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Download our Arts for Learning Services Catalog

Early Childhood Programs

Early childhood is a critical time for developing critical thinking and creative problem solving skills. The arts are an essential part of the process learning to learn. Young Audiences has several targeted programs that address the needs of pre-K through 1st grade children.

We have programs that are specifically designed with the developmental needs and attention spans of young children in mind. These interactive performances are fun and engaging, active learning experiences that use dance, storytelling, music, puppetry and theatre.

BETWEEN THE LIONS® Reading Readiness Residencies

BETWEEN THE LIONS®, the Emmy award-winning PBS children’s television series, and the most widely used program in American elementary schools, served as the inspiration for this series of Reading Readiness Residencies for children in kindergarten through the 2nd grade. Each A4L Residency uses arts-based activities and incorporates brief segments of BETWEEN THE LIONS® episodes to bring the curriculum of phonemic awareness and phonics to life while building vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.

All Arts for Learning BETWEEN THE LIONS® Residencies include the following:

• An appropriate sequence of the following segments: Instruction; Guided Practices; Independent Practice; Reflection & Revision; and Opportunities to Perform and Inform.
• Each A4L Residency can be done in as little as five to six sessions of 35 to 50 minutes in length.
• All A4L Residencies are designed for teacher participation and active involvement.
• A4L Residencies are designed to complement and be presented with video segments from the PBS TV program BETWEEN THE LIONS®.

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Creative Beginnings Early Childhood Teacher Training

The mission of Creative Beginnings is to improve early childhood education. The Creative Beginnings program accomplishes this goal by providing artist-in-residence programs which serve preschool communities. Residencies consist of professional development in the arts for early childhood educators; in-classroom arts workshops for students which serve as models for participating teachers; and parent education opportunities.

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Family Arts and Creativity Evenings

These evening arts workshops bring teachers, parents, and children together to learn and play and create with other. The workshops invite children and their parents to work with art materials, invent stories, move, sing, and describe what they see and hear. These same activities engage them in sorting, ordering, and grouping, finding similarities and differences, and “reading” symbols, experiences essential to building pre-reading and life-long learning skills. Each workshop includes a children’s book related to the theme of the evening. Take home ideas for new activities to do together. These workshops are presented by artists from Young Audiences • Arts for Learning • Virginia in collaboration with teachers from your school.

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