‘Why’) and our commitment to them (the ‘What’).
Planning for School Age Youth
School age youth programs support
academic success through the
attitude, belief or practice that places
value on life-long learning.
Programs accomplish this by
providing choices, opportunities and
activities that include experiential
learning, civic and community
involvement, and developing real-life
skills.
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Choices
Empowering School Age Youth
School age youth programs use choices as a
strategy to deliver programming. They
structure the environment with a variety of
activities that encourage school age youth to
decide which activity interests them.
Using this strategy teaches school age youth to
be responsible for their own actions. This
‘empowerment’ helps school age youth grow in
self-esteem and the confidence to be
successful as they grow older.
Appropriate choices = happy, engaged school
age youth = a peaceful environment
Choices
Empowering School Age Youth
Having choices is not total free choice all of the
time. It means giving school age youth the
opportunity to make decisions within a
reasonable framework.
Choices need to be:
 ‘Real’ – they need to be something the school age
youth would choose
 Age and developmentally appropriate
 Engaging and of interest to school age youth
Choices teach school age youth how to make
decisions, and be responsible for their actions.
Choices
Empowering School Age Youth
It takes thoughtful and intentional planning to
structure successful choices in your
environment. You can do this by:
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Providing a variety of activities and interest centers
Providing open-ended materials and supplies that
encourage school age youth to create their own
play and activities
Actively and attentively supervising the entire area
Offering alternative choices for those not interested
in the ‘main’ activity
Incorporating the interests, ideas and suggestions
of school age youth into the planning
Planning for School Age Youth
Tried and True Choices
There are some activity choices that work
really well in school age youth programs.
These include:
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Clubs – Organizing a group of school age youth
that meets regularly to teach them a skill.
Some examples of clubs could be: culinary, gardening,
sports, photography, laundry, newspaper, and science
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Long-term projects – activities that are pro-longed
and take weeks to finish a product.
Some examples are: scrap-booking, collections,
calligraphy, and re-cycling
Planning for School Age Youth
Tried and True Choices
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Field Trips – Going to places of interest with the
school age youth outside of your program
Some examples are: local water park, museums,
historical sites, supermarket, baseball game
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Parent Participation – Inviting parents to share
their skills and knowledge with the program.
Some examples are: cooking project from their country,
playing an instrument, making items for the program,
playground improvement (raking sand, sanding wooden
equipment)
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Special visitors and programs – Someone from
the community to introduce school age youth to
something new.
Some examples are: Zookeeper bringing in animals,
banker sharing with school age youth how to save money,
a local chef presenting cooking ideas
Planning for School Age Youth
Tried and True Choices
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Community Service – activities that involve the
school age youth doing something for someone
else, going out into the community
Some examples are:
- youth can work with a hospital to set up a toy room for
the children's ward or provide them with activities to do in
their rooms
- collect needed items for a local shelter
- work with your chamber of commerce office or tourism
office and plan a self-guided historical walking tour of your
community
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School Age Youth Council – school age youth
form a council to help plan and organize activities
for the program
Some examples of activities may include:
program newsletter, special parties and family events,
reward system for younger school age youth
Planning for School Age Youth
Program Design
Your job may or may not include planning
activity choices. However, it is important to
understand the purpose and process for
planning and delivering/leading activities.
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Curriculum, activity or lesson plans are names
commonly used to refer to the projects or events
that are offered in a school age youth program.
Activity plans are a way for supervisors and staff to
be intentional and purposeful about the activities
offered.
Activity plans also help staff articulate the learning
that is occurring within their school age youth
program.
There is no one right way to design an activity plan.
But there are key components that should be
included in the planning form.
Planning for School Age Youth
Program Design
You should be able to articulate the purpose
behind the choices, activities and opportunities
you offer school age youth. They should:
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Be appropriate for the age range and skill level of all of
the participants
Reflect the interests and needs of the school age youth in
your program – school age youth should be part of the
planning process
Support academic success by enriching the learning that
takes place in the regular school day/year
Use a hands-on, real-life approach to reinforce learning
Provide a challenge without being too frustrating
School age youth are learning every minute of their
lives – make their time with you count!
Planning for School Age Youth
Intentionality in Planning
There are some ‘activity planning basics’ that will help
you be successful in planning:
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The ages and abilities of the school age youth need to be
considered when planning an activity.
Everyone should not be expected to participate together
nor will one activity be a good fit for all the individuals in
the program.
Plan for the varying levels of attention span of the school
age youth in the program.
Consider the available materials, space and time for the
activity.
Build skills by providing challenges that take school age
youth from their current level of ability to the next higher
one.
