Breakfast Club Blog
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
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Celebrate Lights On Afterschool. Hands-On Projects Inspire Students to Find the Engineer Within
“I made a new friend today,” a girl enthusiastically shared as she and her fifth-grade peers cleaned up after making polymers. These girls come together once a week and work through science and engineering activities in an afterschool program hosted by Techbridge. We challenge them to work with students that they don’t know and measure success when we see them supporting each other. It’s a sign that afterschool programs are not only fostering and expanding opportunities f...Read More
The Common Core and What Children Need
I was recently introduced to this quote from Robert Halpern of the Erikson Institute: “… children need times and places in their lives where the adult agenda is modest, if not held at bay; where the emotional temperature is low, and acceptance is generous; where learning is self-directed, experiential, and structured to be enjoyable; where talents can be identified; and where possible identities can be explored without risk of failure or ridicule” (Halpern, 2000, p. 186). It so...Read More
The Heart of the Matter
The tug-of-war between the priorities of quantity of and quality of out-of-school time programs has finally crossed the mud pit. With millions of children still without a place to go afterschool, this conversation has vacillated between the two opinions. But when research shows that children in low-quality programs have no better outcomes than children who are unsupervised during the same time, quality must be the focus (Child Trends, 2010-19). Research recently published in Expanding Minds and ...Read More
Go, Girls, Go!
As part of girls’ development, it is critical they connect with positive peers- especially other girls. Those of us at middle school sites tend to cringe at the idea of girls “connecting” with other girls because nine times out of ten there is some drama involved. However, contradictory to what media feeds us, girls are not born with a “mean gene.” Research stresses the importance of healthy relationships for girls can have a significant impact on their self-esteem,...Read More
The Lights On Afterschool Movement and the Future of 21st CCLC
So much has been going on in the afterschool movement these past few weeks, it is hard to know where to begin. We’ve had inspiring moments. Intensely frustrating policy developments. Exhilarating waves of grassroots action. And very worrisome threats to the future of 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21stCCLC). I’m on my first cup of coffee this morning, so let me start with the good news. More than a million Americans celebrated the 12th annual Lights on Afterschool last Thur...Read More
Got Alignment?
“Honeeeeeeeeeeeey, I’m hoooooooooooome. What’s the plan for dinner? Did you make it to the bank to take care of the girls’ accounts? Where are the kids?” Sound familiar? Well, it should. It’s common daily conversation in many homes. In fact, this is the exact verbiage that came out of my mouth when I arrived home to my stay-at-home hubby yesterday. His answer: “There’s no dinner plan, girl’s are doing homework, and yes, I went to the bank but...Read More
Summer Brings New Community-Building Opportunities
Summertime is upon us. Summer brings many changes for OST programs. Many afterschool programs turn into full-day programs. The mix of children is dramatically altered – new children register for the summer program that did not attend the program during the school year. Some older kids depart and a new batch of kindergartners arrives. The curriculum and routine of the afterschool program transform into a very different summer program. The staff makeup of the program may change if new staff ...Read More
Marketing to the Middle
In California, state and federally funded after-school programs that fail to meet their attendance targets are subject to grant reduction. In the most recent round of adjustments, middle level schools received a disproportionate share of the cuts. While they receive only about a quarter of the ASES and 21st CCLC funds allocated to K-9 schools, they accounted for more than half of the reductions. Clearly, we have a problem engaging middle school kids in our programs. And do you know why? Because ...Read More
Safe Schools: Utilizing Youth Leadership Programs to Develop a Safe School Climate
In developing school based approaches to create safe schools and positive school climates the single most important factor that youth leadership programs neglect to focus in on is the importance of developing a sense of belonging to a group identity for young people. We know that “After transition to middle school, peers become primary sources of support and motivation to achieve while the quality of teacher-student relationships tends to decline with time” (Wentzel, 1996). As we set...Read More
What Are You Planning For Your Summer Vacation?
It’s the middle of winter so, of course, I’m thinking about summer programs. We know summer programs are important for education and the fight against obesity. Learning requires momentum and so does establishing a healthy lifestyle. Without summer programs to keep children’s minds and bodies active, many children, especially those from low-income backgrounds, experience “learning loss,” become less physically active, and fall into unhealthy eating habits. As a resul...Read More
It’s Time to Think and Act Differently
Over the past several months I’ve met with leaders at the White House, the Senate and Congress and with high level federal department officials and executives of national organizations. I’ve spoken with California’s top policymakers, sat next to the Governor on a flight to Los Angeles and presented at several conferences across the country. With few exceptions, I’ve been surprised by how little folks know about the impact of funding for afterschool programs and the impact...Read More
Making Connections- Youth Development and Academic Achievement
For many afterschool programs having an academic piece that really does make a difference in the lives of their students seems an elusive goal. With more and more stress being placed on afterschool programs demonstrating how their activities improve the academic achievement of their students, it has become increasingly important to understand what fosters this kind of success. One way to evaluate whether academic activities will produce the desired results is to look at them through the lenses o...Read More