Parents have a lot on their plates during the school year. There are logistics like drop-offs and pickups, activities, and outings. Then, there’s the responsibility of ensuring your children have experiences that help them learn, grow, and thrive. It’s quite the load to bear for any parent! With STEMful’s after school programs, we provide exciting and enriching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning opportunities for children and support parents as they do the best for their kids, too.
Here are five ways STEMful’s after school programs make life easier for parents.
1. Enhancing STEM Learning
When you enroll your children in STEMful’s Curiosity Club after school programs, parents like you can rest assured you’re providing them with the educational experiences and exposures they need to succeed in school and beyond. Rather than investing time and energy in creating additional STEM learning opportunities on your own, parents can count on STEMful.
In a perfect world, the school you’ve chosen to enroll your children in would provide every academic opportunity necessary to equip them for their futures in school and beyond. The reality is that most schools don’t offer a complete educational experience with a STEM curriculum. And since an educational foundation with STEM can be an early predictor of both a student’s academic success and a lifetime of learning, it’s something parents benefit from prioritizing.
STEMful’s after school programs give children ages five to 10 fun learning opportunities to explore science through creative expression and hands-on experiences. Our after school programs help children ask questions, investigate, process concepts using logic, collaborate, and create solutions to challenges. That way, they are learning and growing in every way possible.
2. Small-Group Education Benefits for Families
Depending on the school in which you’ve enrolled your child, they may or may not currently participate in small group learning experiences. Why does it matter? Well, many benefits come with small group learning for children.
From customizing concepts to meet children where they are (developmentally and emotionally) to creating a space for questions and conversation, small group learning is a valuable experience for children. And STEMful’s after school programs provide just that.
Thanks to the small group learning format in STEMful’s after school programs, parents don’t have to try to squeeze in small group experiences into an otherwise busy family schedule.
Each STEMful after school program provides children with opportunities to observe, question, and think critically about the world around them in a small group setting. They get individual attention, inclusive conversations, and build STEM skills in a participatory and fun format.
3. Helping Parents Teach Social and Emotional Skills
Parents know that a child’s education isn’t just about their academic curricula. Being able to navigate the world socially and emotionally is essential to children becoming productive, successful, and happy adults. Social-emotional learning, or SEL, is a priority in all STEMful programs, including our after school offerings. We’re proud to supplement your family’s efforts to teach children social and emotional skills and lessons.
In our after school programs (and in all learning opportunities at STEMful), we teach SEL concepts using the four elements of an effective SEL program:
- Sequence: connected and coordinated sets of activities to foster skills development
- Active: active forms of learning to help students master new skills
- Focus: emphasis on developing personal and social skills
- Explicit: targeted and specific social and emotional skills
Through this approach, children gain skills that help them understand and relate to others, reduce emotional stress, improve their academic performance, express themselves constructively, and make responsible decisions.
4. Showing Children How to Resolve Conflicts
Helping your children navigate conflicts, whether at home or school, is a hurdle every parent faces—sometimes a challenging one. Giving your children opportunities to develop and learn the skills they need to get through a conflict and learn and grow from it is one of the best things parents can do to prepare them for the future.
At STEMful, we help parents provide those educational experiences to their kids by integrating restorative practices in our after school and other programs.
Restorative practice focuses on remedying harm by collaborating to find a solution. We use restorative practices in our after school programs to develop a supportive community for our students, in tandem with SEL activities. It’s our goal to help children grow into active, involved, and accountable community members.
5. Convenient Schedules for Busy Families
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the end of your children’s school days aligned perfectly with your working hours? We know that in many cases when the bell rings in your child’s classroom, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are done with your professional responsibilities and obligations for the day.
Rather than trying to find valuable and educational ways for your children to spend the window of time between school and home, parents have the perfect solution with STEMful’s after school programs.
Our programs run from 2-6 pm, with the option for STEMful staff to pick children up from school or for parents to drop them off. Program hours are filled with outdoor play, exploration, engaging activities that enrich children’s learning experiences and homework support. When parents pick up their children from our after school programs, you know the hours spent with us add value to their education and their development.
Ready to Enroll?
Give your children exciting and educational learning opportunities that make your life a bit easier! Enroll them in our Curiosity Club after school programs this winter and enjoy the benefits of learning with STEMful.