The purpose of this topic is to provide school-age care staff with a strong foundation in child and
adolescent development.
This includes an accurate understanding of developmental
concepts and how these concepts are manifested in children
and youth of particular ages.
This foundation will be used to facilitate staff's ability to (a) work effectively with children of diverse ages and
(b) plan and carry out developmentally appropriate and
supportive activities.
To this end there are comprehensive developmental descriptions
provided in the 3 major domains of development (i.e., physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development).
These descriptions are provided for 3 major age groups:
kindergarten through second grade; third through fifth grade; and sixth through eighth grade.
These categories were chosen for logistical reasons
to reflect demographics at after-school and school-age care sites, as well as for developmental reasons
(i.e., age groups with the most in common).
These descriptions should be referenced for all of
the training modules in this topic.
Modules in this Topic:
1.1.1
Fostering Social Skills in Children and Youth
During this training, participants will learn about
the developmental trends that are identified with different
age groups and how those trends relate to day-to-day programming.
1.1.2
Building Relationships with Children & Youth
This module supports participants in exploring how
to build positive, meaningful relationship with children
and youth in order to plan programs that are responsive
to their needs.
Participants will be given hands on tips, techniques
and activities to help them build relationships with
children and youth.
1.1.3
Effective Communication with Children & Youth
During this training, participants will learn about
effective and dynamic communication tools, strategies
to assess understanding, and activities that engage
young people in communication.
1.1.4
Building Self-Esteem
During this training, participants will learn about
the qualities of healthy self-esteem and some strategies/activities for supporting young people as they develop
positive self-esteem.
1.1.5
Fostering Social Skills Children & Youth
This training will give participants an understanding
of the importance of working with children/youth to develop social skills, and teach them some
practical strategies to facilitate this development.
1.1.6
Professionalism
During this training, participants will discuss what
it means to be professional in the world of afterschool
and also learn strategies to support the families of
the children and youth that they serve.
1.1.7
How and What to Observe in Children and Youth
During this training, participants will develop strategies
for observing children and youth and how to use those
observations to better understand behavior and develop
appropriate programming.
1.1.8
Meeting the Needs of Children and Youth
During this training, participants will learn several
strategies to determine if the needs of children and
youth are being effectively met.
Participants will also learn the benefits of gathering
information on effectiveness in planning and quality.
1.1.9
Developmental Trends 201
During this training, participants will deepen their
understanding of the importance of developmental trends
and how to determine that activities are age-appropriate.
A positive environment for school-age care and afterschool programs is as vital to the
success of a program as is well-trained staff members. The environment refers to the
organization and care of the indoor and outdoor facilities,
as well as the emotional environment. The physical
facilities vary widely among programs; from state-of-the-art, dedicated facilities to shared space that rotates
to different rooms on a daily basis. The various aspects
of the environment also play a key role in either increasing
or decreasing inappropriate behavior.
It is important for the staff to understand the powerful
effect the environment has in supporting the overall
goals of school-age care and afterschool programs. Once staff members
understand the role of the environment, they will be
able to create an atmosphere in which children's and youth's growth and development are supported by the ways
in which the space is arranged and managed, materials
are chosen and maintained, and interpersonal relationships
are developed.
Modules in this topic :
1.2.1
The Elements of the Environment
There are three essential afterschool environments; indoor, outdoor, and the interpersonal.
This training will help staff indentify a variety of
ways to enhance the whole afterschool environment for
children and youth.
1.2.2
Shared Space 101
Afterschool programs share space and facilities that
are used by other people and for other purposes during
the school day.
Participants will identify some of the challenges associated
with shared space along with learning how to accomplish
this in a positive way in order to create effective
programming.
1.2.3
Messages from the Environment
Participants will build skills in adapting environments
to make positive changes in their programs so that
those environments intentionally send desired messages.
This module will help participants to identify nonverbal
messages that the environment sends to the people who
work or play within it.
1.2.4
Shared Space 201
In this training, participants will deepen their understanding
of sharing space as including advanced collaboration
and cooperation.
