According to Lillian Coltin from the Educational Resource Information Center (U.S. Department of Education) School-age children between the ages of 5 and 14 spend up to 80% of their time out of school! These hours represent an opportunity to help children grow and acquire important social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills and to help them develop lifelong interests. This time can also be used to provide support for the academic challenges faced by children each day in school.
What is an Enrichment Program?
The National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA) Quality Standards describe the best practices in out-of-school-time programs. The NSACA standards specify that “children [should] have a chance to join enrichment activities that can promote basic skills and higher-level thinking.” Examples of enrichment activities include group work on science projects, math games, and the study of plants and animals, and opportunities to create a newspaper, write a play, tackle homework, use computers, or participate in special interest groups or clubs. High-quality programs also provide time and space for children to become involved in long-term projects and productions.
While lessons and extracurricular classes have always been a part of the lives of affluent suburban children, more attention is now focused on the importance of “enrichment” programming in the lives of all children (U.S. Department of Education & U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
Lillian Coltin stated that creative partnerships between after-school programs, schools, and community organizations [like World of Enrichment] are increasing the availability of extracurricular activities for all school-age children.
World of Enrichment is proud the be the premier provider of high quality out-of-school programs in the Chicagoland area and has been partnering with families and the community since 2005!
Discover these mind-expanding opportunities for your child’s out-of-school time at World of Enrichment now! Kids Night Out Events, Music Literacy Education and Spanish Immersion classes.
World of Enrichment 