Edison Classes

This post-beginner/intermediate level class is for those with a solid grasp of chess fundamentals. Potential students are expected to already know: chessboard terminology and square identification; how the various pieces move and capture, plus their relative values; pawn promotion; the very crucial concepts of check, checkmate, and stalemate; the special move of castling; opening goals and principles; basic endgame checkmates using major pieces; and last, but not least, good chess etiquette. Potential students unfamiliar with more than a couple of these basic topics would probably be better off enrolling in the AEF/ACC novice/beginner level class, 'Learn How to Play Chess'.

AEF/ACC afterschool chess classes are divided (roughly in half) timewise between instruction and supervised play. Instruction will focus on learning tactics and strategy through the explanation of games and positions from historical players and events, and/or current top-level competitions. The instructor will organize and run an unofficial tournament during the last 4-5 weeks of this level course, with labeled medals as awards for all participants upon completion.

All enrolled students earn and accumulate points towards ACC's Royalty Loyalty Program (RLP) rewards by participating in the instruction half of class and playing with good chess etiquette afterwards. RLP rewards consist of chess-related items, including chess puzzle books and equipment.

With its nearly 1500 years of history, chess is arguably the greatest and most popular board game of all time. Numerous studies have suggested that learning & playing chess at an early age can yield various benefits regarding cognitive skills. Confidence, decision-making, and sportsmanship are other areas of potential improvement. The benefits and enjoyment of chess can last a lifetime!

This novice/beginner level class is for those completely new to the game of chess, and those who may have been introduced at home or elsewhere, but don't have a solid grasp of the fundamentals. This course may even be beneficial for younger students with previous class experience, but who have not fully learned the basics yet. Topics to be covered include: chessboard terminology and square identification; how the various pieces move and capture, plus their relative values; pawn promotion; the very crucial concepts of check, checkmate, and stalemate; the special move of castling; opening goals and principles; basic endgame checkmates using major pieces; and last, but not least, good chess etiquette. Potential students that have a solid foundation and know most, if not all, of the topics listed above, should enroll in the AEF/ACC post-beginner/intermediate level chess class, 'Chess: Beyond the Basics' instead.

AEF/ACC afterschool chess classes are divided (roughly in half) timewise between instruction and supervised play. All enrolled students earn and accumulate points towards ACC's Royalty Loyalty Program (RLP) rewards by participating in the instruction half of class and playing with good chess etiquette afterwards. RLP rewards consist of chess-related items, including chess puzzle books and equipment.

With its nearly 1500 years of history, chess is arguably the greatest and most popular board game of all time. Numerous studies have suggested that learning & playing chess at an early age can yield various benefits regarding cognitive skills. Confidence, decision-making, and sportsmanship are other areas of potential improvement. The benefits and enjoyment of chess can last a lifetime!

Our unique project-based class is designed to allow young students to develop their creative storytelling or game designing abilities, and then gives them the opportunity to bring them to life through Scratch and Python. Students have a blast, create App Store caliber games like Flappy Bird, and learn plenty of professional programming practices, like how to use: Binary operators, Conditional statements, Sequencing, Functions, Variables, Commenting practices and Loops.
Computer, iPad required. Rentals can be provided for a $40 fee.

In this class you'll come up with a topics for short videos, storyboard them to determine what you'll need, and then get creating. Learn how to shoot great video footage to best tell your stories (use our shared class video cameras, or bring in your own). Kids will also learn the basics of video editing, with fun projects such as claymation and stop motion animation.

All the fun happens while we are immersed in Mandarin! Our creative Chinese classes are engaging and educational lessons. We combine Chinese language learning with hands-on activities. We believe in learning language through meaningful content. Our storybooks are not only entertaining, but also serve as an excellent platform to reinforce vocabulary, sentence structure, overall comprehension, and listening skills. The students actively participate in discussions related to the story. Each week we read a theme-based storybook, and do worksheets and activities based on them, like singing songs, acting, playing games, doing arts and crafts, cooking, and writing. The activities are not only incredibly fun but also allow the students to apply their language skills in a practical context. Our students develop lifelong interests in Mandarin Chinese, and continue to show enthusiasm and dedication to learning, which is truly valuable. See April’s programs and testimonials at EnjoyChineseLA.com.

Have fun and be inspired with this adventure in Clay Sculpting! Art can truly provide an outlet for self expression and discovery. In fact, it is well known that an artistic activity like painting can inspire creativity, problem solving and focus into other spheres of life. Early exposure to arts can develop into a lifelong pursuit of joy and well-being. In this new series of classes, Mandar, an award winning artist based in Alameda, will teach some basic skills of clay sculpting using his hands-on approach and one-on-one instruction. He begins all his classes with live demos. He encourages individuality and inspired action. The class will delve into many exciting subjects including simple shapes, fish, animals, birds, superheroes and masks, according to the student's interests. See Mandar’s art and testimonials at www.mandarfineart.com

In this junior robotics course, we use a hands-on approach to STEM discovery. Students learn valuable coding concepts while tapping into their imaginations to create and program robots. Step by step, we build for a variety of cool Lego robots based around a motor and controller. Then, kids use a block based programming language to make their creation come to life! It’s educational, cool, and FUN!

Young innovators will dive headfirst into the exciting world of entrepreneurship. They'll study legendary entrepreneurs of our time, as well as learn about marketing, planning, and finance by participating in fun activities and engaging group exercises. Students will also learn how to turn their awesome ideas into businesses. And the best part? They will get to show off amazing ideas to everyone!

