Core Trainings—In Person

The Center's hands-on trainings equip directors, coordinators and trainers with the skills and the knowledge to design and implement effective out-of-school time programs for children, K-12.

Professional development to fit your schedule
Multi day, full day, half day
Online learning
Conference workshops
Content and curriculum
Credit bearing coursework

Topics and skills to meet your program needs

Afterschool Education: Essentials of Practice
Remake Homework Time
English Language Learning in Afterschool: It’s More Than Just Talk
Maximizing Youth Voice and Choice
Global Learning with GraffitiWalls
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) for All
High School Youth, Afterschool
Family Engagement Across Cultures
Do-It-Yourself Staff Development
Evaluation: From Obligation to Opportunity
Quality: Know It, Show It, Grow It

Afterschool Education: Essentials of Practice
Training Time: 3 – 6 hours

Fundamentals and how-to of afterschool education, with techniques and tools for linking with school day content while keeping that engaging afterschool style. Grades K – 12

Essentials of Practice helps all staff and directors:

Understand teaching and learning afterschool style
Blend school day content into afterschool style activities and projects
Plan for deliberate learning
Demonstrate learning and progress

Coordinated Guidebook: Academic Content, Afterschool
Style: A Notebook and Guide

Remake Homework Time for Learning
Training Time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Strategies and techniques for an engaging homework time that builds study skills, work habits, teamwork, creativity, independent learning—and gets schoolwork done! Grades K – 12

Remake Homework Time helps all staff and directors:

Design homework time to develop 21st Century skills
Use effective helping strategies
Create content-rich activities to fill gaps and transitions

Coordinated Guidebook: Homework Zone Program Pack, Homework Time Afterschool Style, and/or Academic Content, Afterschool Style: A Notebook and Guide

English Language Learning in Afterschool:
More Than Just Talk
Training Time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Core principles of language learning, activities, and techniques every staff member can use to boost English language learning—at all levels—in afterschool programs. Grades K – 12

It’s More Than Just Talk helps all staff and directors:

Learn stages of language development
Create activities that build English language skills
Foster relationships between learners and native speakers
Improve communication with English language learners and families

This training can be customized for directors, trainers, and lead staff to fit varying needs, experience levels, and time frames. May also be conducted as a series over time, with online coaching or as training of trainers.

Coordinated Guidebook: More Than Just Talk: English Language Learning in Afterschool

Maximizing Youth Voice and Choice
Training Time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Take-home-and-use strategies to involve children in meaningful ways to develop and conduct programming that also builds confidence, leadership, independence, and skills. Grades 3 – 12

Maximizing Youth Voice and Choice helps all staff and directors:

Understand role of adult facilitator in learner-centered programming
Offer (real) age-appropriate choices to youth
Get—and use—youth feedback

Coordinated Guidebook: Academic Content, After-School Style: A Notebook and Guide

Global Learning with GraffitiWalls
Training Time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Adaptable quick, easy games and activities that any staff member can do on poster paper to get kids thinking about, connecting to and learning from the world around them. Grades 4 – 11

Global Learning with GraffitiWall® helps all staff:

Learn with kids about the diversity within their own programs
Create, adapt, and expand games with global content
Create world-themed projects and other long-term activities

Coordinated Guidebook: Global GraffitiWall Style Guide

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) for All
Training time: 3 – 4 hours

Practical techniques to get kids computing, engineering, and experimenting that don’t require a math whiz to do. Grades 4 – 12

STEM for All helps all staff:

Gain confidence in facilitating STEM learning
Plan and support fun, hands-on science and math
Find age-appropriate resources

High School Youth, Afterschool
Training time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Fresh ideas to tackle the diverse interests and needs of high school youth through homework support, 21st Century skill building, and more.
Grades 8 – 12

High School Youth, Afterschool helps all staff and directors:

Create programming that high school students will want to attend
Examine afterschool programming with a youth development, learner-centered lens
Use portfolios for credit-recovery, work-study, and service learning

Coordinated Guidebook: Independent Learning Project Pack (Fall 2009)

Family Engagement Across Cultures
Training time: 1.5 hours

Strategies to engage families, the community and children of diverse backgrounds to increase awareness and understanding of different languages, cultures and ways of life. Grades K – 12

Family Engagement Across Cultures helps all staff and directors:

Build awareness of diverse attitudes, values, and ways of life
Improve communication with all families
Tap family and community resources for kids’ and staffs’ learning

Coordinated Guidebook: More Than Just Talk: English Language Learning in Afterschool; Global GraffitiWall Style Guide

Do-It-Yourself Staff Development
Training time: 1.5 – 3 hours

Step-by-step for designing and delivering your own inhouse trainings, even with limited time and resources.

Do-It-Yourself Staff Development helps directors:

Efficiently, and effectively, train staff, even with limited time
Use research-based techniques to engage staff in their own learning
Make ongoing staff development a key part of quality building program.

Coordinated Guidebook: Afterschool Style in Practice: 25 Skill-Building Meetings for Staff

Evaluation: From Obligation to Opportunity
Training time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Practical approach to tailoring program evaluation to program goals, and translating data into realistic improvement plans.

Evaluation: From Obligation to Opportunity helps directors:

Match program activities to program goals
Gather appropriate data to assess outcomes
Use evaluation data for on-going program improvement

Recommended Resource: Quality Assurance System® (QAS®)

Quality: Know It, Show It, Grow It
Training time: 1.5 – 2 hours

Personalized guidance for how to make the most of Foundations’ Quality Assurance System to assess program quality using indicators that fit your site(s).

Quality: Know It, Show It, Grow It helps directors:

Identify ‘quality’ in afterschool programming
Understand how Foundations’ Quality Assurance System can be used to assess quality within a site, or across multiple sites
Specify priorities, set targets
Build a culture of quality assessment and continuous improvement.

Core Resource: Quality Assurance System^® (QAS^®)

Learning Continuum