School-Age Care and After-School Programs

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In 1979 and 1980 Child Care Information Exchange ran a series of five articles about what was then called school-age day care: "Getting It Off the Ground," "Designing an Effective Structure," "Developing a Responsive Curriculum," "Selecting and Motivating Staff," and "Managing the Money." These articles from 25 years ago captured the essence of school-age child care then. As a child development specialist I believe that while "the times" may change, developmental stages, needs, and characteristics do not. In this article I revisit one of those articles — "School-Age Day Care: Developing a Responsive Curriculum" and focus on what is the same and what has changed.

Right in step with today's trends, Exchange's content teaser on the cover in 1979 used the term "after school." This past February the National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA — founded in 1987) announced changing its name to the National AfterSchool Association (NAA) based on the fact ...