School Age

Creative Explorers

Explore the day of a school-ager.

About the School Age Program at Kiddie Academy of Wilmington

Children spend most of their time juggling assignments, friendships and extracurricular activities. They crave the freedom to discover things that interest them most, and Kiddie Academy® gives them the structure to build essential skills for their future.

Whether it’s before and/or after-school care or our full-day program, Creative Explorers lets school-agers pursue their passions. We help them explore what fascinates them through a variety of special-interest groups that spark their imaginations. Our club format provides your child with exciting and challenging activities and projects to create, while continuing the learning begun in their schools.

The full-day school-age program for ages 5-12 combines learning through the Kiddie Academy proprietary Life Essentials® Curriculum with support and supervision from our teachers to ensure your child is meeting the digital-learning requirements of your school system.

Strict health and safety procedures will be followed

While your child is at our Academy, you'll have the peace of mind knowing that they're in a healthy and safe environment thanks to Health Essentials, our enhanced health and cleaning initiative based on CDC guidelines to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

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Life Essentials®

Preparing your child for success in school and life

Our Creative Explorers program is developed through our Life Essentials® curriculum to provide your school-age child with well-rounded learning experiences while receiving positive, nurturing care.

Full-Day School Age

Focus: Assuring your child meets the virtual-learning responsibilities of your school system in a supervised, safe and sanitized environment.

The program combines learning through the Kiddie Academy proprietary Life Essentials® Curriculum with support from our teachers to ensure your child is meeting the digital-learning requirements of your school system.

Activities

  • Children work on assignments from their school system, under supervision of Kiddie Academy Teachers.
  • Teachers ensure that children attend any required virtual meetings scheduled by their school.
  • When school assignments are complete, children participate in the club-based activities included in the Kiddie Academy Creative Explorers program.

Learning Through Life Essentials®

This full-day program is built around the Life Essentials philosophy that guides all we do at Kiddie Academy® Educational Child Care. It promotes the natural curiosity present in every child by focusing on character education, STEM-infused technology and health and fitness experiences.

Virtual Learning Environment

Focus: Support young school age virtual learning schedules

Through attentive supervision by trained teachers, the virtual learning environment at Kiddie Academy sets your elementary-aged child up for success in a comfortable, healthy environment and gives parents the child care support they need as local school districts implement virtual learning.

Highlights of our virtual learning program

  • Attentive teachers: From the safety of our licensed child care facility, our trained teachers help your child navigate their elementary school virtual learning requirements. From logging in to learning portals on schedule to helping with homework, your child will feel supported – and you’ll have the peace of mind that they are making the most of their distance learning.
  • Lively environment: Students have access to all the resources of an age-appropriate classroom, while also being social with their fellow in-person learning classmates. When the school day is done, they’ll get to further their learning with additional activities.
  • Flexible scheduling: Parents can choose the days and times they need child care, depending on work schedules and local school district virtual learning schedules.
  • Meals and snacks included: So you have one less thing to worry about each morning, we provide the healthy snacks and lunch your child needs to stay nourished and energized throughout the day.

Health Essentials Safety and Wellness Procedures and Protocols

Focus: Keeping your child healthy and safe.

Health Essentials is a set of CDC-based standard operating procedures that can help mitigate the spread of potential infection throughout our Academy. Health Essentials is a key part of our overall COVID-19 response, expanding upon existing disinfection and health protocols that offer parents and staff peace of mind and demonstrates our commitment to creating a healthy and safe environment for learning and working.

Health Essentials guidelines are focused on four principles designed to cover various preventative, protective and corrective measures that address COVID-19:

1. Wellness Education

The solution starts with an understanding.

  • Children learn how following proper hygienic practices can keep them healthy
  • Academy staff receives training and must abide by enhanced health and safety practices outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2. Enhanced Hygiene

Soap and water is the best solution.

  • Soap and water offer the simplest solution to combat infection
  • Staff increase handwashing frequency
  • All children must wash their hands upon entering their room at the start of each day and all recommended times thereafter in addition to following standard Academy handwashing procedures

3. Healthy Environment

A clean facility keeps families safe.

