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About Our Programs

Girls Inc. of York Region offers After School Programs in various locations during the school year.  Two of these programs are funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport (MTCS), while the remainder are funded by United Way of Toronto York Region.  These funds provide Girls Inc. with the staff and materials needed to deliver quality programs for children and youth in priority neighbourhoods across the region.

All of the After School Programs aim to help children and youth get active, develop healthy eating habits, gain confidence and do better in school, which help to decrease childhood obesity and youth violence.  Each year, the programs provide children and youth, who may not otherwise have an opportunity, a chance to participate in fun, safe, supervised activities.

Programs also focus on activities that are specific to girls’ needs.  This programming may include cultural activities such as traditional recipes, Aboriginal drumming and dancing, homework help, music and as always Girls Inc. researched based Identity Programs.  Through the physical activity component of the program, girls will increase participation in structured activities like basketball, dancing, soccer or simply through unstructured active time. Through the healthy eating component girls are given the opportunity to learn about nutrition and cooking healthy foods, with a focus on fruits and vegetables.  Girls prepare their own healthy after-school snacks such as fruit smoothies or wraps. Through the health and wellness components, girls work on building their self-esteem, resiliency, confidence, self-reliance and raise awareness about anti-bullying and enhance positive relationships.

The After School Programs also incorporate a physical literacy component; the ability for an individual to move competently and confidently in all types of environments – it is the literacy of movement.  In developing and teaching a girl, we break down simple skills into key components to help the girl learn and understand.  In math, we teach children the value of numbers and simple addition and subtraction for them to grow to understand complex problems of all different types.  In teaching movement we want to do the exact same thing!

Fundamental movement skills are very important in the physical development of a girl.  When a girl is confident and competent with these skills, she can develop sport-specific and complex movement skills that she can enjoy sports and physical activity.  Most importantly, having a firm grasp of the fundamental movement skills and being physically literacy leads a girl to enjoy a long life of physical activity.  Having confidence in physical literacy increases a girls willingness to take safe risks, try new activities and to step outside of their comfort zone.  These skills have positive impacts on their academic performance, family relations, informed life choices and are less likely to succumb to peer pressure.

The bulk of after-school programming serves girls ages 9-11, however there are programs being facilitated for girls 12+.

The After School Programs in the Schools have no cost to attend. Our Girls Group and Girls Club are $5/session, but we do offer subsidies.  All of our programs are “drop in style“, meaning each session we do something new.  In all of our programs, we provide a healthy snack to the girls, accommodating sensitivities/allergies.

Our goal is to provide a program that is created for the girls, tailored to meet their needs, and to provide them with tools to build on their skills, feel more confident and to be positive role models.  Some of the topics that we discuss in our Programs include health and wellness, social media safety, STEAM, anti-bullying, and self-esteem.  We also dedicate a portion of our program to homework help, in order to assist the girls with their academics. The facilitators are there for support and to meet the needs of the girls.

With the lifts in restrictions and popularity of our virtual programs, we now have opened both virtual and in-person programs to better serve our community. Please check our programming page for more information on current and upcoming programs. If you are interested in more information about our programs, please contact us at info@girlsincyork.org or registration@girlsincyork.org.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
info@girlsincyork.org
905-830-0776