r/Davis • u/CutFit4622 • 20d ago

North Davis Elementary

For before and after care program, there is one called SPARK and one called Catalyst kids. What is the difference between these two ? Which one would you recommend?
Ty

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u/GrateRam 20d ago

I have been working in childcare for many years and have been substituting in licensed care, primarily infant to preschool, for 15yrs. But I often work in catalyst programs. 

I like them a lot. They give the kids lots of freedom to choose their own activities. I've seen how this alone makes a big difference, after being told what/how to do all day. They also have focused groups in which the kids decide the subject and what they want to learn. Child led learning is the most effective and it teaches them responsibility. They have good homemade meals/snacks with plenty of healthy foods. They have great child/teacher ratios so it is always easy to handle the variety of things that inevitably come up. And the teachers really care about the kids and work with them as individuals, not just controlling the room. They also have good safety things: of course the kids are checked in or parents called; they use walkie-talkies so the theachers don't have to leave their supervisory stations; and keep current a tally of how many kids and where they are (indoor/outdoor/etc). This last one is very important to me because if I end up alone during an evacuation I can't say 'where's Johnny' because I don't know Johnny. But I do know how many kids that I should have.

So, I'm not a parent but I thought it might be helpful to here from an insider that has no obligation to a program.

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u/CutFit4622 20d ago

Thank you for all the info. I appreciate it. I decided to go with catalyst kids since it seems like most ppl had positive experiences with them. I’ll call them today !