Resolving differences to achieve peaceful relationships
between those sharing space requires much work and
dedication on the part of everyone.
Participants will leave this training feeling better
prepared to take on this task.
School-age care and afterschool program staff must be equipped
to guide and manage the variety of behaviors of children
and youth on a daily basis.
The development of children and youth can cause them
to behave in ways that can be trying for even the most
knowledgeable and experienced staff.
What staff may perceive as inappropriate behavior can
be the result of many triggers, such as a natural desire
for attention, developing independence, too many transitions,
or insufficient choices and materials. When staff understands what is driving the behavior,
they can help to guide and encourage acceptable behaviors.
The staff team must be consistent with their words
and actions, and work out clear expectations for behavior.
Working with children and youth requires staff to expand
their skills to be responsive, structured and safe,
and intentional and deliberate in their daily work,
in order to cultivate an environment encouraging children
and youth's growth and development.
Modules in this Topic :
1.3.1
Understanding the Behavior of Children and Youth
This training will provide staff with the knowledge
and skills necessary to help children and youth build
inner self-control, make and foster friendships, make responsible
choices, understand natural and logical consequences
for behaviors, and take responsibility for behaviors.
Participants will understand behavior as purposeful,
and learn how to look for patterns in behavior that
will help staff identify possible causes.
Participants will learn at least two effective behavior
guidance strategies or techniques.
1.3.2
Developing Problem Solving Skills
In this module participants will learn effective behavior
guidance strategies/techniques and will practice when to employ these strategies.
Problem solving is one such skill children and youth
need to learn and practice and to observe adults practicing
regularly in daily life.
With this participants will be ready to teach children
and youth how to problem solve.
1.3.3
The Role of Staff in Behavior Guidance
To gain greater confidence in guiding behavior, staff
must look at their personal reactions to the behaviors
of the children and youth with whom they work.
Participants will understand their reactions to child/youth behaviors and learn to use this information to
respond more effectively when working with children
and youth.
1.3.4
Effective Supervision of Children and Youth
Participants will spend time defining the life skills
they would like the children and youth in their care
to learn and practice.
Participants will work on refining skills to communicate
expectations for behaviors.
They will continue to develop their skills for more
effective supervision of children and youth.
Quality afterschool programs are reliant on two key
ingredients:
quality programming with specific outcomes and highly
qualified staff who are well-trained and actively engaged in the process of creating
quality programs.
Delivering quality programming does not happen by accident.
It is very intentional and begins by having a basic
understanding of the California Academic Standards
and ways that afterschool can support improved student
achievement.
It is critical that afterschool staff have time to
plan and a vested interest in the plans they are expected
to implement.
It is also important the activities and lessons are
presented in an engaging manner and that staff remember
that their enthusiasm is contagious.
Creating learning opportunities from program activities
includes debriefing the activity to help children and
youth make meaning out of what they are participating
in and layer the learning with opportunities for participants
to reflect on what they have learned.
A daily schedule that allows children to explore and
learn in a variety of ways is also important.
Finally, balanced and integrated programs allow children
and youth to experience a day full of a variety of
learning opportunities.
Modules in this Topic:
1.4.1
Explorers Basics--Curriculum Areas 101
This module offers a basic overview of the 6 curriculum areas as defined by the California Department
of Education.
Participants will experience a simple activity from
each area and discuss the importance of a well-balanced program.
1.4.2
Presentation Methods and Debriefing Strategies
During this training, participants will understand
that the delivery and debriefing of an activity to
help children/youth make meaning is critical to ensure program quality.
Participants will be able to build skills in identifying
and adapting a variety of methods of presenting activities
to children and youth.
They will explore and share debriefing strategies to
use with activities for children and youth
1.4.3
Daily Scheduling
During this training, participants will look at schedules
to determine if they are providing both sufficient
structure yet flexibility to accommodate a wide range
of activities.
The California content standards were "designed to encourage the highest achievement of every
student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills
that students should acquire at each grade level."
