Arts Activities Part of SA Charter Moms’ Summer Programs
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —
To keep children productively occupied during the summer months, SA Charter Moms has come up with a series of virtual distance-learning programs for families to engage in together and help kids learn new things. Among them is a cluster of arts-related videos focusing on jazz music, classical music, ballet, visual arts, film studies, theater and cowboy life and lore.
“The summer enrichment programs were created in response to COVID-19,” said the organization’s founder and executive director Inga Cotton. “You don’t want your children to play video games all day. But parents don’t always know how to start with more educational activities. It can be intimidating. So, we decided to speak to experts on various subjects to help parents. For instance, ‘How do you introduce your children to jazz music?’”
That’s where someone like Barry Brake, a composer, arranger, jazz (and classical) pianist, and a member of Jazz Protagonists could help. In a video chat with Cotton posted on SA Charter Moms’ website, he talks about jazz music, instruments, way of playing, and other aspects of the genre while also showing some actual playing. And he offers suggestions on what to play for children of different ages in order to introduce them to jazz music. Specifically, he recommends listening to three different pieces – One O’clock Jump (Count Basie), Cape Verdean Blues (Horace Silver) and Take Five (Dave Brubeck) but supplies different ideas as to how to approach the music for different age groups, from preschoolers to teens.
It seems like an easy educational strategy and fun, too, for both parents and the youngsters.
Every post was created by a different expert (individual or group), so there’s no uniformity in approach. The distance learning kit prepared by the Briscoe Museum, for instance, is focused on cowboy stories and provides materials and instructions on how to make a cowboy vest, a pinwheel or a typical travelling wagon.
Film Studies’ adviser, Nathan Cone, suggests old movies and silent film comedies for kids to watch. And Magik Theatre’s contribution encourages children to engage in imaginative play. The classical music post includes a cute video of a chamber orchestra interacting with cartoon characters while explaining what they are doing and the story behind the music.
Beyond the arts, activities include cooking, math games, storytelling, sewing and even a life skill such as how to clean a bathroom. (We suspect the latter is a parental favorite!)
The summer program as a whole is a first for SA Charter Moms, an organization that started with Cotton’s blog about schools and school choices. Her son, now 13, is “on the autism spectrum” and as a loving mom she wanted to find the best possible school for him. “We found a charter school that’s a perfect fit for him,” said Cotton. Her blog tried to make it easier for other families to find the right schools for their children. With time, the blog attracted a community of several thousand parents who shared and discussed various educational issues with each other. In 2018, SA Charter Moms became a non-profit organization. Its Facebook group consists of about 7,000 members said Cotton.
The organization continues to research school offerings and ratings for all schools in the area, not just charter ones, and the information is made available to everyone free of charge in its School Choice Guide.
“We are the bridge between parents and the schools,” said the founder. “Even teachers are joining in.”
www.sachartermoms.com