A little over midway through the winter session, my son is loving drama! He has his lines and has been practicing on memorizing them for his class’s “Dinorella” show in May. On the trip down to The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati this weekend, located on Red Bank Road, he shared that he enjoys acting and pretending to be someone else.
This got me thinking … while he thinks he is “playing” and pretending to be someone else, he is unaware of all the academic skills he is working on during his drama class. During each class he practices following directions, understanding and practicing stage terms and locations, recognizing his spatial relation to other actors in his class, he has to practice waiting as he has to wait until it’s time for his lines, he is working on his gross motor skills as he moves as various characters, he is practicing his reading and reading fluency while also working on his intonation, and he gets to practice working with others as he works on this play with his classmates. I am sure I could go on and on with ways that his class is embedding skills during their sessions.
I recall when I was in elementary school, being mortified to read out loud or talk in front of my class. After this class, I am sure my son will not shy away or become anxious about speaking out loud to his class. As he happily tells me about all the fun he has each week, I will quietly let out a, “Muhahahahaha!” as I know that while he is having so much fun, he is also practicing a bunch of great social/emotional and academic skills. My son gives The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati two thumbs up and so do I! Check out their offerings for this summer!