While school-age care and afterschool programs are not an extension
of the school day, they can provide activities and
opportunities for intentional learning, which can enhance
in a fun way the concepts and skills in the frameworks
that the children and youth learn during the school
day. Knowledge of the content in the curriculum frameworks
and the academic content standards being used in the
schools helps the staff plan appropriately to provide
related academic opportunities and support.
Modules in this Topic:
1.5.1
Integrating Academics and Enrichments
During this module presentation, participants will
understand the importance of integrating the California
State Standards into academic and enrichment activities.
They will also learn strategies for planning activities
in a balanced program that reinforce standards in fun
and engaging ways.
1.5.2
Homework Assistance
During this training, participants will learn strategies
to use during homework assistance time to better support
children/youth as they work on homework.
They will identify questions to ask children/youth to redirect them when they struggle with a homework
assignment.
1.5.3
Focus on Language Arts
During this training, participants will learn about
language arts standards and ways in which afterschool
programs can support mastery of those standards.
1.5.4
Focus on Math
During this module presentation, participants will
learn about mathematics standards and ways in which
afterschool programs can support mastery of those standards.
1.5.5
Focus on Science
During this training, participants will learn about
science standards and ways in which afterschool programs
can support mastery of those standards.
1.5.6
Focus on Social Studies/History
During this training, participants will learn about
social studies/history standards and learn a minimum of two standards-based activities to share with the children and youth
in their program.
1.5.7
Focus on Healthy Living
During this training, participants will become acquainted
with the Physical Education and Health Standards.
They will also learn at least two standards-based activities to share with the children/youth in their program.
1.5.8
Focus on Visual/Performing Arts
During this training, participants will learn about
Visual and Performing Arts standards and ways in which
afterschool programs can support mastery of those standards
through fun activities.
Being an afterschool site supervisor/leader is a challenging job.
It is the supervisor who is pushed from the top to
get things done, to see to it that the program is moving
toward the vision, to accomplish the annual goals,
to build relationships with school day personnel and
the community, to translate all of the conversation
into reality.
It is the supervisor/leader who is pushed from their staff and the students
to make sure that the needs of the children/youth are met, that the nuts and bolts of running a
program are taken care of, that discipline occurs when
necessary, and that support is given across the program
with respect and dignity.
Supervising adults is challenging under any circumstances,
but in afterschool, supervision can be even more challenging
because those supervised needs to be independent workers
who are creative, energetic, enthusiastic and calculated
risk takers.
They must also be able make decisions on a regular
basis to best serve the interests of the children/youth.
So the afterschool supervisor/leader must have an arsenal of skills and strategies
to be both a leader and a supervisor.
These modules are designed to help build that arsenal.
Modules in this Topic:
2.1.2
The Role of the Site Leader
This module offers a basic overview of the roles and
responsibilities of the site leader/supervisor and how those roles support a culture of
team excellence and mutual support.
Supervising staff is one of the challenges that is
routinely faced by afterschool administrative personnel.
While it is "not possible to supervise someone into success" according to Dr. Andria Fletcher, it is important
to know how to fairly, efficiently, and adequately
supervise the staff that you are accountable for.
Supervision requires that the administrator or program
manager articulate the vision to the staff, set clear
expectation with the staff as to how they will, working
together, accomplish the vision, and then hold them
accountable for their performance.
These modules focus on some of the ways that we work
with staff, motivating, inspiring, and aligning their
work so that children and youth can have a seamless
day.
Modules in this Topic
2.2.1
Incentives and Motivations
During this module presentation, participants will
look at several strategies for providing meaningful
incentives for staff and also techniques to determine
what motivates themselves and their staff as well.
Participants will use Maslow's Hierarchy to assess the needs and how they affect
motivation and appropriate incentives.
2.2.2
Coaching Staff to Success
During this training, participants will learn about
the different stages of coaching and the coaching steps,
and have an opportunity to practice the coaching steps.
