To get ds to do after school clubs when I’m at home?

[kpopdemonhunterz]

Ds is reception and honestly I find the after school slot (330-630 ish) a real slog, especially in winter.

School have got wraparound which I don’t technically need but was wondering about signing him up anyway a couple of times a week. Or is that mean?

Of course not, but it can be helpful to get a range of views. After all, that’s largely what MN is all about!

Oh so you mean after school clubs as opposed to after school childcare. (Our school has both) I’d definitely do it , it’s exercise, social and fun.

DS did clubs after school when I was SAHM, but they were clubs he was interested in eg Lego. He chose to do them

It’s only mean if he doesn’t like it. I don’t believe every child is happier at home with mummy. Mine much preferred playing with other kids outside at ASC than coming home with me or going to the park where there might or might not be anyone to play with.
Before he started school everyone told me he’d be tired at 3:30 but my ds was wired and needed to run about crazy with other kids. ASC was perfect for him.

Blimey aren’t children just allowed to come home any more. And chill out .

Yes. This. This is a club not wraparound care for working parents.

Of course they are. How does an extra hour of Lego after school with their friends prevent that?

Well, yes, of course, that’s what we have been doing. The problem is, he’s bored.

I have a two and a half year old. She’s at a funny stage nap wise where it’s being phased out. If I decided to take ds somewhere she’d fall asleep in the car - really not what I want at around half three 😩 so we’re kind of confined to home at the moment.

Ds is a lovely child in many ways but he isn’t a particularly chilled one. Ideally he’d do Beavers/Scouts, swimming, football, maybe even soft play, after school. As it is we can’t really do that and he gets restless. As the new year starts I’ve just been wondering about how to manage the post school blues a bit!

I’ve just signed him up for basketball anyway, it cost £50 so I hope he likes it 🙏🏻

It doubles up as both at the school ds attends.

My son did after school football for several years because he wanted to. He was in wraparound on other days but the day football was on I didn’t need it for childcare but I used it for his benefit. I see no reason not to if you can afford it.

You’ll largely get judgement is the issue. You should do what feels best for you.

I think it gets easier for reception children as they go through the year. My own school don't tend to offer any activity clubs for reception children in the first term because of tiredness (all children are entitled to attend the paid for wraparound care). This term they usually have something on offer for this year group as they are more settled in the school routine plus I think the days get better as we eventually get out of darkness and spring is on the way which feels less tiring too.

I remember those days. It’s not easy.

It isn’t usual to use the wrap around care (asc) if you’re not working and I know from experience that the kids who have to go would rather just go home. But, saying this, if you find entertaining your kid a hard slog after school then I can’t see any harm in sending him for one day just to have play time with friends.

For the other days, have you booked in swimming lessons or thought of another activity your child might like to do? Alternatively, you could bake together or just sit with playdoh / Lego etc.. You only have to kill an hour playing, then cook dinner, a bit of tele for DC, bath, story and bed.

@cantputapriceonpeace all that would work fine with only one child. Unfortunately, as I explained above we can’t really go anywhere after school just at the moment. I try to have nice ideas for things we could do after school but truth is he’s not massively interested in them: he will play fairly well independently up to a point but often ends up causing a wave of destruction. And things get more manic as the evening drags on.

I voted YABU at first but seeing your subsequent posts YANBU to put him in, it's a good opportunity for kids to try out different activities. You can always pull him out if he doesn't like it.

they finish school at 3pm 😂

Poor kids, stuck at home doing nothing from 3 to 8pm, 5 days a week and weekends. It's normal for little ones to enjoy playing with friends, and do all kind of sports and activities.

Even if they come home at 5 or 6, there's still a couple of hours to chill and do quiet play in their room

I am a SAHM, eldest is in Reception. He goes to clubs straight after school three days a week and then I take him to a sports club/ tutoring the other two days. His latest finish is 4:45pm. He likes it and he’s learning stuff, I don’t think it’s the same as wrap around care.

I actually wonder reading this if I’ve been so keen to keep things low key after school I’ve gone too far the other way!

Can you walk to the school and walk home?

I used to walk 20 minutes to the school and collect both DC to walk home rather than take the car. The walk home used to take 2 hours, home at 5.30, as they would take forever, climb every wall they could etc… I’d never rush them as I saw this as their activity for the day. Home at 5.30. Stick the TV on, whilst I cook, play 1 game with them, then bedtime routine.

Your son maybe becoming destructive the later it gets because he’s tired. Could you move his bedtime forward a little perhaps. He won’t know if you don’t tell him.

Any sports club that keeps him active in winter I think is a great idea - and the Lego sounds fun! I would.

I don’t think after school club (the one that is childcare) is really fair in reception if not needed for work. The normal school day is a long day for them anyway.

If you need to do it for work, it’s obviously ok and not going to harm them, but it is better if they can come home and be with you, and relax in their own home.

An after school activity that they want to do a couple of days a week, sure.

Lego club sounds awesome.

Sticking a child in actual wraparound care until 6pm every day when you aren't at work feels a bit mean, attending a club for an hour a few days a week is fine.

My school offers the same - paid clubs which are an hour after school and actual wraparound until 6pm (different prices / different booking system etc)

No … it’s over four miles away. And pitch black in winter: no street lighting or pavements, really not safe at all!

It is taking him a long time to go to sleep at the moment, irrespective of what time bedtime is. I am hoping this will improve when school starts back.

My son is in reception. He does 1 hour at ASC once a week. It's a great club, very outdoorsy and he loves playing with his friends. Our school don't offer any activity clubs for Reception age.

The other 4 days, we get home, he gets changed, we chat a bit and then he chooses a snack and something to watch on the TV. He likes me to sit with him. I'm fine with it as it's switch off time after a long and busy day.

TV time can be up to an hour, then we switch off and he plays while I make tea.

I miss him on the one day he stays longer at school but I know he loves it and next year he can start doing a club or activity.

It's a personal choice as each child is different. We do loads with our son at weekends and in the holidays so we're all quite happy with chilled out after school time. My view is he has years of clubs and activities to come so while he's still really little in Reception, I'm not sure he needs it.

what do his friends do? You can usually get a feel of what's available from other parents - most who have older kids so have routines and clubs well in place