THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408080195 SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL TYPE: Cover Story SOURCE: Elizabeth Simpson, Special To Business Weekly LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
Twelve-year-old Danny Russell may have branded day-care centers ``baby places'' last year, but the one he attends this summer ranks in the ``cool'' range.
As Danny explains it: ``They have stuff for kids of the '90s.''
The Children's World Learning Center he attends in Virginia Beach just revamped its program for school-age children. Children shoot pool, play electronic keyboards and jump around Foosball tables. They grab crackers at an art-deco style snack bar and have telephones where their friends can call.
It's a far cry from the baby room.
The child-care chain's effort - taking place in Children's World centers all over the country - is part of a national trend of trying to tap the market of school-age children.
WHY? WORKING PARENTS, long uncomfortable with the idea of latch-key kids, are demanding safe havens for their children. And their children are refusing the usual building-block fare that centers used to offer.
There's also a growing demand for after-school and summer care because more women are working and more children are living in single-parent households. At last count, 50,000 formal after-school programs nationwide were serving more than 2 million children in schools, centers, churches and youth clubs.
Though after-school care is not a new idea by any means, it's recently gained new attention. Infant and toddler development used to be the main focus, but parents are now recognizing their school-age children need stimulating care as well. That voice is picking up volume as more of the baby boomers' children move into the school-age range.
``It can't just be a watered-down pre-school program,'' said Ellen Gannett, associate director of the School-Age Child-Care Project at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass. ``What it should be is an opportunity to develop youth.''
HALF OF THE CHILDREN enrolled in Children's World centers are school age, but the directors were finding that once kids reached the fourth grade, they began lobbying their parents to stay home.
``The kids didn't want to go to school with babies, and the parents thought they were too young to stay alone,'' said Kimberly Moore, vice president of education for Children's World.
Children's World's answer to that was to call in the experts: kids. They asked them what they thought would be the most fun, then designed a setup that would let kids choose what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it.
While after-school programs have tended to clump kindergartners through fifth-graders together, the new approach is to have different activities for children at every age. The older the child, the freer rein they have.
``It's their own place, rather than a place where adults tell them what to do,'' Moore said.
SO IT WAS ONE MORNING in late July that school-age children at Children's World gathered in small groups at seven or eight sites within the expansive room.
Five children in one corner played Nintendo. Two girls in red tutus danced on a stage. Another played an electronic keyboard. Three other girls huddled over an art project. Two boys shot pool, while another group of kids ate graham crackers at the snack bar. A CD player blasted music the youngsters brought from home.
``I made my parents bring me here because I knew the new stuff was coming,'' said 11-year-old Bobby Springstead, whose parents have just started letting him spend a few hours at home by himself. ``I have a great time here.''
His mother, Martha Springstead, said Bobby has been at the center since he was 2, and she has three other children, ages 5, 7 and 9, who also come.
``They do more with them here than I could find to do with them at home,'' said Springstead, a middle-school teacher. ``This is where their friends are.''
THE CHILDREN'S WORLD CHAIN, based in Colorado, spent more than $1.5 million just in equipment for all their centers and also gave employees special training to work with school-age kids. Rather than lead and direct, teachers encourage children to design and do activities on their own.
After-school programs based in schools and youth organizations are also changing to meet the needs of children. Linda Lloyd-Zannini, director of child-care services for the YMCA, said local Y programs are incorporating volunteer work, field trips, hobbies and vocational interests into their school-age programs. The theme is usually social and physical.
``They've just spent 6 1/2 hours sitting in school being told what to do and when to do it,'' Lloyd-Zannini said. ``We try to feed into the kids' desire to nap, snack or run laps.''
DESPITE THE GROWTH in after-school care, many gaps still remain.
While children of lower-income families often have access to government-subsidized programs and middle-income families can afford tuition-based care, the kids in between are sometimes left outside the door.
``Lower middle-income kids are often shut out of the network,'' Gannett said. After-school programs aren't available in many parts of Hampton Roads, forcing some parents to leave their kids at home. A 1991 Census study showed that nearly 8 percent of children of employed women were left alone for some part of the day.
YMCA after-school programs and Children's World after-school care cost a little more than $50 a week.
The quality of many programs also could use help. Gannett said her project works with schools, youth groups and centers to help them connect kids with the community and move out of the one-room-care theory. The best care lets children pursue interests like music lessons, 4-H or karate, either by bringing instructors to the children, or transporting kids to lessons.
Gannett said after-school care is likely to play an important role in the country's goal of reducing juvenile delinquency. The earlier you start working with children to get them interested in hobbies and athletic pursuits, the less likely they are to stray into trouble.
CORPORATIONS SUCH AS AT&T and DuPont also are starting to fund research into quality after-school care, in the interest of putting their employees' minds at ease.
``It's an alternative to sitting at home watching TV, eating fatty snacks, waiting for Mom and Dad to come home. That's the best scenario. The worst is that they're out there getting in trouble,'' Gannett said.
Youngsters don't think in terms like ``developmental appropriate'' or ``quality enhanced.'' They just want to have fun, he said.
``At first I wanted to stay home by myself this summer,'' said Danny Russell, tugging at his Tides baseball hat. ``But this has been a lot funner than I expected.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photos by CHARLIE MEADS
On the Cover: Jenice Rega and Danny Russell at a Children's World
Learning Center in Virginia Beach.
Lorin Whitney leads, from left, Paul Springstead, Taylor Rittenhouse
and Mary Potter in a dance routine at the Children's World Learning
Center in virginia Beach.
Krystal West uses a program called Math and Me on a computer at the
Children's World center in the Beach. The Colorado-based day-care
chain says it has spent more than $1.5 million for equipment alone
in its centers for school-age children.
Peanut butter and crackers: It's snack time for, from left, Taylor
Rittenhouse, Mary Potter and Paul Springstead. ``They do more with
them here than I could find to do with them at home,'' says Paul's
mother, Martha Springstead, a middle-school teacher. ``This is where
their friends are.''
Nicole Ogden, above, finishes a painting, which, in the top photo,
gets some attention from jane Springstead and Lisa Cutchins, a
teacher at the center. Instead of directing, teachers encourage kids
to design and do activities on their own.
KEYWORDS: DAY CARE
by CNB