After-school programs

I signed Cameron up for an after-school program that he'll likely enter this fall when he's in grade one. That's if we're lucky. He was two when I called he inquire, apologizing for calling so far in advance. I wasn't early at all. In fact, Cameron would be the 10th person on the list for a program that only accepts a handful of new kids a year.

Today Andrea Gordon has an interesting piece on the dearth of formal after-school care and it's affect on kids, primarily in the middle-school years.

It's the minority of parents who strike gold with a daycare that can take their one-year-old all the way through to school's start and then take care of their child from 3 to 6 p.m. when mom and dad make it home from work. This leaves parents with a patch-work of informal, unlicensed after-school care, privately-hired babysitters or nannies (for those affluent enough), neighbours, playdates or maybe no supervision at all.

Where do your kids go after school? What do you think needs to happen to change the childcare picture in Toronto, Ontario and the rest of the country.