SAN ANTONIO – The local nonprofit, San Antonio Charter Moms, focuses on helping parents find the perfect school for their child. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting schools down in the Spring and the upcoming academic year still uncertain for most, the founder and executive director of SA Charter Moms, Inga Cotton, decided it was time to help parents by providing fun activities to try at home.
“Charter a Summer of Learning” already has more than 30 activities available to choose from. On their website you can find a variety of activities that cover topics such as emotional wellness, civics, community service, science and math, among others.
Cotton said she usually tours a wide range of schools around town including private, charter, public and magnet schools.
Summer guide provides daily ideas to keep your kids learning
“I then write posts about what the school culture (is like), how to apply, what the extracurriculars are and all the special programs that they offer,” Cotton said.
However, schools shut down mid-Spring to help stop the spread of coronavirus and the future of the next academic year is still uncertain.
“We realized that with distance learning and with so many camps and so many places being closed in the summer, we really had to think differently about what summer was going to be like,” Cotton said. “So we thought, OK, let’s let’s bring in all these different ideas for activities as a way to try something new. Parents feel like their kids are still learning in the summer, but they’re doing it in a really fun way.”
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Cotton virtually collaborates with partners around San Antonio to create the activities for all ages.
“For every activity, we ask the guest, author or our team member to adapt it to work for different ages,” Cotton said. “There are things involving nature or the outdoors, life skills like cleaning the bathroom, or there’s cooking, there’s typing. We also have several different activities about reading and writing and (activities) to learn math.”
Parents and kids can grab some materials around home like a cardboard box, plastic wrap, foil, and construction paper to make a solar over. The activity, according to the website, is designed to teach kids about sun-science.
For more information about “Charter a Summer of Learning,” click here.