Academies adhere to advanced cleaning procedures:

  • Nightly cleaning
  • Daily laundering of soft items and bedding
  • Limiting items brought into the Academy

4. Symptom Monitoring

Keeping a watchful eye

  • Temperature monitoring at the Academy entrance.
  • Track symptoms using AcademyLink®
  • Isolate symptomatic children from others immediately upon observation
  • Contact parents for pickup from the Academy
  • Daily health check is completed upon arrival

School Age Clubs and Extracurriculars

Focus: Inspiring children to learn about and explore what interests them.

Your child can pursue a passion for a number of subjects, including science, engineering, art, writing, literacy and more.

School Age Activities

  • Using photos to create a PowerPoint presentation to share with the class.
  • Using jars, gloves and shovels to take soil samples and comparing them.
  • Learning what the “hook” of a book means and practicing writing hooks of their own.
  • Participating in various track and field events, like racing and softball shot put.
  • Studying different types of comedy, like improv and stand-up, and writing their own knock-knock jokes.
  • Use graph paper, pencils and measuring tools to help your child design a blueprint for their dream home.
  • Learning about famous sculptors and making their own sculptures out of foil, play dough and pipe cleaners.
  • Learning to play songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the xylophone.

Learn On®

Learning continues beyond the classroom. Here are some easy projects you can do to extend learning into your home.

  • Plan and plant a family garden.
  • Use LEGO blocks to help your child create a model of a structure that inspires them.
  • Talk about their favorite stories then have them draw a picture to illustrate the story.
  • Help your child create a PowerPoint presentation.

Character EssentialsSM

Focus: Our Character EssentialsSM is integrated throughout the Creative Explorers curriculum, fostering cooperation among the school-age students.

The small-group environment allows teachers to help children understand our society so they can develop into adults who respect others and get involved in their communities.

School Age Activities

  • Learning about dependability by participating in a group project in which everyone has specific tasks to complete.
  • Learning about respect by having family members talk to the class about traditions and celebrations, then compiling photos, recipes and other noteworthy information into a Cultures of our Classroom book.

Learn On®

Learning continues beyond the classroom. Here are some easy projects you can do to extend learning into your home.

  • Help your child learn about dependability by coming up with a family project in which everyone has a specific task to complete.
  • Have your child interview grandparents or other family members about traditions and celebrations they remember from growing up.

Want to explore more?

Learn how we help your child develop into a thoughtful, caring, and adaptable individuals using our learning approach that exceeds state standards

How Life Essentials is different

Questions? Answers.

Explore some of the most frequently asked questions from parents of school-age children.

