Programs After School School Students Parents Children Home Spend

Many "school districts" (groups of schools in the same area that have the same management) offer after-school programs for their students. These programs are primarily "aimed at" (intended for) students whose parents have full-time jobs. Without after-school programs, many children would be "latchkey kids" (children who go home after school and spend the rest of the day at home alone until their parents come home) with "too much time on their hands" (having too much free time and not enough responsibilities), making them more likely to "get into trouble" (do things they are not supposed to do).

Some after-school programs are offered by the school districts themselves, but others are offered by local community organizations like the Boys & Girls Club or the YMCA, often on school property. The activities "vary" (are different) with the age of the students. For the youngest students, the activities usually involve playing outdoors on the "playground" (swings, slides, climbing structures, and more). Older students might participate in more "structured" (planned; formal) activities, including assistance with homework.

Some after-school programs are focused on specific activities. Many after-school programs are related to sports or music. Others teach children how to play "chess" (a board game of strategy), or how to build engineering "models" (small versions of what a complex design would look like). Still other programs teach "life skills" (things that people need to learn how to do for daily life), such as cooking, shopping, "budgeting" (planning how to spend one's money), childcare, and more.