Build things, over-and-over! Lego has become much more sophisticated over the last 20 years, and for many children, even more fun. Children learn about volume, support, and aesthetics. For aspiring young architects, crafts-persons, engineers, Lego sets are the building blocks (literally) to scientific success. Children collaborate on one large standing project, while working on their own individual creations.LEGO-OH!

Learn to play the world's most versatile instrument. Guitar is used in almost every music genre, and brings an "audience" whether in a large group, a duet, or playing solo. Learn chords, learn technique, and learn the basics of reading a score. This class arms the beginner to have musical knowledge and have fun. At least one day is devoted to collaboration and harmony, letting a second student fill, while student A harmonizes.

Our enthusiastic staff love teaching the art of jewelry making to children in a fun, engaging and age appropriate way. We begin with basic beading crafts on day one. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and ornamental pins will follow. Our classes focus on using your creative talents to create beautiful handmade pieces of jewelry that will impress your friends and family. All levels welcome. An array of beautiful beads and stones to work with are included in the course price. Parents who'd like to see their children create pieces with more expensive gems may bring them separately, or have us procure them in advance. We look forward helping your child create beautiful handmade crafts and jewelry.

Welcome to the wonderful game of chess. This class is for beginners. On our first day we introduce all moves and give students basic offensive strategy. On day two we include counter-moves, defense and thinking three and four steps ahead. By the end of our second day all children will be playing their first games! On day three we give each student a series of "what if" situations, introduce playing with a clock and playing new people via computer chess. Days 4 and 5 consist of almost all game-playing, with a handicapped tournament at the end of each day. Stronger students will have to work within tighter time limits, so the games can be competitive.

This is a survey of what makes science interesting. It emphasizes the practical - how science can affect every child's life. Each day we have a brief survey of at least two of the following areas: asteroids, chemical reactions, dinosaurs, earthquakes, oceans, physics, pollution, rivers, solar eclipses and volcanoes. Each day your child will have some collaborative project to work on. The final day will include a take-home creation.

This course will help stimulate the curiosities of children who have yet to show an appreciation for nature. Our experience will take your child away from the concrete and to the flora & fauna that abound even in the city. Excitement here begins indoors, with a discussion and slide shows of what to look for in the nature around us. On each of the remaining days, we will be in a different place, assessing the earth, the rocks, the trees, and the animal life around us. Students keep a photo collage of the natural world they have experienced. They also keep a continued relationship to the Instructor team, who will be emailing remarkable natural phenomena by email each week.

Come join us for skills, teamwork and fun! This course is for children who are above the raw beginner stage, but not yet in regular competition. Our instructors are young adults who have both played and taught soccer. All children will learn passing, receiving, offense and defense. They will work in groups and each instruction "hour" begins with a 5 minute “Soccer Strategy Session". All children will experience each position: forward, midfield, defense and goalkeeper. Each afternoon concludes with a 90 minute doubleheader match.

Teachers appreciate clear expression more than any other elements in any essay. Yet many students are daunted by what to write, how to compile ideas, and how to edit. Our course focuses on using conventional English and expressing oneself with clarity and succinctness. Students will learn to write short essays as well as craft longer essays. Our work product each day will be a complete short essay, and a portion of one long piece, which can be a previously assigned summer report or research paper

This introduces the gadgetry that powers our household devices. In our time together we will be making devices, at first collaboratively, then individually. Every participant will build a robot that will clean anyone's bedroom on command. We use the LEGO Mindstorms RCX Robotics Invention System. Learn mechanical design, construction, programming & teamwork skills, using LEGO building elements, motors & sensors. Students build different robots & program them with a computer to move, react & make sounds to solve challenges.

This makes math more practical, and more enjoyable. Along the way we help students be more proficient. We begin with work that helps the brain replace the calculator. We continue with practical math elements like "winning percentages", "shopping discounts", "loan interest rates", "batting averages", "airplane arrival times", "gasoline MPGs", and "sight vs. sound". We conclude with some math problems taken from the SAT or ACT. Where parents permit, our “Mathemagicians” send all students and parents one interesting math problem each weekend to help keep their interest throughout the academic year.

This is for students who do not like math but need to be more proficient. We attempt to help students “discover” interesting parts of math, as if it were part of a Planetarium. We cover exponential growth, Fibonacci numbers, Pythagorean theorem, and neat things that make at least some elements of math interesting. This class extends itself into the late summer and fall: our “Mathemagicians” send all students and parents one interesting math problem each weekend to help keep their interest throughout the year.

Looking to stimulate your child's interest, focus, natural energy and expressiveness? Our Classical Ballet and Modern Tap program may be the way. For parents searching for ways to interest, engage, stimulate and focus their child's natural energy and expressiveness, the answer might be, "Modern Tap" or "Classical Ballet". This week introduces children to both. Ballet is a unique synthesis of artistry and technique, of self-expression and discipline. It's challenging and great fun. Here children will learn:

• That focused effort leads to results.
• That stories can be told by moving to music.
• That stretching, bending, reaching and jumping to the beat is exhilarating.
• That the body can create beautiful shapes and lines.

