How to Plan a Weekly Schedule for After-School Care

Busy parents often find there are gaps in their childcare schedules. After-school care, whether it is in the form of supervised activities, babysitting or time spent with relatives, can be a good way to ensure children are looked after when their school hours are done. Planning ahead is crucial to ensure you are able to fulfill your responsibilities beyond parenting and also to ensure you have a backup plan if someone cannot keep his commitment to look after your child.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write down your child's weekly school schedule on a calendar. Note that depending on your child's grade level and the policies in your district, she may be dismissed early one day a week or have a schedule that is otherwise irregular. Write down her daily hours on your calendar.

    • 2

      Write down your own weekly schedule and your partner's beside your child's school schedule. Compare the schedules and make note of the times during the week when you are required to be at work or engaged in another activity that prevents you from looking after your child. In other words, identify the times when you will have to arrange for after-school care.

    • 3

      Write down the supervised activities your child is already involved in that overlap with the time she needs care. For example, she may have a sports or recreational activity that she attends at the school and where she can go directly after class.

    • 4

      Call a daycare provider or reliable babysitter to arrange for ongoing care for your child for the times she is not already looked after. Write this information in the appropriate days on your calendar.

    • 5

      Write down the name and contact information of a backup caregiver for your child in case she falls sick and has to leave school or her activity, or in case her babysitter is temporarily unavailable. If you wish, you can write a "cheat sheet" for your weekly after-school care plan on the calendar or another piece of paper. The cheat sheet would simply lay out the days and times each week that your child is not at school and is involved in some kind of after-school care. For example, "Monday 2-5: With Nanny; Tuesday: 12-2 Pottery, 2-5 With Nanny" and so on.

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