Better Speech and Hearing Month
May is Better Speech and Hearing Month and we want to celebrate this with our blog this month! Our first post will focus on what a quality speech session should look like from, Ruth Haberkorn Halm is a speech-language pathologist at the Kaufman Children’s Center for Speech, Language, Sensory-Motor & Social...
National Volunteers Week
This week is National Volunteers Week and boy do we have a lot of outstanding volunteers that we need to recognize! All of you....yes YOU! If you have ever raised your hand to help at the Playhouse or at an event the Playhouse is sponsoring, we're talking to YOU! Without...
Student Growth from a Tutor Perspective
Tutoring does more than just help students improve their academic performance, it helps them improve their standards for success altogether. During my time as a tutor, I could watch and measure not only my students’ academic performance, but their confidence and ability to persevere as well. When students use tutors...
Benefits of Being a Tutor
When the word tutor is used, we think of the person whose job is to give extra help to a student who struggles. Though that is a true, being a tutor is much more than that. During my time as a tutor, I learned that my role not only benefited...
Volunteer Spotlight – Taylor and Amanda
This month we would like to recognize Taylor and Amanda in the Volunteer Spotlight! They have been volunteering here at the Playhouse since last fall. They are both currently working as Social Work Interns at local Quad City area schools and anticipate to graduate in May of this year with our MSW...
GiGi Prep – Confidence and Communication
Just like anything in life, the best way to be successful is through confidence and practice! GiGi Prep is a unique six-week program offered to adults 18 and older with Down syndrome that focuses on healthy habits, confidence, and career skills. This is the beginning of the GiGi U continuum...
321 days of meeting new friends
Have you been enjoying all the social media buzz around the 321 days of acceptance? We have! It's fun to be introduced to participants from Playhouses around the network. We've met Lexi, Leo, Griffin, and Brooke just to name a few. We consider them our friends even though we may...
It’s field trip time of year!
Making the Most of Field Trips (Information from Handy Handout 282 from Super Duper Inc) Field trips are beginning again at school for the spring. They are a fun way for children to learn as they explore different places outside the classroom. Children can find field trips to be exciting...
321…. the countdown is on
If you following the blog or Facebook page for GiGi's national office, you may have noticed an exciting announcement that was made yesterday. In 4 days, GiGi's as a nationwide network will be launching a new awareness initiative related to World Down Syndrome Day which is March 21st (3/21). We will...
Volunteer Spotlight – Beth Takemoto
Please help us celebrate Beth Takemoto as the Volunteer Spotlight this month. Beth has been volunteering at the Playhouse for about 4 years. Beth works for John Deere as a Manufacturing Engineering Supervisor. She attended Iowa State University with a major in Industrial Engineering and earned an EMBA from Iowa...
Volunteer Spotlight
Please help us recognize Jordan Furosi as the Volunteer Spotlight for the month. Jordan is originally from San Jose, CA and is currently a student at Augustana college. He began volunteering at the Playhouse this past fall as part of as assignment/project for a class. He is Communications Studies major,...
Host Families
Host Families: Why are they so important? GiGi’s Playhouse Quad Cities runs programs mostly on weekends, and families here in the Quad Cities enjoy spending mornings with us. We love spending weekend mornings with all of you! We have many different types of volunteers here at the Playhouse. We have...