Our world is full of tempting options. Introducing a child to classical ballet can be a gateway to the performing arts and artistic communication. It can also lead to proud accomplishments and success in the studio and on stage. This is for beginners, ages 6-10. Shoes are needed, (not included in the price). Rentals are available.

To the moon and beyond! We take students beyond the moon and Earth, to all our planets and even outside the solar system. We'll learn about galaxies, nebulas, "dead stars" and black holes. We explore two of the great questions in life: Where did we come from? And where are we going? Planetarium trip included.

Get through your reading faster, with equal or BETTER comprehension! We help students develop good habits so they are not bogged down with work. We make use of the "Breakthrough!" curriculum, using age-appropriate novels and non-fiction. Students should EXPECT to double their reading speed, and know that emerging three times faster, with equal or even BETTER understanding is a realistic result. Most students will read a full (short) book in their final 3-hour session.

This is for students who have fallen behind. In five days, we review the grammar that is supposed to be taught in five years, but often isn’t taught well or isn’t mastered in elementary grades. Students will appreciate sentence structure, will be able to identify errors on standardized tests, and will be able to better edit their own essays. Students ultimately test their new knowledge in the most rigorous of grammar-identification and grammar-improvements challenges: the SAT. (For composing, see our other offering called “Write On!”).

For the budding business-person. We learn by DOING. In our 16 hours together, we literally take one, two or three business ideas, find the human resources to help get them off the ground, and the internet resources to do marketing and help with fulfillment. Every student becomes an “officer” in the business we create. (Adults become the consultants.) Starting one’s own business, even if unsuccessful, is “the best thing for a college application outside one’s transcript”, according to one consultant. Working on a small business venture is “one of the best things for self-confidence and self esteem that a parent can facilitate for a teenager”. This can be the start to many businesses and many ventures. Laptop computer required for all but the first session.

Our instructors love teaching the art of jewelry making to children and teens in an engaging and age-appropriate way. We begin with basic beading crafts on day one. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and ornamental pins will follow. Our classes focus on using your creative talents to create beautiful handmade pieces of jewelry that will impress your friends and family. All levels welcome. An array of beads and stones to work with are included in the course price. Parents who'd like to see their children create pieces with more expensive gems may bring them separately, or have us procure them in advance. We look forward helping your child create beautiful handmade crafts and jewelry.

Latin provides many building blocks for English proficiency. Students who take full-year courses in Latin have correspondingly higher SAT scores. This course is meant to give students an introduction that’s practical, directing students to modern-day vocabulary based on Latin that impresses teachers and fosters SAT success.

Frisbee has made a revival on college campuses for good reason – teamwork without coaches; competitiveness with few rules, and athletic achievement without the need to be tall or strong. Our week is for the non-athlete who just wants to have fun. We include basic skills, then move up to base-running Frisbee, Frisbee Golf, and Ultimate Frisbee competition. Parents are welcome in the final hour each day.

This introduces the gadgetry that powers our household devices. In our time together we will be making devices, at first collaboratively, then individually. Every participant will build a robot that will clean anyone's bedroom on command. We use the LEGO Mindstorms RCX Robotics Invention System. Learn mechanical design, construction, programming & teamwork skills, using LEGO building elements, motors & sensors. Students build different robots & program them with a computer to move, react & make sounds to solve challenges

This course is dedicated to enhancing teens' appreciation for some classics, and to building their vocabulary along the way. The century-old novels often assigned to students force them to grapple with difficult English to even understand the plot. We make use of annotated novels and short stories. Students can choose from among five classic novels, one of which might be assigned reading in the coming year:
Tale of Two Cities,
Heart of Darkness,
Utopia,
Flatland and
The Awakening.
Students will also be exposed to short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. All along, tough vocabulary when encountered gets absorbed and drilled at the end of each class using a computer program called "Quizlet".

Tame that dreaded college essay! Our time together will help each student brainstorm topics, craft appealing paragraphs, edit effectively and build an accompanying college resume. For students who have already started on their college essays, our instructors give individual time to help them hone these essays and construct the supplemental essays colleges seek. Our workshop includes 2 hours of individual teacher time with each student and students will have additional access to the tutor into the fall application season. One free hour applies for all students and parents may pay for additional time by contacting Ivy Bound.

Join us for this introduction to the gadgetry that powers our household devices. In our fifteen hours we will be making devices, at first collaboratively, then individually. Every participant will build a robot that will clean anyone's bedroom on command. We use the LEGO Mindstorms RCX Robotics Invention System. Learn mechanical design, construction, programming & teamwork skills. In pairs, using LEGO building elements, motors & sensors students build different robots & program them with a computer to move, react & make sounds to solve challenges.

For the budding business-person. We learn by DOING. In our 16 hours together, we literally take one, two or three business ideas, find the human resources to help get them off the ground, and the internet resources to do marketing and help with fulfillment. Every student becomes an “officer” in the business we create. (Adults become the consultants.) Starting one’s own business, even if unsuccessful, is “the best thing for a college application outside one’s transcript”, according to one consultant. Working on a small business venture is “one of the best things for self-confidence and self esteem that a parent can facilitate for a teenager”. This can be the start to many businesses and many ventures. Laptop computer required for all but the first session.