Because the groups were mixed age, it meant that I also had older "friends" on the playground to look out for me. The children that I spent my after school time with became my friends at school, too. The effect of it was powerful, and community-building so that it extended to my school life as well. From the moment I got out of school, and finished my homework, I was doing something that required social interaction - whether it was playing "HORSE", playing Marco Polo on the jungle gym, building forts, playing ball games, or playing bartering games. Group activities were the focus, and there was zero tolerance for teasing or bullying. They provided an extremely structured environment that did not allow me to withdraw. Very different from the typical "babysitter" - the couple that ran it had very specific ideas about child development and a strategy that worked perfectly for me.
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