Let’s face it - life is a little weird right now. The kids are stuck at home 24/7, the days of “go play outside with your friends” are on hiatus. Your work life and personal life all take up the same desk now. You’ve had an opportunity to meet your kid’s teacher’s dogs over Zoom and they’ve probably met yours too. Planning play dates and social gatherings aren’t as easy (or as safe) as they used to be and your kids are probably just as sick of being at home as you are.

Even though we can’t go out and resume “normal” life again just yet, we’ve been finding ways of keeping kids engaged, having fun and CONNECTING with other kids! When COVID first hit, we didn’t skip a beat and migrated all our classes online! Over the last few months there have been endless ideas on how to keep the kids together, playing music, just like how we did in the building we call our Home Away Home.

STREAMING PARTIES

Our Performance Program + Rock 101 classes have been attending their weekly rehearsals with different goals on the horizon now. Since we have been remote, students are filming their casted parts in the most creative ways and not only having fun, but learning valuable skills like recording music, editing in Adobe Premiere and learning the inside scoop on how their favorite songs are produced and compiled into the amazing albums they can’t stop listening to. 

They are beginning their journey as musicians by learning how to make their parts great which in turn will make the music THEY create, that much better too. Every season our directors take those completed parts and create these rad music videos - something new that our students can share with their friends and family! We’re getting the closest you can to playing live all at the same time!

We bring the kids and their families together for our Streaming Parties where we air the videos and celebrate how much each student has grown over the last few months.

SHOWCASING ARTISTS

Our monthly Open Mics have been a wonderful way of allowing our students and staff to show off their original music or progress as they learn! It’s been a great way for all of us to show support to each other’s musical journey. Our students get opportunities to play in front of live audiences (and so do the parents!). We’ve loved seeing the parents surprise us with their talent!

PLAYING GAMES WITH THE FAMILY

Last month we started something new - Family Game Night! We wanted to find a way to get kids interacting, laughing and learning! We hosted a Pictionary game and gave each person an artist, song or album name - there’s nothing like sneaking in some musical history while having fun!

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE TODDLERS!

Even in these times, the little ones need social interaction too, maybe even more so. We may not have them running around our rehearsal room but we do have them rocking at home! Our tiny rockers get their own Gig Bag delivered to their house when they sign up! They get all the instruments they would use in our in-person class, right at home! Using these instruments, we’re keeping the rock n’ roll going! Students get a chance to interact with others and learn about music in a super fun and safe way!