"Uh, we're going to be in the line of fire here," says Cindy Leso, as a stream of children fresh from a day at Felicita Elementary School head to this YMCA portable. "Here, kids rule."

First to arrive is 7-year-old Andrew, "Our resident artist," Leso says This man takes anything that people put in the trash and creates art out of it." Andrew gives Leso a big hug, then takes off. The children dump their gear, wash their hands, then stream out to the yard to see Gilberto, who's pouring cracker snacks into cups.

What you notice is an absence of adult voices telling the kids what to do. "They've had that all day in class," says Leso, who is the director of this YMCA after-school program. "Instead of all of them sitting down at a table 'til everybody's done and getting antsy and throwing things, they just go outside and have their snack, and when they're done, they start their day."

It works. The children snack, chat, disperse. Half of the boys go off to play soccer. Uriel, seven, comes inside to paint "story pictures." Another group of kids clusters around the carpentry bench. "I'm hammering," says Angelica, 6, adult safety goggles covering most of her face. Leso's staying close to make sure thumbs don't get squashed. With five staff members for 48 kids, the program has two teachers on the outside, two on the inside, and one aide.

Making Order from Disorder
There's also a quiet place for homework, with retired teachers available to help, and 12 activity centers. In one, kids can read books and write book reports. There are also science and math activity centers, computers, an eight-foot stage for drama, and at least one teacher-led project each day. "All the choices are connected to academics but they're more hands-on," says Leso.

What's to stop them from just playing football all day? "I go to teachers' meetings once a month," Leso says. "And teachers come to me. They may tell me, for example, 'Jes?s hasn't learned his multiplication tables for eight yet, could you help him with that?' Or a teacher may say a kid is behind in reading. Then we tell the child, 'Before you can go outside today, your teacher has asked us to do this with you.'"

The Escondido Y program is part of the state's subsidized child care program, which pays a generous $24.73 per kid per day. Just as important for quality, Leso believes, is staff stability. "I was the first teacher here in 1980," she says. Two others have been there more than ten years, all more than three. "It provides stability for kids, and also we learn. We get better every year."

Children Making Choices
Outside, Amy, 10, is checking the garden, naming vegetables: "Carrots. Zanahoria." In this center, where the first language of many kids is Spanish, "We want them to keep their native language," says Leso. "It's very important. Our philosophy is if a child comes up to you and asks a question in Spanish, we try to respond in Spanish. We have English and Spanish books. We have Anglo kids wanting to learn Spanish. We have games in Spanish."

Amy says one of the people who showed her about gardening was her adopted "grandfather," Earl, from the senior center across the street. "We do projects," Amy explains. "We celebrate birthdays. Earl's an inventor. He once invented a flying car!"

Out back, Luis and Enrique, both 10 and in the fifth grade, are today's Peace Patrol. As much as they can—staff reckon that's 60 percent of the time—they settle problems among the kids. "If there's a fight we pull them apart," says Luis "and ask them to tell the truth. Usually they shake hands."

"When we first started this program, we were always having discipline problems," says Leso. "Each teacher would have a group of ten or twelve kids. They had to stay in the group. Kids were always misbehaving. Now we let them run it. It means fewer discipline problems and less aggression, because the kids are making their own choices."

Contact information: Escondido YMCA Child Development Program, Cindy Leso, 760-747-4612.