YMCA of Austin

The YMCA of Austin offers afterschool care for children in grades K - 5 at 27 licensed sites in four school districts. The Afterschool Care Program provides on-site care for your child, beginning when school is dismissed and continuing until 6:30 p.m.

Participating children learn valuable social and scholastic skills in a safe, fun, and supervised environment.

The afterschool care program offers a constructive balance of counselor led activities and free time for child exploration. Daily theme activities include arts and crafts, science/math activities, nutrition/wellness activities, presentation activities (music, theater, cooking, etc) and literacy. In addition, the Y delivers CATCH physical activity lessons daily and has made a commitment to meet the Y's Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards (HEPA). Lastly, there is always time for homework, a nutritious afternoon snack, and outside time on the playground.

The end of each afterschool day will include Centers: Board Game Blvd., Hard Hat Highway (building), Craft Court (art), Drama Drive, and Literary Lane.

Children are divided into age-appropriate groups for many of the daily activities. Special day-long programs, called All Day Cares, are available for most school holidays (see calendars below) and for all early release days. Care on these days is included with your monthly fees. As with all of our programs, the after school program emphasizes our five character values: respect, responsibility, honesty, faith, and caring. Additionally, after school curriculum is built on the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets.

For more information, contact the Program Services Branch at 512-236-9622. Financial assistance for the YMCA of Austin's afterschool care program is available.

The YMCA stresses child-oriented attitudes by keeping winning in perspective, having fun, improving physical fitness, and working with the whole child. The YMCA wants the quality of play to improve in order to meet the needs of all participants whatever their ability and skills.

The YMCA accomplishes this by training adult volunteers in clinics and workshops that the child comes first and winning comes second. The key for coaches and parents is to keep winning in perspective. Competition will happen in youth sports without any external pressures. It is important to keep competition at a level appropriate for the athlete.

The goal of the Youth Sports program is to help the child grow to his/her fullest potential in mind, body, and spirit. Activity helps the body grow; thinking advances the mind; and belief makes our spirit grow.

Open to persons with early- to mid-stage Alzheimer’s and dementia, this once-a-week respite program is currently offered by the TownLake YMCA. Geared toward relatively active individuals, the YMCA Senior Retreat enables participants to enjoy aquatic fitness, dancing, crafts, restorative yoga, spinning, strengthening and stretching and more. Music is also incorporated into every “retreat” as well, be it a musical guest or just an informal sing-a-long. All classes are taught by Y fitness staff, and informal activities are run by community volunteers. The TownLake Senior Retreat meets every Friday from 11am-2pm. The fee is $10 per Friday, which includes lunch. YMCA membership is not required. During this time the caregivers will be able to run errands, exercise, meet with other caregivers, etc. For participant and volunteer information, please contact Mashariki Cannon at 512-542-9622 or email, [email protected]

YMCA Adventure Guides is a nationwide YMCA parent/child programs designed for boys and girls aged 4-16. The Adventure Guides experience enables parents and kids to have fun while sharing new, healthy, learning adventures. Spending quality one-on-one time as a family will help build a strong bond of trust and memories that will last a lifetime. Become part of a program that’s committed to helping you and your family grow stronger together.

Programs are offered at TownLake Y, Hays Communities Y, Northwest Family Y and Southwest Y. This exciting program offers fun and creative activities, including campouts at Bastrop State Park, Enchanted Rock and McKinney Falls, mini-Indy car building, bowling, scavenger hunts and more.

Program Purpose
•Foster companionship and understanding; set a foundation for positive, lifelong relationships between parent and child.
•Build a sense of self-esteem and personal worth.
•Expand awareness of spirit, mind, and body.
•Provide a framework to meet the mutual needs of parents and children for spending enjoyable, constructive, and quality time together.
•Enhance the quality of family time.
•Emphasize the vital role that a parent plays in the growth and development of a child.
•Offer an important and unique opportunity to develop and enjoy volunteer leadership skills.

Objectives
•To be clean in body and pure in heart.
•To be friends forever with my dad/mom/son/daughter.
•To love the sacred circle of my family.
•To listen while others speak.
•To love my neighbor as myself.
•To respect the traditions and beliefs of all people.
•To seek and preserve the beauty of Our Creator's work.

The YMCA has led community-based health and wellness for more than a century!

Participation in YMCA Health & Wellness programs offer opportunities for friendship and community, a sense of well-being, self-confidence and improved mental abilities, not to mention the obvious health benefits of healthy heart, lungs, bones, and muscles.

