PM Enrichment Program in the Atelier

A welcome break from paper and pencil, not to mention screen and eye, concrete engagements make math concepts fun! Students will work to develop math projects based on their interests. Counting collections of objects like Legos or glass gems may be motivated by different factors and organized in different ways. The student’s ability to see such projects through and explain their reasoning supports mathematical confidence and abstract thinking. 

A proven approach to help students develop a culture of literacy, Reading Workshops guide young minds through discovering, interpreting, and responding to literature they love. From group role delegation through presentation of completed work, this collaborative engagement develops the 4 Cs of 21st Century Skills (Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity). 

What story do you have to tell? Once we explore and interpret the stories we love we are not only prepared but driven to answer this question. The aim of our Writers’ Workshop is to produce tangible works of literary art, i.e. handbound books to sit on a home library shelf. 

A theatrical approach to build social-emotional skills, and boost confidence. Children will discover how to express and respond to emotions through their bodies, faces, and vocal inflection, building confidence and empathy. Workshop attendees will enjoy role play, improvisation, and theater games. Their work will culminate in a final performance in front of a live Zoom audience of family and friends. Children will engage with the many diverse elements that combine to create theatrical performances. They will create props, masks, puppets, costumes, and sets and learn how to use these elements in performance. They will also be able to create music and sound effects and learn how to use music, movement, and sound in theatrical performance. Children will practice literacy skills through script reading and writing. 

Through music, art, and children’s literature, children will explore the history of social justice movements in America, especially focusing on how children have historically been engaged in these movements. Through protest songs, and creation of protest art, children will discover and define protest and process current events in a safe and creative environment. They will participate in discussion and actively work on social justice projects that matter to them, learning as a community about intersectional allyship, diversity, and how they can facilitate positive social change within their communities, within the country, and throughout the world. 

The tinker lab will be open for children to independently and collaboratively create using a variety of materials, combining STEAM skills in an open-ended creative environment. They will have opportunities to experiment with physics and engineering through challenges, build fine motor skills, problem solve independently and through team work, and will at times be able to take home final products. Children will have access to our maker spaces, and Tinker Lab materials could include LEGOS, gutters and pipes with balls, wood and woodworking tools, and a variety of open-ended and recycled materials.