2.2.3
Making Meeting Work
During this training, participants will gain experiences
in running an effective meeting.
They will learn how to keep meetings and discussions
on track and focused, as well as how to handle challenging
people at meetings.
2.2.4
Delegations Skills
During this training, participants will learn about
the art of delegation and the pitfalls and traps that
leaders can fall into that keeps them from delegating
effectively.
The modules in this topic area will help the participants
examine the process of planning and leading activities
and to discover appropriate ways for adults to be involved
in activities for school-age/afterschool children and youth. Well-planned activities will give children and youth opportunities
to develop and practice skills, to increase their social
proficiency, and to discover things about themselves
and their surroundings. After completing this segment
of training, the staff should be able to create a thematic
plan that includes many different types of activities
and have an increased understanding of how they relate
to the needs of school-age children and youth.
Modules in this Topic:
2.3.2
Using Theme Webs for Curriculum Planning
During this training, participants will learn about
the six developmental categories and how to plan curriculum
for afterschool programs that is thematic.
Participants will learn how to use theme webbing to
plan and organize program activities.
Assessing Your Program to Ensure Continuous Improvement:
Two critical elements in a quality afterschool program
are staff and programming. By implementing a cycle of continuous improvement and
augmenting that cycle by applying the concept of double
loop learning to the analysis of data, programs can
plan and deliver quality staff development which will
lead to stronger programming. Building the competency and the capacity of staff to
perform brilliantly when they work with children and
youth is essential in delivering quality afterschool
programs.
Too often, staff are hired, given a brief orientation
and training, and then left on their own to grow and
improve in their job skills. Ongoing assessment by
both staff and supervisors, however, can reveal areas
in which staff need or desire improvement. The staff
person and the supervisor can map out a development
plan for achieving the desired growth in a particular
area. Contributions from both the staff member and
the supervisor help ensure that the needs of the program
and the staff person are taken into account. Key to
developing a strong staff development program is understanding
the principles of adult learning and experiential learning.
These understandings help to guide the program manager
as they make decisions about staff development and
program improvement.
Modules in this Topic:
2.4.1
Strengthening Your Program Based on Data
During this module presentation, participants will
discuss how the cycle of continuous improvement afford
programs the opportunity to make decision based on
data and the two strategies of Double Loop Learning
and the 5 whys.
Historically, children and youth with special needs
have had limited options for placement in childcare.
Today, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that school-age care and afterschool programs make a reasonable
effort to accommodate all children and youth (Together We're Better, Kid's Included Together). With planning, training, and support, program staff
can successfully include many children with special
needs.
Most school-age care and afterschool program staff must develop
the skills necessary to assess the environment, materials,
equipment, and activities to make the necessary modifications
and accommodations so that all children and youth in
their programs are successful.
Staff must also develop a familiarity with specific
disabilities and special needs.
When staff members work together with parents, school
staff, and community members in offering a supportive
and appropriate environment, children and youth benefit.
Modules in this Topic:
3.1.1
Creating an Inclusive Program
During this training, participants will discuss the
law regarding inclusion as well as the attitude needed
to create an inclusive environment in their programs
by making reasonable accommodations for children with
disabilities.
Participants will gain understand what it means for
a program to be inclusive, what is meant by the term
"disability", and will identify three strategies to move their
organization to a new phase of inclusion
3.1.2
Including Children with Disruptive Behaviors
During this training, participants will discuss the
challenge of children with disruptive behavior and
learn strategies for effectively addressing these behaviors.
Establishing Partnerships with Families, Schools and
Communities:
The lives of children and youth served in school-age care and afterschool programs have many facets.
Because schools, school-age care, and afterschool programs serve children and
youth and share the same basic goals, they can form
powerful partnerships to help children. These modules
introduce methods for enhancing communication among
programs that serve school-age children and their families, the schools that the
children and youth attend and the communities in which
they live.