The YMCA of Austin offers a variety of classes to help you achieve better health, manage stress and lift your spirits. The long term benefits include lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, helping control blood sugar and increasing energy levels. Part of our mission is to help you in your quest for health. Our mission is to build a strong you.

All of our fitness classes are taught by experienced, nationally-certified fitness instructors. Classes are FREE for Y members. Check for schedules and classes on your YMCA branch webpage.

Aerobics Classes Include:

•Les Mills: BodyPump, RPM, CXWORX and BodyCombat.
•Zumba Fitness: Unique Latin inspired music and dance steps create a dynamic, exciting and effective fitness class.
•Indoor Cycling: A great cardiovascular workout.
•Aqua Fitess: Medium- to high-intensity workouts. Water aerobics classes range from gentle water yoga to intense kick-boxing routines.
•BodyPump: A cardio strength workout challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercise.
•CXWORX: Hones in on the torso and sling muscles that connect your upper body to your lower body.
•RPM: A modern spin on indoor cyclng, choreographed to inspirational music.

Children are like sponges - they watch and absorb knowledge, skills and values from everything and everyone around them. At the Y, we believe the values and skills learned early on are vital building blocks for quality of life and future success. That's why our programs are staffed with people who understand the cognitive, physical and social development of kids, the need children have to feel connected and supported in trying new things, and the caring and reinforcement parents and families need to help each other. At the Y, babies develop trust and security, preschoolers experience early literacy and learn about their world, and school-age kids make friends, learn new skills and do homework. Most importantly, children learn how to be their best selves. That makes for confident kids today, and contributing and engaged adults tomorrow.

Child Watch : With so many demands on today’s families and the increased focus on early brain development, families need all the support they can get to nurture the potential of youth. That’s why child care programs at the Y focus on holistically nurturing child development by providing a safe and healthy place to learn foundational skills, develop healthy, trusting relationships and build self-reliance through the Y values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.

Afterschool: The YMCA is dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable care for children. In the US, the YMCA is the nation's largest provider of child care programs, providing family-centered, values-based programs to nurture children's healthy development. Well-trained staff provide safe, affordable, high-quality care so you can have peace of mind while you work. Staff members are partners with parents and other caregivers, working together to help kids grow up healthy, happy and strong.

Learning Centers: YMCA Learning Centers are unique partnerships between the YMCA of Austin and the developers of Austin area moderate housing apartment complexes. Programs and services are offered on-site for children and adults currently living in the apartment complexes. Most services are offered free to the communities and may include afterschool care, summer care, ESL classes, and computer literacy classes.

Early Learning: The YMCA's Early Learning programs provide each child a warm and supportive environment in which to grow. We meet the needs of each child with experiences that foster development and a sense of self esteem. Y programs strive to develop the total child, with particular emphasis on educational, physical, emotional and social skills necessary for success. Our Early Learning Readiness (ELR) program provides a stimulating environment to help children (2 - 5 years) develop the physical, verbal, and social skills which they'll need to be school-ready. Caregivers will learn how children develop and how to encourage skill building at home.

Swimming is a life skill as well as great exercise and a challenging sport. Ys offer swim lessons (for all ages), family swim, competitive swimming and diving teams, and many kinds of adaptive swim programs for kids with special needs, so we can all safely enjoy the pleasures of an aquatic environment.

YMCA Swim Facts
•Today, tens of millions of people across the United States have learned how to swim at the YMCA, including Olympic Gold Medalists Cullen Jones & Ian Crocker, as well as former President Ronald Reagan.
•At YMCAs, children & adults not only learn how to swim, but also learn about safety & rescue skills, & water activities that can be enjoyed for a lifetime.
•Through YMCA Project S.A.F.E & other outreach programs, YMCAs help people of all ages, especially children & families, learn basic swimming skills & water safety practices.
•With more than 2,200 pools nationally, YMCAs are collectively the largest operator of swimming pools in the United States.
•YMCAs offer water fitness classes & swim leagues for adults & youth.
•YMCAs offer arthritis aquatics classes for active older adults. Research has proven that this form of regular exercise helps slow the aging process.
•Swimming is a lifetime activity. No other activity provides so many health benefits with so little physical risk of injury. It is a low impact sport & is therefore easier on joints & muscles, making it ideal for all individuals.
•For the last 120 years, the YMCA has been recognized as the nation’s swim instructor, teaching safety & confidence in the water.

Texas Youth and Government program provides hands-on civic education and leadership skills, and serves 2,600 high school and middle school students in 113 communities across Texas, including 340 students from Austin.