Before/After School Care for 5th/6th graders and onward archived

i think the guideline is 10years old depending on maturity, peer group and parents ability to enforce no friends over until i get home policy etc. So yes 5/6th seems inline with latchkey age range

my sons were three years apart the tricky ages were when one was old enough to be home alone but the younger sibling needed someone there so having an after school helper who was just one/two years older than my oldest was very awkward ( I did not want to have to have my oldest caring for the youngest every day)

I am thinking of letting my 4th grader (who is of 5th grade age) next year walk home and save the money. I certainly did that - in awful cities when I was his age.

In my experience, 5th grade aftercare was acceptable and comfortable for us and for our son. But going to middle school changes everything. In 6th grade, going to aftercare was clearly considered kind of uncool, so our son made a very rapid adjustment, resisting aftercare and comfortable alone after school.

I was able to go to work early and be home by 5 (from Newark, not NYC). However, he would have been fine alone for a longer period as long as there was plenty to eat.

My older child went to the library (and studied or read quietly) after school on days when I was at work. I know that the library isn't a childcare service, but it is still a good place for well-behaved kids to work on homework or read or similar IMO.

4th 5th is a good age to transition. I do not think library is a great everyday option. Unfair to kid, unfair to staff and public places that may be targeted by unscrupulous. It really depends on child, they need responsibility to grow.

I think the afterschool program at the middle school includes time at the school library to do homework, no?

We are just at this moment because our high school son really is not around in the afternoons to help out, given his sports and activity schedule. So we have been experimenting with our 5th grader letting him let himself in and being alone for an hour or so, or going into town or the library. Our expectation is that by middle school he should be more autonomous in the afternoons, but for the shuttling that comes with his activities. For us, it's felt organic--he is wanting this independence and we are ready to give it too.

sprout said:

I think the afterschool program at the middle school includes time at the school library to do homework, no?

I don't know but when my older kid went to middle school we did ASP (which WAS at the library, in the basement room) which did have a way to allow kids to go upstairs to the library after they had "crossed the street" from MMS. We did that for a while, but then it seemed kind of pointless to pay for part-time ASP when she could just as well go to the library on her own. There were LOTS of issues back then with kids hanging out at the library so it wasn't really a sanctioned thing to do, but she didn't make trouble so it worked fine for us. (And I always maintained that young people, especially those who had library cards, have as much right as anyone else to spend time in the library as long as they follow the rules there.)

There's aftercare available in the middle schools?? I thought that 5th grade was the cutoff! Hmmmmmm. (My older daughter is in 1st grade right now, so I've a few years to go, obviously.)

Aftercare at middle schools is provided by Youthnet, and it is a good option for those whose kids are less mature, anxious about a long walk (ours is 1.8 miles) if they don't have reliable walking buddies, etc. They do have homework/library time, also gym time, and at SOMS they can participate in after school clubs without any additional charge. The group tends to be largely 6th graders, tapers in 7th, and very few still attend by 8th grade.