Children/youth have opportunities in afterschool programs to
embrace the community by bringing community representatives
into the program, and to serve the community through
service learning projects and community service
Modules in this Topic:
3.2.1
Communicating With Families
Program staff will identify their attitudes towards
families and will consider how their attitudes can
enhance or detract from their ability to develop positive
relationships with families. They will examine how
a program's overall environment supports strong staff-family communication.
3.2.2
Understanding a Vision for Family Involvement
This training will help participants develop a vision
for stronger partnerships with families and to find
effective ways of involving families in your program.
Understanding the variety of ways a family supports
their child/youth's learning and development can help staff to recognize
and value these roles among the family members with
whom they work.
3.2.3
Listening and Responding To Families' Needs
This training helps staff to develop communication
skills that enable them to convey respect and concern
by focusing attention on the child or youth's needs while underscoring respect for the family through
attentive listening and openness to the family's point of view.
Participants will practice listening compassionately
and being aware of how our experiences affect our present
interactions with children and youth and their families.
3.2.4
Partnering With Schools
During this training, participants will understand
the importance of partnering effectively with schools
and will learn strategies to strengthen the natural
connections between their program and schools.
3.2.5
Partnering With Communities
During this training, participants will develop skills
in identifying and accessing resources within the community.
They will also identify and develop skills in helping
children and youth discover more about their community.
Leadership in school-age care and afterschool programs ranges from simple
observation to active participation in program design
and implementation.
Leadership begins with formulating a mission statement,
goals, and objectives for the program. If a program is to grow, its mission statement, goals,
and objectives must be realistic and attainable. An effective leader uses all available resources to
fulfill the program's goals and objectives, understands how to delegate
effectively, and knows how to steer the team toward
success.
School-age care and afterschool program staff must take part
in the formation of program goals and objectives to
feel ownership in meeting program goals. Every staff member has a unique leadership style that
brings the team closer to achieving its goals. Knowing
the leadership styles of staff and helping staff identify
their own and their team members' leadership styles help to make the most of everyone's strengths. A successful team knows its leadership
strengths and weaknesses and works together to ensure
program success. When all the members of the team understand
and value their roles, the fulfillment of a program's goals and objectives becomes much more of a reality.
Modules in this Topic:
3.3.1
Knowing Yourself as a Leader
Taking time to discover your values, goals, skills,
talents, and strengths will help you to understand
the type of leader you are and help you become the
type of leader you desire to be.
Leadership is not a one-dimensional trait.
It is an on-going process involving continuous learning.
Participants will learn to develop a personal mission
statement and identify strengths and weaknesses in
skill development.
3.3.2
Your Leadership Style
This is a two-part workshop.
The first half is an informal assessment of leadership
styles relating to the animal kingdom.
The second is a more formal assessment of work styles.
Participants will learn to identify individual leadership
styles and to build skills toward working effectively
with staff with differing styles.
3.3.3
Building Leaders
During this training, participants will explore what
it means to be a leader, how to be reflective and intentional
about our work, and how to communicate effectives with
others.
Participants will learn and demonstrate communication
through the three main modalities (visual, audio, and kinesthetic).
Quality programs operate with the idea that they will
change, improve, and grow. Knowing how to identify
areas needing improvement is the key to program quality,
which must be continually evaluated to identify strengths
and weaknesses. All parties involved should help in
this process. This information is usually obtained
through an evaluation, which can be conducted both
formally and informally. Formal evaluations can be
done through surveys of parents, staff, children and
youth, board members, and community members. Consistent
compliments and complaints are generally good informal
indicators of areas of strength and weakness in a program.
Results of program evaluations can provide measurable
information from which to formulate specific goals
for improvement that will enable the program to grow.
Modules in this Topic:
3.4.1
Program Evaluation: What's it all About?
During this module presentation, participants will
learn about evaluation, its importance, and how to
organize an evaluation to ensure that programs can
be data driven.
Participants will learn the why what, who, when, and
how of evaluating school-age care/afterschool programs.
They will learn where to find the evaluation requirements
of programs sponsored by different funding sources.
