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!
Interested in becoming a blogger? Email [email protected]
Click here to Register for a free account or click here to Login to your existing account.
Are We There Yet?
This is the question I get from the backseat on nearly every drive with my five and seven-year-old daughters. This is also the question I’ve found myself asking over and over for the last 19+ months, as I’ve tried to hold it all together. My kids have needed me more than ever, to comfort and care for them through the added challenges of the pandemic. We are privileged to be able to shield them from the harshest effects of the pandemic. Yet, I’ve struggled to give them the time and patience that ...Read More
4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Promote Meaningful Participation in Afterschool
Research tells us that if we hope to make a difference in young people’s learning, we need to provide opportunities for learning that is meaningful. This is especially important as youth return to afterschool programs after a year of isolation. If young people are engaged in meaningful participation, they are empowered to be self-directed, make responsible choices about how to use their time, and participate as group members in making decisions that influence the larger program and what they lea...Read More
Hey Afterschool Leaders, We’ve Been Called In
Most of us are compelled to work in afterschool programs because we want to empower youth, nurture young talent, even level the playing field. Despite doing this important work daily, we are painfully aware that the conditions of schools, neighborhoods, and economies just never change. So, we find ourselves, though well-intended, propping up a system that still doesn’t equitably serve all the people in this country. As agency leaders, we are witness to, and work daily against, the pressures, pol...Read More
My Why: Dare Mighty Things
In the afterschool world, program leaders and staff nurture the whole child, providing them a safe space to learn, grow, and connect to others. In the afterschool space, we see many kids making daily acts of bravery – some extending themselves simply by showing up, participating, or trying something new. Through youth development, kids are encouraged to dare greatly to be themselves, come into themselves, and develop their passions. In the world of space exploration, we also “dare mighty t...Read More
How to Keep Applications from Keeping Kids Out
When I write a blog it’s usually when I’ve reached a point where I’ve figured something out, or at least enough about something to feel that I’m ready to share “what works.” This time I am trying something different. I am writing because I have a question that I don’t know the answer to and a challenge that I am trying to figure out. We all have to administer paperwork in our after-school programs. We need the families of our kids to complete application...Read More
My Why: Pleasurable and Meaningful Work
There are those in my family who still don’t “get” what I do and wonder, sometimes audibly, if I will ever get a real job. They ask, “Why form a non-profit organization. Do you want to be poor all your life?” I am someone who didn’t plan to work in this profession. When I was in college, studying biology and chemistry, I knew working with kids would someday make me a better Dad, so I took a part-time work-study job in an afterschool program. Then I got hooked ...Read More
12 Tips to Integrate Academic Enrichment In Afterschool
I have been working with after school programs across the country since 1998. And there are some things that I have learned that make doing academic enrichment activities more successful with kids after school. To meet the goals of this, we need after school not more school and kids should be engaged and having fun. Here are some helpful tips: Meet with your school(s) to find out what areas to focus on, where kids need more time, and how you can work together to align with what they are focusing...Read More
Part 2 – How One After-School Program Prepares Students for the World
Asia Society and BOOST Collaborative are partnering to create a series of blogs on global learning in out-of-school time. Community organizations incorporate global learning into their afterschool programs in a number of ways. Here, Asia Society’s Heather Loewecke interviews Katie Aylwin and Amanda Wells from WHEDco, an organization committed to building a sustainable Bronx, to learn how they have included global components across their afterschool program from the mission to activities to...Read More
Part 1 – Beyond School: After-School Programs Bring the World to Young People
Asia Society and BOOST Collaborative are partnering to create a series of blogs on global learning in out-of-school time. Across the country, afterschool programs are looking at global learning as an approach to engage youth, enhance quality, and advocate for the value of learning beyond school. Alexis Menten, Executive Director, Program Development, Asia Society, shares more on this growing movement. This entry was originally posted on EdWeek’s Global Learning Blog. A Value-Add Aftersch...Read More
Yoga as a Strategy for Improving Behavior
There are many strategies used for improving behavior in children with autism and special needs. These include: visual aides to foster communication and understanding, sensory activities to support sensory needs and token/reward systems to increase desired behaviors and decrease undesired behaviors. These strategies, if implemented consistently can be highly effective across a variety of settings. Over the years I have incorporated yoga in my classroom setting as a complementary and holistic app...Read More
New paper: What are the impacts of afterschool STEM?
Today, many afterschool and summer programs include science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) as a standard part of their comprehensive programming. Afterschool providers recognize the importance of improved STEM education for their students and that hands-on, inquiry-driven STEM is in line with afterschool’s overall approach to education. Practitioners are able to directly see the impact afterschool STEM programs have on students—they see youth engaged in and excited about STEM activiti...Read More
The Next Generation of Afterschool Staff
When I started out in the afterschool field 30 + years ago I never envisioned this work as a career. I had taken a position as the Outreach Director at a YMCA in New Jersey. One of the many items on my job description was operating the After School Kare (ASK) program at one school site. Fifteen years later when I left the Y the ASK program had grown to 32 sites in 7 school districts with 1600 children. Since that time I’ve worked as a state contract administrator, trainer, and evaluator fo...Read More
- 1
- 2