What is a publicly traded company? How do you evaluate a company’s value metrics? What are trends and cycles? How do you buy and sell stock market investments? If these are questions you have asked yourself then this camp is for you. We will go over Stock Market basics and introduce you to the world of investing.

This post-beginner/intermediate level class is for those with a solid grasp of chess fundamentals. Potential students are expected to already know: chessboard terminology and square identification; how the various pieces move and capture, plus their relative values; pawn promotion; the very crucial concepts of check, checkmate, and stalemate; the special move of castling; opening goals and principles; basic endgame checkmates using major pieces; and last, but not least, good chess etiquette. Potential students unfamiliar with more than a couple of these basic topics would probably be better off enrolling in the AEF/ACC novice/beginner level class, 'Learn How to Play Chess'.

AEF/ACC afterschool chess classes are divided (roughly in half) timewise between instruction and supervised play. Instruction will focus on learning tactics and strategy through the explanation of games and positions from historical players and events, and/or current top-level competitions. The instructor will organize and run an unofficial tournament during the last 4-5 weeks of this level course, with labeled medals as awards for all participants upon completion.

All enrolled students earn and accumulate points towards ACC's Royalty Loyalty Program (RLP) rewards by participating in the instruction half of class and playing with good chess etiquette afterwards. RLP rewards consist of chess-related items, including chess puzzle books and equipment.

With its nearly 1500 years of history, chess is arguably the greatest and most popular board game of all time. Numerous studies have suggested that learning & playing chess at an early age can yield various benefits regarding cognitive skills. Confidence, decision-making, and sportsmanship are other areas of potential improvement. The benefits and enjoyment of chess can last a lifetime!

This novice/beginner level class is for those completely new to the game of chess, and those who may have been introduced at home or elsewhere, but don't have a solid grasp of the fundamentals. This course may even be beneficial for younger students with previous class experience, but who have not fully learned the basics yet. Topics to be covered include: chessboard terminology and square identification; how the various pieces move and capture, plus their relative values; pawn promotion; the very crucial concepts of check, checkmate, and stalemate; the special move of castling; opening goals and principles; basic endgame checkmates using major pieces; and last, but not least, good chess etiquette. Potential students that have a solid foundation and know most, if not all, of the topics listed above, should enroll in the AEF/ACC post-beginner/intermediate level chess class, 'Chess: Beyond the Basics' instead.

AEF/ACC afterschool chess classes are divided (roughly in half) timewise between instruction and supervised play. All enrolled students earn and accumulate points towards ACC's Royalty Loyalty Program (RLP) rewards by participating in the instruction half of class and playing with good chess etiquette afterwards. RLP rewards consist of chess-related items, including chess puzzle books and equipment.

With its nearly 1500 years of history, chess is arguably the greatest and most popular board game of all time. Numerous studies have suggested that learning & playing chess at an early age can yield various benefits regarding cognitive skills. Confidence, decision-making, and sportsmanship are other areas of potential improvement. The benefits and enjoyment of chess can last a lifetime!

What connects Alameda to Australia, Antarctica and Alaska? Where did life begin, and where does the largest animal ever to live on earth still live? What is huger than you can imagine, but needs your protection? The ocean is all that and more. Guided by a real oceanographer, we will explore the ocean with stories, art and a lot of hands-on science. Cynthia Cudaback PhD (a.k.a. Dr C) is an Oakland native and UC Berkeley graduate with a deep love for the ocean environment. She has piloted large research vessels across the Pacific Ocean and studied estuarine and coastal areas from Washington State to North Carolina. She has taught students from ages four through 104 about the ocean and its wonderful inhabitants.

What connects Alameda to Australia, Antarctica and Alaska? Where did life begin, and where does the largest animal ever to live on earth still live? What is huger than you can imagine, but needs your protection? The ocean is all that and more. Guided by a real oceanographer, we will explore the ocean with stories, art and a lot of hands-on science. Cynthia Cudaback PhD (a.k.a. Dr C) is an Oakland native and UC Berkeley graduate with a deep love for the ocean environment. She has piloted large research vessels across the Pacific Ocean and studied estuarine and coastal areas from Washington State to North Carolina. She has taught students from ages four through 104 about the ocean and its wonderful inhabitants.

Aloha Ukulele takes students on a musical journey through the beautiful islands of Hawaii. The keiki, meaning “little ones,” will learn how to play songs on their ukulele while also learning the art, language and traditions of Hawaii. In addition to musical activities, students will have the opportunity to create flower lei, bead art, and other creative projects.

Have fun and let creativity flow with this adventure in color class! Art can truly provide an outlet for self expression and discovery. In fact, it is well known that an artistic activity like painting can inspire creativity, problem solving and focus into other spheres of life. Early exposure to arts can develop into a lifelong pursuit of joy and well-being. In this series of classes, Mandar, an award winning artist based in Alameda, will provide an immersion in the key fundamentals of acrylic painting. He will do demos and work with each student on their technique as they paint along, encouraging individuality and creativity. The class will paint many exciting subjects that will focus on capturing the impression. The students will walk out with a finished canvas after every class. See Mandar’s art and testimonials at www.mandarfineart.com

Students discover an excitement for engineering as they design, prototype, and test solutions to real-world challenges with LEGO bricks — building grittiness and problem-solving skills along the way. Each semester features brand-new, progressively challenging levels of a distinct engineering problem. We share class learnings and photos of each student’s creations with families after each class.