Press.4.4.2020

he throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. | Columnists | postandcourier.com

4/5/20, 2(30

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In the throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. by maura hogan mhogan@postandcourier.com apr 4, 2020

Ava Rose (left) and Magnolia and Isadora Banks of Mount Pleasant draw monsters during a Monster Draw! instructional video by their father Timothy Banks. Gibbes Museum of Art/Provided

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he throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. | Columnists | postandcourier.com

4/5/20, 2(30

As I settle in to write this, my +rst-grade daughter Beatrice is in her new classroom, formerly known as our playscape. She is seated at an activity table now tricked out with sharpened pencils, heart erasers, a stack of workbooks and an iPad. A nearby dry-erase board details each day’s agenda, featuring in varying time slots classes such as Zoom P.E., math, a phonics lab and a library reading session of “Clark the Shark.”

From my upstairs o,ce, I hear strains of a French class video chirping out words like “pere″ and “maman.” This is followed by a translation of

“Peppa the Pig,” with my daughter merrily parroting “cochon″ and

chortling to a fabulously Frenchi+ed Peppa. It was not on the teacher’s plan; my techno-savvy 6-year-old had taken over the controls.

Excuse me while I go get her back on track.

During and after school, my husband and I carry on with deadlines or conference calls, slipping out to check a math worksheet or to set up some activity to make the best use of a glowing screen. We are new to this distance learning, and the pull between being the best professional and the best parent is constant.

Thankfully, however, my journalistic beat and new homeschooling bent have converged. Charleston’s arts and cultural organizations are not new to education, and their robust community outreach programs have resulted in considerable resources that are sure to help. Here are a few to get you going, or to share with others who have joined the new frontier of homeschooling.

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he throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. | Columnists | postandcourier.com

4/5/20, 2(30

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With the coronavirus-related shift to distance learning, many of these organizations are now bolstering e-orts to reach parents with programs that were expressly created to support teachers and that o-er lesson plans meeting state standards.

At her Mount Pleasant home, Milly follows along with the Gibbes Museum of Art’s “G is for Gibbes” online reading. Gibbes Museum of Art/Provided

Some work with companies like the Charleston-based Streamable Learning. Others team up with local artists and arts practitioners.

Others focus on experiences ideal

for after school or weekends.

The Charleston Museum aims to teach about the natural and cultural history of the South Carolina Lowcountry. With the museum closed, all can follow #MuseumFromHome to stay connected for content like virtual tours using 3D models with lessons for students at home.

History is also the hallmark of Historic Charleston Foundation, which lately launched a mini-documentary series premiering in Johns Island schools with lesson plans entitled “Tangled Roots” that covers stories of Civil Rights activism, immigration and more. The videos and plans can be accessed via historiccharleston.org.

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he throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. | Columnists | postandcourier.com

4/5/20, 2(30

Charleston Gaillard Center has for the past few years boasted an ambitious K-12 arts-in-education program supporting educators that was designed with state standards in mind. Hinging on live performances in the concert hall, the Gaillard also travels to schools with arts-integrated lesson plans that don’t require having seen a performance. Two of the performances, “History of Jazz” and “Poetic Hip Hop,” are available at gaillardcenter.org/outreach/educationalresources/.

“As we continue to look for engaging ways to educate the students of the Lowcountry from home, the Gaillard’s partners are helping our community by +lling that void,” said Sterling deVries, director of education at Charleston Gaillard Center, via email.

Other available Gaillard programs partnering with artists and others are perfect for a brain break or an after-school activity. These include a theater warm-up, an introduction to tap dance, hip-hop and yoga lessons, instruction on spring watercolors and a kid-centered cooking video.

The Gibbes Museum of Art also o-ers content for K-12 audiences aligning with state standards and is

Fourth-grader Nicholas attended the Ranky Tanky performance at the Gaillard Center Monday, March 9, 2020, part of Gaillard Center’s arts in education program. The program has lesson plans and other resources now available on their website. Brad Nettles/Staff bnettles@postandcourier.com

working to now make it more widely available to teachers and parents. These include social studiesrelated tours such as “Faces and Places of the Revolutionary

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he throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. | Columnists | postandcourier.com

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War,” “Rice to Rights Part I” featuring South Carolina’s history of rice plantations and slavery and “Rice to Rights Part II,” on how modern and contemporary artists grapple with that history, as well as visual arts tours like “The Art Elements.”

“Our activities focus a lot on writing and vocabulary building, so a lot that we’re trying to share are ways to integrate the arts into the writing, reading and arithmetic mentality,” said Becca Hiester, associate curator of education at the Gibbes. “It’s not just draw a picture, but write a story about this Lasley Steever and her son Miller engage in distance learning from their West Ashley home. Gibbes Museum of Art/Provided

character you just created.”

The Gibbes also has a mobile app in the works with content geared towards pre-K audiences,

Virtual Storytime events like “G is for Gibbes” with Erin Bennett Banks and “Monsters in Charleston” with Timothy Banks. Tutorials and artmaking videos from teaching artists including Cory McBee, Fallon Peper and Janell Walker Smalls that provide parents with additional creative outlets.

“We’ve found these resources to be really a good way for parents to take objects they already have in their home or go out in their yard and pick up leaves or rocks,” said Lasley Steever, director of programs and events at the Gibbes.

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he throes of homeschooling? Charleston arts and cultural organizations have your back. | Columnists | postandcourier.com

4/5/20, 2(30

There are others, too. South Carolina Aquarium o-ers virtual visits via Facebook on weekdays. The Center for Birds of Prey posts livestream videos regularly on Facebook and YouTube.

The upshot? “Let’s all come together through the arts and have fun at home,” said deVries. Charleston certainly has the arts and cultural resources to have fun in enriching ways, thanks to a community of educators and cultural groups who have much to teach us all.

Follow Maura Hogan on Twitter at @msmaurahogan. more information

On Johns Island, the roots are tangled. And so are the stories.

SC students attend Ranky Tanky concert at Charleston’s Gaillard in the name of learning tags

gibbes museum of art

charleston gaillard center

historic charleston foundation storytree

charleston museum

streamable learning charlton singleton

marcus amaker teralyn reiter

engaging creative minds

maura hogan Maura Hogan is the arts critic at The Post and Courier. She has previously written about arts, culture and lifestyle for The New York Times, Gourmet, Garden & Gun, among other publications.

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