Staff should have a regular set time to network with each
other to plan program activities
Planning for School Age Youth
Intentionality in Planning
A successful activity or choice:
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Can be adjusted for various age groups by
adding/deleting some materials or changing the
rules to fit a certain age group or skill level
Stresses learning by doing, which means that the
school age youth do the work themselves
Supports some competitive activities but allows
everyone involved to be a winner and be part of the
group
Promotes a sense of wonder and encourages
questions from the school age youth
Has been tried before using it with school age youth
to ensure it will work
Planning for School Age Youth
Formula for Success
Using an activity planning form helps you
organize staff information. Information could
include:
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General Information
Who is conducting the activity, the date, space, where activity
will happen
Goals and objectives
What do you want to teach the school age youth, what areas
of development are the focus, theme
Activity
Name of the activity, what materials are needed, describe how
the activity will be carried out
Special Notes
What accommodations need to be made, what permissions do
you need, what preparations need to be made
Reflection and Evaluation
How much participation was there, what changes are needed,
what was the fun factor, additional learning opportunities that
presented themselves, ideas for extending this activity
Planning for School Age Youth
Formula for Success
Successful activities are planned and rarely ‘spur
of the moment’. Jim Therrell in his book; How
to Play with Kids, introduces a successful
strategy for delivering a planned activity. It is
best remembered by the first letters of the
words – DDAPD.
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D = Directions are short and to the point (60 – 120
seconds max!)
D = Do it (slow motion/practice round)
A = Adapt (what did you learn what needs to be
changed?)
P = PLAY ON!
D = Debrief – talk about what you saw, reinforce the key
points of the desired skills. Have the participants talk
about what they learned. And what they’d change.
Planning for School Age Youth
Formula for Success
Your job will most likely include leading
activities. Being prepared to lead an activity
makes the activity more successful for
everyone. To be ready to lead:
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Come to work prepared to be actively involved with
school age youth – appropriate dress and shoes!
Be on time so that you can be ‘ready’
Read the activity planning sheet ahead of time so
that you understand the directions and know the
purpose
Be prepared - find the materials, try out anything
you have questions about
Have fun, lead with enthusiasm!!!
Be Your Best!
School age youth programs support
academic success by being
intentional and purposeful in
planning activities.
You can support this learning by being
actively engaged with the school age
youth during the activities.
Key Points
School age youth learn through hands-on,
real life experiences where they are
allowed some choice. In this module you:
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Learned about best practices that support learning
activities and opportunities
Explored the meaning of ‘intentionality and
purpose’ and their importance in planning activities
for school age youth
Defined what ‘choices’ meant, and explored a
variety of successful choices
Looked at the ‘basics’ for planning and leading
activities
Activity
School Age Youth Focus
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Print out the ‘School Age Youth
Speak Out’ Worksheet PDF that
goes with this module.
Brainstorm with a group of 5-6
school age youth to gather
information about an activity or
choice they would like to do.
Record your results.
Choose one activity to share with a
peer or supervisor.
Activity
Reflection with a Peer or Supervisor
Working with a peer, try writing an Activity
Plan using the DDAPD format.
 Print the Activity Planning Worksheet
from the PDF that goes with this course.
 Using the information from the ‘School
Age Youth Speak Out’ Worksheet,
choose one activity to write an activity plan
for. You may want to do this with a peer.
 Share with your supervisor.
Activity
Personal Reflection
It’s time to put your school age youth survey
and activity plan to use!
 Print the Critical Questions Reflection
Worksheet PDF that goes with this
module.
 Practice leading the activity from your
Activity Plan.
 Think about and answer the questions.
 Review the resources in the following
slides.
Resources
Minnesota School Age Core Competencies
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These were developed by the Minnesota Association for the
Education of Young Children (MnAEYC) and the Minnesota
School Age Care Alliance (MnSACA).
They define what practitioners need to know and be able to do to
provide quality education and care.
They are designed to serve as a guide for improving your work
with children and families.
They are worded so that they can be measured or demonstrated.
The core competencies are available at the Minnesota
Department of Human Services.
They can also be downloaded at the MnSACA
website. www.mnsaca.org
Resources
National AfterSchool Association
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NAA is the leading national professional association for
the afterschool field. With over 9,000 members and 36
state affiliate organizations.
NAA represents the voice of the afterschool field in the
areas of professional development, program quality,
public policy and current issues affecting children and
youth in their out of school time.
NAA is the accrediting body for the NAA accreditation
process. They publish the resource book The NAA
Standards for Quality School-Age Care.
Web address: www.naaweb.org
Resources
Other
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Ollhoff, L., (2002). School-Age Care Planner.
Sparrow Media Group: Eden Prairie, MN
Phone: 952-953-9166
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School-Age NOTES
Resources for after-school professionals
info@schoolagenotes.com
web@schoolagenotes.com
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Redleaf Press
Resources for after-school professionals
www.redleafpress.org
Resources
Howard Gardners’ Multiple Intelligences
http://www.eed.econ.msu.ru/cmt2/lib/c/198/File/howard
gardnermultipleintelligences.pdf
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Boys and Girls Club of America
http://www.bgca.org/programs/education.asp
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4-H Clubs
http://kidsclubs.about.com/od/4h/p/4h.htm
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Therrel, J. (1988) How to Play with kids.
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed
Module 7