UMS Offers Free Online Learning Resources For Teachers & Parents At Home

The University Musical Society has announced the launch of UMS Performance Playground, a free online learning resource in the arts for students in grades K-8 (ages 5-13). Curated and created by UMS Teaching Artists, who filmed themselves from their own homes, each unit is composed of 3-5 short, sequential video lessons that focus on a specific topic related to the performing arts. The lessons can be streamed for free at ums.org/playground.

Over the next several weeks, UMS will release five units of Performance Playground lessons that explore the skills, traditions, and practices utilized by artists and performers from across disciplines, referencing past and future UMS presentations. The videos will cover music, theater, dance, and visual arts and may also include cross-curricular connections that help to make the arts relevant to other subjects and daily life. Children are encouraged to explore the resources with the guidance of teachers and parents, or on their own.

"At UMS, we believe that an education steeped in the arts is one of the most powerful ways to enhance a child's learning, fostering creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and so much more," said UMS Vice President of Education & Community Engagement Cayenne Harris. "Our hope is that UMS Performance Playground will help ensure that students are not missing out on this type of enhanced learning as they shift to virtual schoolrooms while families are at home during the COVID-19 crisis."

For more information on UMS Performance Playground and UMS's K-12 initiatives, visit ums.org/education.

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