The benefits of a Good After School Program

The world today requires skill and ability in almost all the fields. Therefore it is very necessary for the child to be highly proficient in almost every type of work he does. He should be talented not only in academics but he must show his expertise in other fields too. Merely by getting knowledge from the course book the child cannot achieve everything in his life. Only a small percent of knowledge is imparted from the course book. Therefore the progress of the child does not depend entirely on the school books.

Today there exist many job opportunities and all of these require the person to be highly talented. Therefore the child cannot be pushed back only because he did not get enough chance to prove his ability or that he was not so proficient in that field. To avoid such situations it would be better to find out good after school programs which can really be beneficial for the child. It is therefore the duty of the parents to search for the best after school program which can really be useful to them. A child going to school normally does not get any training so as to build up his aptitude. He may gain skill in academic side but his other talents need not develop. A child may have many hidden skill which are unknown to his teachers or others. The child is unable to bring out such talents as nobody cares to do so at school. Due to the lack of care even though such children have talents they do not get the opportunity to bring it out. The after school programs help these children to build up or produce their hidden talents. Recreational as well as educational programs are available. A child feels full of zip and completely involved in such programs. The main objective of these programs is to make the child lively, skilful, and experienced and develop new talents. These programs attract the attention of children to different events which make them highly enthusiastic and exigent. By doing this it may be discovered that a child who had interest in a particular field develops the same in other fields too. Thus new talents of the child are revealed which he himself was unaware with. The level of confidence of the child increases whenever he recognises his new talents. This ultimately opens different vocation opportunities before the child.

These programs also teach the child about desirable and undesirable things in the surrounding. He gets new friends there. A child is given opportunity to participate in some events like dancing, singing, or any drama on stage, and even allowed to play different types of matches. The child will be highly excited by all such events. The extra time of the child thus gets filled with wonderful and interesting activities which filled with fun and energy. So there are only least chances of his being getting involved in negative habits of smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. Such interesting activities are helpful in bringing the child out of exhaustion, dejection and even ill treatment. The child is able to increase his rate of success in various fields. A child also develops constructive interaction with adutlts. It is most often seen that children are reluctant to disclose their feelings or secrets with their teachers or parents. But the child feels to be very free with the adults who train them in the program. The recreational programs emphasize more on health side which ultimately benefit the mind. Some of the parents join their child in the recreational programs in order to make their child healthy. In today’s world obesity is a major problem among children. Such programs can really benefit by reducing their over weight and keep them fit and healthy. The habit of watching more of television and computers can be reduced by introducing such programs to the child. These programs thus make the child eventful as well as amused. The child is able to form a great personality of his own with the help of these programs of which the parents can feel proud later in their life.

Child Care Management Software

Child Care Management Software from Office Center has been the management software chosen by over 9000 child and day care professionals for their child care center management software during the past 20 years in head to head comparisons of the top four child care management software vendors.

Office Center is the affordable choice in child care management software for those child care centers looking for a fully developed, full featured and mature child care software program, backed by a management that has always offered Unlimited Toll Free Technical Support and an Unconditional 90 day money back guarantee.

Child Care Software Maturity

Our child care management software has been developed over the last 20 years by listening to the management needs and functions of over 9000 clients and giving their needs top priority in an easy to understand and easy to use format.

One of our most important goals is to develop long term relationships with our child care professionals to simplify their lives and reduce the stresses of their profession.

Our management software is currently operating in individual child care environments, church based child care centers, Montessori and private schools, hospitals, universities, child care corporate chains, the United States military and many school districts throughout the US and Canada, and as far away as Hong Kong.

Our Accounts Receivable module serves as the centralized collection point for tracking all of the financial data and all the information for child and day care centers many child and staff tracking, billing for both family and agency, scheduling, immunization and allergy tracking, record keeping, food program and accounting functions.

It serves as the management, organizational and financial backbone for the entire Office Center Child Care Management Software program.

Click for a Child Care Software Comparison Chart for Accounts Receivable features.

Eliminates Repetition

The Office Center software package is unmatched in its ease-of-use and flexibility with its custom designed navigation that allows you to "Skip with Open Forms" anywhere in its program to avoid the endless repetition of opening and closing numerous numbers of screens and countless mouse clicks!

This "Skipping with Open Forms" is the biggest time saver in getting your work done quickly and accurately, even when a child starts to cry or the telephone rings.  While older child care management program are repetitious, forcing the user to open and close pages over and over again, Office Center is friendly and efficient.  Office Center's simple to use design allows you to freely move from one family or child to another without having to open and close pages all the time.  That will save you valuable time and make your job easier.

Optional Child Care Software Modules

All other optional Office Center Child Care Management Software modules such as Accounts Payable, Payroll, General Ledger, Time Clock Accounting, Food Program, Multi Site Manager, and our sophisticated Corporate Software Module as well as our After School Program for School Districts all utilize this ability to "Skip with Open Forms" to enable you to get your work completed with simple elegance and with minimum effort. Network compatibility is included at NO extra charge!

Windows 8 and Windows 7 64 Bit Compatible.
Comparing "Ease of Use"

Nothing is as important in child care software as Ease of Use!

Does the management software under consideration follow the established Microsoft Windows design standards that most users are already comfortable with or does it have a unique and more confusing proprietary look and feel that will require more memorization of processes and procedures?

