- The most effective after-school reading programs will supplement the core curriculum taught during the regular day. Most after-school educators are teachers and assistants and already should be highly knowledgeable about how reading is taught. If the after-school teachers are not the regular classroom instructors, they should have the opportunity to communicate with them to address learning needs of the targeted students. The after-school program should always focus on the children and how to improve the skills such as phonics, vocabulary and comprehension that make good readers
- An after-school reading program is the perfect place to conduct interventions--short, intensive sessions with small groups or one-on-one to provide instruction to improve specific reading skills. These reading interventions will be more successful if they are based on actual needs. A school's curriculum guide as well as the benchmarks and objectives that children must meet have to be considered when designing interventions.
- An after-school reading program must provide opportunities, as well as the space, for reading. Students need to have access to reading rooms that include books of several genres and levels of complexity. Books on CD and tape should be made available along with magazines that appeal to children. The purpose is to instill a love of reading that will continue after they become adults.
