This course is recommended for Early Childhood educators and can be used to earn annual inservice hours. Developmentally appropriate programs and activities should engage the interest and promote the overall development of school-age children. This module will review characteristics of high quality programming and methods used to evaluate program quality. It will also cover various curricula used in after school programming to enhance the overall learning environment. An entire Unit offers resources for games and activities and reviews the importance of cooperation versus competition in programs. Developing and maintaining partnerships with parents is also reviewed.

This module covers Nebraska School-Age and Youth Development Core Competency Areas:
B. Health, Safety, and Nutrition
C. Relationships
D. Learning
Unit 1: Quality Programming Objectives
Identify characteristics of quality programming
Identify methods used for program evaluation
Identify environmental design elements of high quality programs

Unit 2: Curriculum Objectives
To examine ways to include multicultural experiences in programming
To discover the importance of including Literacy Based experiences in programs
To become familiar with STEM/Project Based/Inquiry Based approaches to learning and how to implement such approaches
To become familiar with appropriate uses of Technology in programs

Unit 3: Games and Activities Objectives
To examine appropriate selection of activities for school aged children
To discover ways to create non-competitive, cooperative games
To gain access to resources for appropriate games and activities for school age programs

Unit 4: Partnerships with Parents Objectives
To understand the importance of program partnerships with parents
To become with the stages of parenthood and how they relate to parenting and programming
To become familiar with strategies for developing and maintaining positive, healthy partnerships with families

Unit 5: Extending Your Practice Objectives
To become familiar with outside resources (books, websites, videos) to assist in understanding the content within the module
To apply information from outside resources to individual practices