Parents rate homework help, physical activity, and healthy snacks at the top of the list when choosing after-school programs for their children, but access to hands-on activities in STEM—science, technology, engineering and math—is gaining a following, according to a report from the Afterschool Alliance.
A majority of parents—53 percent—with children in after-school programs said STEM opportunities were an important factor in their decision. Providers seem to be listening: Nearly 70 percent of parents reported that their children’s programs do provide STEM learning. And 70 percent of all parents, whether or not they have a child in an after-school program, think such programs should all provide hands-on STEM learning.
The responses were pulled from a survey of more than 30,000 households conducted for the Afterschool Alliance’s 2014 ethnic-difference edition of the “America After 3 PM” report.
