These kids are hilarious! I wonder if any of them got their start at Helen O'Grady?

Sarah Punkoney explains the kinds of benefits dramatic play can bring to your kids. She lays out four main areas:

There are four primary areas under which children learn and develop through pretend play.  They include:

• Intellectual – increase in skills such as problem solving, negotiating, creativity, organizing and planning, retelling familiar stories, application of newly gained knowledge, and mathematics
• Physical – increase in skills such as gross and fin motor development, fitness, strength, and coordination
• Social – development of skills such as sharing, taking turns, cooperation, negotiation, impulse control, delay gratification, and deal with disappointment
• Emotional – increase in self esteem, pride and accomplishment, feeling of safety and protection, development of sense of self and individuality, and feelings or purpose

Read the whole thing!

A quick chat with Frances Cahill from the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy Sunshine Coast. What can Helen O'Grady do for you and your child? What is it all about?

Let's all take a moment to remember Shirley Temple Black, probably the most legendary child performer of all time!

We had a ton of first on the first class of the term!

Don't miss out on the fun next week!

Happy Valentine's Day from Helen O'Grady Istanbul!

We have a new teacher joining the Helen O'Grady Istanbul team. Curtis Erhart has been doing theater for twenty years in his native United States and here in Istanbul. He directed various musical for the Speech Bubbles community theater, including West Side Story, Little Shop of Horrors, and Wicked. He can also be seen performing his two-man improv show at various places in the city. He has directed both children and adults, and is really looking forward to working with our kids! Let's welcome him, shall we?

As get ready for the new term to begin, we want to make sure everyone is aware of what kinds of classes we offer. Here are some of the elements that make up a Helen O'Grady class:

Introductory Warm-Up Activities
We warm up the children and get them ready to release their creativity with fun, active warm-up exercises.

Speech Exercises
Proper speaking is an important part of the Helen O'Grady program. These exercises will help the children with their diction, and allow them to communicate their ideas with greater confidence.

Mime to Music
These exercises are designed to teach the children different movements as well as different ways of thinking about movement.

Creative Improvised Drama
Using what we've learned in the previous sections, in every class we create a improvised drama based on a pre-conceived structure designed to get the kids thinking and acting creatively.

Snippets (Partner Work)
These are fun games and activities we use to get the kids working and having fun with each other.

We are so proud of our students. It's so exciting to see how much they hve all improved in just one term. We also received very encouraging feedback from some of our students' English teachers at their schools. It's so motivating for us to see the results of our hard work in such a short period. We are ready and full of energy for the second term. We will keep working hard and having fun!

HELEN O’GRADY DRAMA ACADEMY NOW IN ISTANBUL!

The world’s largest Drama Academy, which already exists in 30 countries, has opened it’s first İstanbul branch this September and is now accepting enrollments for the second term.

The aim of the Academy is to help young people develop:

·         Enthusiasm

·         Confidence

·         Self Esteem

·         Conversational ability

·         Social Skills

These aims are achieved through a highly developed and unique drama program.

Each lesson is carefully planned and every class is different with the curriculum constantly updated by our specialist educational unit in the United Kingdom.  Primary curriculum includes introductory activities, speech, verbal dynamics, creative movement, mimes to music, language development, structured improvisation, dialogue development, snippets, scene starters, mini-scripts, parent day presentations and end of year productions. Above all, the lessons are great fun!

The Helen O'Grady Drama Academy originated in Australia many years ago and this drama system for children became the basis for further expansion. Since 1979, the remainder of Australia and New Zealand have been introduced to the Helen O'Grady Academies as well as Africa, China, Japan, USA, South Africa, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Gulf States, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Zambia, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada.

There are over 50,000 students attending Helen O'Grady Drama classes each week, throughout thirty countries.

Children who wish to enrol with the Academy may come along for a FREE TRIAL LESSON. The new term commences on the 15th of February.

Dates and Studios:

Tarabya İstek Kemal Atatürk Kampüsü Sports Hall, Saturdays at 13:15-14.15 

Etiler Dans Akademik Ballet Studio, Saturdays at 16:00-17.00 

Etiler Dans Akademik Ballet Studio, Saturdays at 17:00-18.00 

Ages: 5-13

For more information: (0212) 332 10 02 

www.helenogradyistanbul.com

www.facebook.com/hogistanbul