RSG Academy Presents
Weekend Workshops
These Workshops build executive functioning skills!
Welcome!
RSG is excited to be offering a fresh batch of online weekend workshops for the Spring Semester!
We’ve teamed up with professionals from around the world (seriously, our cooking teacher is from Vienna!) to bring the best of cooking, creative writing, and art to your children. In these 2-hr workshops, students will….
…learn the exciting science behind cooking with a professional chef from Vienna with Chelsea Frischknecht
…learn creative writing and storytelling through an engaging RPG with game designer & English teacher Michael Low
…learn to the art of character design with a professional artist from LA with Allison Oh
Best of all, each workshop is also structured to give students practice in key executive functioning skills such as organization, planning, goal setting and more. These are vital skills for every student to develop for success in the classroom, and they get to practice in a fun and creative setting!
Our Workshops
STEM in the Kitchen
Have you ever wondered why a raw egg becomes solid when cooked? Did you know that understanding how that happens can help you cook super delicious eggs?
Making great food is about more than following a recipe – it’s about understanding what’s happening to our food while we cook, how our taste buds work, and how to be strategic with our time and goals.
In this hands-on workshop we’ll make delicious meals while talking about food science and all the “whys” of what we are cooking.
Executive Functioning Skills: mise-en-place is the cooking art of preparation, we practice planning and organizing skills by thinking ahead about our recipes, making a plan, and preparing everything we need in advance.
STEM in the Kitchen (3rd/4th – 8th)
Jan 22nd (10a-12p)
Breakfast Foods Workshop
Feb 26th (10a-12p)
Soup & Sides Workshop
Cost: $39/class OR $65/both classes
STEM in the Kitchen JR (PreK – 2nd/3rd)
Feb 12th (10a-12p)
Breakfast Foods Workshop
Mar 5th (10a-12p)
Soup & Sides Workshop
Cost: $39/class OR $65/both classes
Visual Storytelling: Character Design from Start to Finish
In this hands-on workshop, students learn to craft their own character and see how shape, color and depth help build fun and memorable characters! Instead of all copying the same drawings, students will create unique and expressive art in their own style based on what kind of character they want to create.
Students who take all three classes will walk away with a fully designed character in multiple poses/outfits and have learned how to create a turnaround for a professional portfolio. Students may also enroll in a single class to learn just that workshop’s skill!
Executive Functioning Skills: in this class, students will choose their own projects and so practice goal-setting and planning to go from idea to finished project with the help of an instructor to show them the way!
Workshop 1: Jan 15th (1p-3p)
Storytelling through Shapes
Workshop 2: Feb 19th (1p-3p)
Storytelling through Color
Workshop 3: Mar 19th (1p-3p)
Depth in Character
$39/class OR $95/all 3 classes
Luck of Legends: Creative Writing
In this class, kids collaborate to build a world together online – a world where anything they write becomes part of a story of adventure they get to explore. During each class, we’ll read and celebrate everyone’s creative contributions, then edit and discuss during the first hour; in the second, kids take on the role of characters in the world. If you’ve heard of Dungeons & Dragons, it’s similar, but with a focus on creating your own world and solving problems with your head and heart, not combat. The stories become a portfolio parents can read through, along with academic feedback on five Common Core Standards that detail your student’s areas of growth and struggle.
Executive Functioning Skills: in this class students learn to plan out their ideas and thinking in advance and organize on a plan, they also learn to adapt on a plan (through gameplay) and set and reach goals together as a group.
Dates:
Feb 13 (1p-3p)
Feb 27 (1p-3p)
Mar 13 (1p-3p)
Mar 27 (1p-3p)
Apr 10 (1p-3p)
Cost: $250 (includes all 5 classes!)
What to Expect
- Each workshop will run for 2 hrs on a Saturday or Sunday
- Welcome email with Zoom link & any needed suppplies sent 1-week before the workshop
- Students will need access to a device with Zoom and Internet access
- Students will end the workshop with a finished project: a meal, a story or a drawing.
- Parents are welcome to supervise their children, but not required to do so
- Cooking Workshop Exception: Students must be supervised or have parent approval to use the stove independently
- Online Instruction: at this time all our workshops are offered online
Why focus on Executive Function skills?
Executive Functioning skills are vital to our ability to be successful in a given task. These skills include the ability to focus and ignore distractions, set a goal and plan how to reach it, follow a plan, and stay organized and efficient with your time.
Often considered “soft skills” these are rarely taught in a formal school setting but are foundational to success in the classroom and beyond.
For example, suppose your child needs to improve their math grade by doing better on their tests. To succeed – they’ll need to set a concrete goal (improve by 10%), make a study plan, organize the resources and study tools they’ll need, and then follow through on their plan, making adjustments as needed. These are all executive function skills.
Now it’s no fun to learn these when you’re stressed about a math test, but imagine if you could practice these vital skills while having fun cooking, or writing a poem, or making art!
Then – when it’s time to improve that math grade, those executive skills are ready and waiting.
What are the Executive Functioning Skills?
Executive functioning skills help us decide what to do and successfully do them. They include:
- Initiation/Activation
- Planning & Organizing
- Attention & Focus
- Self-Monitoring
- Working Memory
- Effort
- Emotional Regulation
The article above is a great overview with a focus on how to support students with executive function disorders (ADHD, etc). However, all students will benefit from improving executive functioning skills!
Meet Your Instructors
Chelsea F.
Allison O.
Michael L.
Let’s Learn Together
Have Questions?
Phone
(562) 414-5355