As you compare each vendors child care management software program by entering the Family Enrollment or Registration information into each potential vendors software DEMO, simply count the number of mouse clicks required and the number of screens that you must first open and then close in order to get your work done. Multiply this by the number of families enrolled at your center and you will soon see the amount of work required in using this vendor's software program. One phrase sums this up quite simply:

"Count the clicks and count the screens - you'll soon see what easy means."

Starting with our Value Modular Pricing and adding our Unlimited Toll Free Tech Support makes it easy to see why during the last 20 years, in Head to Head comparisons of the TOP FOUR child care software vendors, over 9000 child care professionals, NASA, the U.S. Military and many entire School Districts have chosen Office Center as the child care management software to organize and manage their child and day care centers.

May we send you a FREE working DEMO of Office Center Child Care Management Software? We guarantee that it will organize your center & simplify your life, making it easier & less stressful while saving you both time & money!

Child Care

5 WAYS TO MAKE ANY SNACK MORE FUN

After days and days of the same snacks, your students may become less interested in what you serve them.  There are only so many snacks which are easy to prepare, nutritious, and cost effective.  With a little imagination on your part, you can take these same snacks and make them more appealing and interesting.

1.  Color the snack

• Many snacks can be colored with just a drop or two of food coloring.  Your class will love drinking green milk on St. Patrick's Day or eating blue pudding when you are studying the ocean.

2.  Let your class help make the snack

• The age of your students will determine how much of the snack they will be able to prepare by themselves.  Something as small as letting the children serve themselves the snack may be enough to get them more excited about what they will be eating.  Depending on the snack, your students may be able to mix or assemble the snack.

3.  Shape the snack

• Many snacks such as marshmallow squares, cheese, gelatin, and breads can be easily shaped with a cookie cutter.  Many store bought snacks such as crackers, cookies, and fruit snacks will already be shaped so they are more kid-friendly. 

4.  Educate your students about the snack

• If the snack is related to the theme, you can talk about this with your class.  Your class may have a lot more fun eating bananas during a week they are studying the jungle than any other week.  You can also talk about how a snack is made/grown, its nutritional value,  or how it was prepared.

5.  Name the snack

• Giving a snack a fun name that allows your students to use their imagination will make it more appealing. 

Child Care and Protection on Trip

PLANNING A FIELD TRIP

Field trips are a nice way to enhance the learning your children are doing at your center/home.  If you study fish with your class, you can take the kids to an aquarium.  If you study apples or fruit, an apple orchard might be a good choice.  Furthermore, you can use field trips to give the kids a change of pace and a chance to do something they don't usually get to do.  Below is a list of places you may want to go on a field trip and some tips to making your next trip run more smoothly.

Field Trip Ideas:

1. Zoo/Aquarium
2. Playground (one your kids don't normally play on, probably a bigger one)
3. Pool
4. Library (for story time or some other special activity being held)
5. McDonald's/Burger King Play Place (maybe after another location such as the library)
6. Apple orchard/pumpkin farm
7. Science Museum/Children's Museum
8. Firestation/Police Station/Dentist (some place where they can get a tour and learn about someone's occupation)
9. Nursing Home (to sing to the residents, pass out treats, give them pictures they made, etc.)
10. Mall (for special holiday display/kid's day/or to pick out gifts to give to needy families/children)
11. Circus
12. Children's Theatre or even a play at a local highschool
13. A movie at the nearest Cinema
14. Sledding
15. Some other special event/display

When planning a field trip DO:

1.  Start Early:

Start planning early so you have everything in place long before the actual day of the trip.  This early planning will cut down on the stress you may encounter trying to do everything last minute.

2.  Get a lot of volunteers: 

The more parents you have accompanying you on the trip, the better.  If the kids are divided into smaller groups, they will likely get to see more and can focus on what interests their group the most.  Also, more volunteers decreases the chance someone will get lost or injured.  If each parent is only responsible for two or three kids (although they may travel in larger groups), you decrease the chance of something bad happening.

3.  Have an alternate plan: 

If your trip is reliant on sunny weather, have an alternate plan in case it rains.  The kids will be looking forward to the trip, so have another fun activity planned (at the child care center/home or elsewhere). 

4.  Have all necessary forms signed and bring emergency cards along: 

Make sure the parents sign forms permitting their children to go on the trip and releasing you from liability in case something were to happen.  Bring emergency forms along which should include information about the children and how to reach their parents.

5.  Talk about safety with children: 

Review certain safety issues before going on the trip.  Remind children not to talk to strangers, wander off without an adult, etc.

6.  Consider making or buying matching shirts for the children, staff, and volunteers: 

If everyone is wearing the same brightly colored shirt, it may make it easier to keep track of everyone.  Place your child care center/home's name and phone number on the shirt.  If a child does get lost, it will be easy for someone to figure out how to contact you. (Don't individualize the shirts with the children's names because this could make it easy for a stranger to lure them away by calling them out by their names)

7.  Don't plan trips over the children's nap/rest times:

Children like to have some predictability to their schedule.  While they will be looking forward to the trip, they still need their rest. Try to leave early in the morning and be back by their nap time.

8.  Don't be surprised if some parents don't want their child to go on the trip: 

Some parents will not want their children to go on the trip.  Have an alternate activity planned for children who can't go on the trip so they still have a fun day and don't feel too left out.

9.  Don't take young children on field trips: 

Younger children who aren't toilet trained, still take multiple naps, etc. should probably not go on a field trip.  They are not old enough to receive the full benefit from a field trip. These children still need so much care they probably won't get to see/do much anyway and may be frightened if their routine is changed.  Have people come to your center/home to entertain the younger children instead of taking them on a trip.