Q. What if my child gets sick?
A. We’ll call you or a designated adult from your Emergency Information Form so that your child can be picked up as soon as possible from the Academy. While waiting to be picked up, your child will rest quietly, away from other children.
Q. What policies are Academies required to have in place to address safety?
A. Our facilities and outdoor play areas are required to have secure entries and exits that are maintained by an electronic entry system. Only individuals authorized by you are allowed to pick up your child from the Academy. All employees are required to have undergone background checks prior to employment. Since the coronavirus outbreak, we have implemented Health Essentials, a set of enhanced protocols based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for social distancing, disinfection, wellness education and symptom monitoring.
Q. Are meals provided?
A. If your child will be with us all day, we provide an assortment of healthy, age-appropriate meals and snacks. If your child will be with us for just before/and or after school care, we will provide healthy, age-appropriate snacks.
Q. What if my child has allergies?
A. Due to the high number of children with peanut allergies, we do not serve peanut products. If your child has a specific allergy, please list them on our dietary restriction letter so that we can make appropriate food substitutions.
Q. What are teacher qualifications?
A. All Kiddie Academy teachers must meet or exceed the state requirements for child care providers and are required to receive ongoing professional training annually. We also require background checks through local, county, state and/or federal agencies prior to employment.
Q. What is your discipline policy?
A. We do not use physical or verbal punishment under any circumstances. We use positive guidance and re-direction to acknowledge children’s feelings and emotions and provide them with social scripts, problem-solving techniques, self-calming activities and choices and activities geared toward their interests.
Q. What will my child be doing?
A. Our before-school students can use their time to play, read quietly, exercise or interact with friends. After school, students can participate in our club programs, where they can explore topics that interest them. Check with your Academy to find out which clubs they offer. If your child is enrolled in a virtual or distance learning full-day program, their teacher will help them connect to their school’s virtual learning portal and complete assigned schoolwork. Free time will be filled with play or exercise time, reading time, learning centers and other fun activities.
Q. Can I drop in to observe?
A. Due to the concerns around COVID-19, we are unable to allow drop-in observation by parents or family members. We hope to reverse this rule as soon as it becomes safe.
Q. Do you have parent-teacher conferences?
A. Yes. We schedule family/teacher conferences each year to discuss your child’s progress, but you can request a conference with the Director at any time.
Q. Do you take the children outdoors?
A. Yes, weather permitting, we take children outside daily. Children should be dressed appropriately for playing on our playground or taking group walks.
Q. How do you use technology in learning?
A. Kiddie Academy teachers use technology as learning tools and a means of communication. We feel it’s important to teach children how to use devices they will encounter in school, so they are given opportunities to use them for educational play and research. The use of televisions or computers for passive viewing is not part of Kiddie Academy’s curriculum. For students enrolled in a full-day virtual or distance learning program at Kiddie Academy, we understand devices are critical to success. Kiddie Academy locations are equipped with high-speed WiFi with safety features. Teachers work with students to help them use their devices and navigate their school’s various learning portals.
Q. What is Kiddie Academy doing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus?
A. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiddie Academy already followed strict practices for health and cleaning that met or exceeded state and local standards. Since the coronavirus outbreak, we have implemented Health Essentials, a set of enhanced protocols based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for social distancing, disinfection, wellness education and symptom monitoring. The goal of Health Essentials is to uphold the highest level of health precautions and cleanliness for proper child care delivery.
Q. Does Kiddie Academy support virtual schooling?
A. Kiddie Academy provides educational child care services for children ages 6 weeks through 12 years (exact ages vary by location) but in most cases are not licensed to implement elementary school curriculum. However, in the wake of virtual schooling, many Academies provide full-day school age programs in which they help implement your child’s virtual schooling at a Kiddie Academy location.
Q. Is Kiddie Academy a learning pod?
A. Kiddie Academy is a state-licensed educational child care facility with an proprietary curriculum and qualified teachers. The term “learning pod” can be interpreted in many different ways, but typically describes small groups of children of a similar age either sharing the responsibility of homeschooling or working with a teacher specifically hired for the group. Kiddie Academy is similar to learning pods in that our class sizes are separated by age and children receive individualized attention from their teachers. But unlike learning pods, Kiddie Academy locations meet strict state standards for safety and education and are inclusive of all young learners.
Q. Is in-person child care safe?
A. Kiddie Academy has made every effort to put in place strict practices for health and cleaning that meet or exceed state and local standards. Our Health Essentials protocols are based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for social distancing, disinfection, wellness education and symptom monitoring. While we feel we are doing all we can to maintain a safe and clean environment conducive to learning, parents and caretakers will have to decide on their own if they are comfortable with group child care. We encourage parents to “meet” virtually with their local Kiddie Academy to learn more about what that Academy is doing to maintain a safe environment for children, as well as virtually “tour” other child care facilities to compare and contrast.
Q. Does Kiddie Academy offer flexible child care for school agers?
A. School age programs may vary by Kiddie Academy location. Many Kiddie Academy locations have created school age programs that enhance or support whatever the local school system has put in place, whether that means virtual learning, hybrid model or completely in-person. For more information, contact your local Kiddie Academy.
Q. How long has Kiddie Academy offered a distance learning program?
A. Kiddie Academy has long offered before and after school care for children ages 5 and up to enhance their normal school days. Until 2020, however, we did not offer a distance or virtual learning option. Predicting that this would be greatly needed by students and parents, we created a full-day school age program that supports virtual and/or hybrid learning.
Q. Does my child have to be in the same school district as Kiddie Academy to participate in their full-day school age program?
A. In most cases, Kiddie Academy should be able to accommodate your child regardless of what school district they are in.
Q. Does Kiddie Academy provide computers for children to do distance learning?
A. Kiddie Academy does not provide computers or tablets to children to use for distance learning. Parents should send their child to Kiddie Academy with their own devices each day.

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