3.4.2
Evaluation:
A Self Study
During this training, participants will practice an
analysis of program elements and look at other self-study strategies. Participants will apply the SWOT
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) strategy to conduct program evaluation and identify
other self-study processes to evaluate programs.
In this series of modules, participants will 1) uncover the dynamics of power, privilege, and oppression
in society; 2) understand the definition and role of allies in creating
anti-oppressive environments; 3) take steps to become an ally.
For the purposes of these modules, the anti-oppression framework includes:
- uncovering and challenging the dynamics of power and
privilege in society;
- on-going work towards fighting racism, sexism, homophobia
and other forms of oppression in various settings;
- centering around the assumption that most social values
are based in the ideals of white supremacy ("an historically-based, institutionally-perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of
continents, nations, and peoples of color by white
peoples and nations of the European continent for the
purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth,
power, and privilege" [Challenging White Supremacy Workshop, 2000]).
There are a total of six two-hour trainings within this topic.
For success, these trainings should be scheduled together.
Additionally, there is a greater impact if these trainings
are done in either two six-hour blocks of time or three four-hour blocks of time.
Modules in this Topic:
3.5.1
Creating Safety
This Training will provide participants the opportunity
to explore their own relationship to safety and support
set group agreements for the series, and discover their
frame. Participants will identify their frame for exploring
the deeper issues of privilege, anti-oppression, and ally building
3.5.2
Going Deeper: Exploring Diversity
During this module participants will further explore
their "FRAMES" created in module 3.5.1 and explore diversity through the use of quotations
and small group discussions.
Participants will explore what makes up who they are
and explore a variety of views on what is diversity.
3.5.3
Exploring Privilege
This training deeply explores privilege through one
activity for the entire training.
Participants will reflect on the ways in which they
experience privilege in their lives and explore ways
in which having and not having privilege impacts the
experience of others.
3.5.4
Privilege, Power and the Ladder of Oppression
This module exposes the multiple ways privilege and
power play out in the form of oppression. Participants
will be able to define privilege and power and identify
the rungs on the Ladder of Oppression.
3.5.5
Exploring Cliques in Your Program
During this training, participants will explore the
impact of cliques in their programs, how they are formed,
and how they affect individual children and youth.
3.5.6
Becoming Allies with Children Youth and Families
This training summarizes all previous trainings and
helps move participants to become allies. Participants
will define and identify qualities of an ally; identify two strategies to be an ally; commit to being an ally and find a comrade for the
journey.
Creating Culturally Sensitive and Equitable Programs:
The modules in this section have been designed as a
three-part training series to empower individuals to work
more effectively with diverse cultural groups and create
more sensitive and equitable programs.
The modules are meant to be delivered to a group in
sequential order and it is recommended that they are
not delivered all in one day, but rather spread out
over a three week to one month period to allow participants
time to process the activities and their personal experiences
in the trainings.
The modules are divided into two levels, 101 and 201.
Module 3.6.1 is a 101 level module designed to introduce cultural sensitivity
by supporting participants' understanding of the significance of culture and the
role it plays in shaping the experiences of individuals,
including children and youth. Modules 3.6.2 and 3.6.3 are 201 level modules which explore the benefits of cultural
diversity, equity and inclusion alongside the personal
and environmental challenges or obstacles that keep
individuals from experiencing these benefits.
Modules in this Topic:
3.6.1
Cultural Diversity, Identity and Engagement
During this training, participants will address the
extent to which culture impacts the lives of others
and critically evaluate ways in which individuals of
diverse backgrounds relate to one another.
3.6.2
Cultural Conflicts and Strategies:
Movement toward Equity and Inclusion
During this training, participants will examine the
significance of and challenges to supporting cultural
diversity and equity.
They will address appropriate ways of handling challenges
and conflicts that reflect culture and diversity.
3.6.3
Promoting Cultural Sensitivity, Diversity and Equity
Understanding in Children and Youth
During this training, participants will examine how
to implement activities designed to promote cultural
sensitivity, diversity and/or equity understanding among children and youth.
