Why After-School Programs are Beneficial to Your Kids

After-school program is common nowadays and you can see offers everywhere online. At the start of the pandemic, schools were struggling how to adapt to what we now call the new normal for learning. But this seemed to help educational institutions to improve how to provide after-school activities. 
Let’s define after-school programs. As the name itself says, these are activities that your child can participate in after school hours which could also mean outside of school hours. These activities can be done before or after going to school, even on weekends.
After-school programs provides structured, supervised programming outside of school hours for your child or teen. These programs provide academic support, youth development, mentoring, recreation, arts, and sports. While these serve as the provide after-school programs’ main purpose, there’s an additional benefit for working parents as they provide a haven after school while parents are at work.

Here are the reasons why after school programs are beneficial to kids:

1. Introduce different methods and ways of learning and building skills.

Your children would benefit from other things that aren’t usually offered in schools like coding classes for kids or entrepreneurship. Camps are great for learning too, but these are seasonal, so after-school programs can fill that during the school year.

2. It creates a sense of belonging.

If the after-school program is not run by the school district or local facility, this could be a way for your child to meet and make new friends. Being away from school can offer a break from routines. Kids in after school programs are more likely to feel a sense of belonging or being part of a group. These are safe as they often have more adult supervision than being in a playground.

3. Helps improve your child’s social skills.

A good program encourages cooperation, respect, and support. This help kids feel secure about joining a game or starting a conversation. If they slip up, staffers would offer support and remind them to take turns.

4. Makes learning a lot more fun.

Some after-school programs offer classes in areas like science, math or computers just like coding classes for kids. These sessions don’t have tests and students may work together in groups. It’s a significant way to work with the other kids in areas they enjoy.

5. It helps build your child’s confidence.

Kids, especially teens go through an awkward phase and they could feel a little insecure. There are also kids who have learning disabilities which could make them lose their confidence. After-school programs may help your child be more willing to try new things and take more positive risks. This can lead to a higher self-esteem.

6. Allows for more creativity.

Routines can suppress creativity. Regular school is routine and habit-forming, and this can sometimes lead to boredom, especially with children. When stuck in a routine, their creative expressions sometimes get lost and after school programs can help reintroduce creativity back into their routines giving them an outlet to explore, innovate, and build confidence.
There are a lot of other reasons why enrolling your child in after school programs will be beneficial to their growth and development. We’ve only touched the more obvious and important ones.
While there are a lot of after-school programs being offered nowadays, the next thing you need to know is what makes a great after-school program. Here are some things that you need to know when looking for a great after-school program:
● It should foster self-worth in a child and develop self-care skills; ● It should help develop their personal and interpersonal skills, and promote respect for cultural diversity;● It should provide help with homework, tutoring and other learning services;● It should provide time and space for quiet study; ● Provide enrichment activities that are appropriate to their development to add to student’s learning at school, help them develop problem-solving skills, and spark their curiosity and love of learning; ● Provide recreational and physical activities to develop their physical skills and channel their energy constructively;● Encourage participation in individual sports activities to help them develop their self-esteem by striving for their personal best and participation in group activities that will help them provide lessons in conflict resolution and cooperation.

If you’re looking for an after-school program that can help your child prepare for the future, introduce them to coding. You and no one else can start teaching them about it. You can help them learn the basic foundational skills of coding at home. With our help, your child can have the best coding learning experience.
Skill Samurai is a face-to-face code school available in different countries. It is also present in Sydney, Australia, particularly in Castle Hill and Rouse Hill. To begin your child’s journey, you should have a tour of Skill Samurai’s website or even its location.
You may learn the courses, curriculum, and programs that Skill Samurai offers. Check out the code learning classes that your child is best suited for. Skill Samurai has available classes for kids 6+. We welcome boys, girls, and kids with special needs like visual impairment, autism, and others. 
Here at Skill Samurai, we also offer 21st-century teaching approaches, ensuring project-based learning. Your child will experience coding on their own using gadgets. Another exciting activity with us here at Skill Samurai is how to include popular games and software that kids love during the coding classes, such as Minecraft, Roblox, and YouTube. Additionally, we also have programming languages like Scratch, Python, HTML, CSS, and more!
You can sign up your kids for coding classes now.