The Carver Center After School Program provides service for 120 children K through Middle School from 3-6 pm. These children attend the Port Chester Schools.   Carver Center provides transportation through County Coach Bus Company from all 4 elementary schools as well as the Early Learning Center.  Upon arrival, children are provided with a healthy snack.  At 5 pm, they are served dinner made by an on-site chef.  At the Carver Center, children are provided with 1 on 1 tutoring and homework help with the assistance of students from Manhattanville College, Long Island University graduate students, Harrison High School, and Rye Country Day School. 

Other activities include: tennis, rugby, soccer, dance, band, swimming, music production (for middle school) and monthly nutrition class. Special activities occur throughout the year.  Children participate in cultural events, including a Hispanic Heritage month celebration, Christmas performance, Black History Month Celebration, March Madness Basketball tournament and an end of the school year celebration.  In addition, we hold monthly parent meetings with an attendance of 35-40 parents.  Carver Center ASP has a great relationship with the Port Chester School District.  There is consistent communication between ASP staff and school staff.  Additionally, we use many of the same classroom practices that are used in the school system.

There were few exciting things that took place for the children at the Carver Center in the month of April.

• 40 tickets were donated for children and staff to attend the Mets baseball game at Citi Field, they had a great time
• A generous donor bought 40 tickets and paid for transportation so the Middle School children in our program could visit the Metropolitan Museum in NY
• On April 15^th we had registration for our seven week long Summer Program; 120 children were registered that night.  We currently have a waiting list!
• 12 Students from the Carver Center were invited to the Greenwich Boys and Girls Club where they took part in the Zac Foundation ABC's Water Safety Program

On Friday May 11^th Janett Grose, Manager of Children's Programs, will be awarded the Milton A. Williams Jr. Scholars and Educator Award through the Westchester Children's Museum.  This event will take place at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains.

For more information about Carver Center and their children's programs, contact  

Janett Grose,  Manager of Children's Programs, Carver Center,  400 Westchester Avenue, Port Chester N.Y. 10573, 914-305-6044, email jgrose@carvercenter.org.

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning." -

Fred Rogers (1928-2003), American educator

Structured roughhousing can allow children to channel energy in safe ways, help children learn ways to manage impulse control and help them learn appropriate use of their bodies, according to Karen Haas-Foletta, Michele Cogley and Lori Ottolini Geno, authors of School-Age Ideas and Activities for After-School Programs.

The authors cite a study by Pellegrini and Perlmutter that found that boys who engaged successfully in rough and tumble play had better developed social skills and were more liked by their peers in general.

They also found that those who did not function well in play fight situations or in games with rules and strategies more often could not relate to their peers without becoming angry, were less socially skilled and less liked.

The authors note that this research could "be an important beginning to finding ways to help children with poor social coping skills. Rough and tumble play can teach them to relate better with peers and enjoy playground activities more. The skills learned in normal, supervised, rough and tumble activities can be applied to other types of social situations."

They also point out that girls may benefit from supervised rough and tumble play as well. As girls have fewer opportunities to assert themselves or to engage in assertive play, they can develop self-confidence and a new awareness of themselves through supervised rough and tumble play.

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100 HEALTHY SNACK IDEAS

Whether you want to have simple and healthful snacks on hand at your site for you or the kids, this list from the Six Sisters' Stuff Web site will give you dozens of ideas. 

A tenth of the list are frozen grapes; sunflower seeds; frozen bananas; make-your-own trail mix; cherry tomatoes; animal crackers; pretzels; sugar snap peas; soy chips; and cubed apples and cubed cheese. 

For the other 90 ideas, go to www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/fresh-food-friday-100-healthy-snack.html. 

At the bottom of the list a print-friendly option is provided that contains all the suggestions on one sheet of paper.  

Consider printing it out and posting it on your parent bulletin board.  

April's technical assistance tip discussed your program's daily schedule and how this schedule provides a framework for the operation of your program.

How do you develop your daily schedule?  What factors need to be considered when planning your program's schedule of activities?

Your daily schedule should allow for a variety of activities that provide the children with many choices that are either teacher directed or child directed. Planning activities should not only be based on the needs, interests and developmental level of the children but also on the children's input. To accomplish this, survey the children or hold a town meeting. If you decide to survey the children, have the older children in the program create the questions, survey the children, tabulate the results and report the results to the person(s) responsible for planning at your program.   A town hall meeting involves getting all the children together to talk about what activities they would like in the program. 

Another factor to look at are the skills and interests of your staff. Does someone on your staff have a particular skill that could be taught to the children? Ask this staff member to take the lead in developing this activity to present to the children. Give this individual a timeline and check in with them frequently to see if they are on track or need some assistance.

Your program's mission and resources, hours of operation and physical space will also direct what will comprise your activity schedule. At the same time, don't allow these factors to constrain what you offer the children. Think outside the box to offer the children a schedule of activities that are stimulating, engaging and fun.  

The Child Care Council of Westchester offers technical assistance and training to maintain compliance with OCFS regulations and to familiarize school age staff with best practices in school age care. Contact Mary Ann Brendler at maryannb@cccwny.org or 914-761-3456 x 172 if you would like additional assistance on this topic or any other topic relating to school age care.