Saturday
SATURDAY ENRICHMENT PROGRAM SPRING 2012!
Math and Writing Classes
Important Dates
MARCH 12: REGISTRATION BEGINS APPLY NOW!
MARCH 31: CLASSES BEGIN
MAY 26: LAST DAY OF CLASSES
Registration for Spring 2012 will open on March 12, 2012 at 8 am. Click here to apply.
The Robinson Center will be offering both mathematics and writing courses for young students in March. These classes are intended to provide intellectually ambitious students with challenge, inspiration, and fun, in a collaborative, supportive learning environment. The math classes are not intended to move students ahead in the standard curriculum but rather to explore areas of math not usually covered in the K-12 classroom. Our writing classes focus on expanding students’ writing and editing skills but also on creative expression across genres.
Please find more information on our classes and instructors here.
Tuition is $250 for our 50 minute classes and $450 for our 100 minute classes.
Limited financial assistance is now available for Saturday classes. Students who receive Free or Reduced Lunch in their school district may receive reduced tuition. Please find more information on the federal income eligibility guidelines for free and reduced price lunch here.
Class are subject to cancellation due to low enrollment. A complete refund will be made if the class is canceled by the Robinson Center.
Spring Courses
Grades K-1 and Parents
Nurturing the Math Instinct: A Parent-Child Adventure in Mathematics
We are all born with the capacity to love mathematics. This class explores how to cultivate a child’s innate interest in mathematics by creating a culture of mathematics at home. Through puzzles and games that capture the quality of play in math, we’ll learn how to think creatively, support each other, and keep the spark of joy alive and well in our mathematical lives.
This class is designed to engage both kids and parents. Each child will register and attend with one or two parents, and the classes will be divided between discussions with the parents about how to encourage their child’s interest in mathematics, and time spent learning new games and puzzles that can be played at home.
Time: 10:00-10:50 am Instructor: Katherine Cook
Grades K-1
Games, Puzzles, and Play
In this course, we will explore games and puzzles, both new and old, that tap into mathematical ways of thinking. The emphasis will be on creative play and adapting games and puzzles to players’ interests. We will play group games, ask questions, play with ideas, and have fun!
Time: 11:00-11:50 am Instructor: Katherine Cook
Grades 2-3
Hip to be Square
The square numbers (1, 4, 9, 16, 25, …) are one of the most amazing sequences in mathematics. In this class, we’ll explore puzzles and problems related to squares and square numbers, from extraordinary geometric constructions (how can you double a square?) to arithmetic astonishments (why is 1+2+3+4+3+2+1 = 4 x 4 = 1+3+5+7?).
By the end, we’ll have laid down many of the fundamentals of area, scaling, and number patterns, and gotten a glimpse of the beautiful interplay between geometry and arithmetic.
Times: Section A: 10:00-10:50 am Section B: 11:00-11:50 am Instructor: Daniel Finkel
Grades 4-5
Building a Story from the Ground Up
Whether you’re an experienced storywriter or trying out fiction for the first time, this class will take you through the process of writing and revising a longer story. We’ll start by practicing foundational skills for developing characters, plot, setting, and dialogue. Then, you’ll brainstorm story ideas, outline a plot structure, and draft your story using everything you’ve learned. Once your story is drafted, you’ll work on revising and polishing it. Along the way, feedback from your peers and the instructor will challenge you to take your story—and your writing in general—to the next level. You will be welcome (but not required) to take your story home in case inspiration strikes during the week. During the last two sessions, we’ll hold class readings and each student will have the chance to share a favorite portion of their story with classmates and parents.
Time: 12:30-1:20 pm Instructor: Chelsea Jennings
Games and Strategy
Games are everywhere. We love to play them and we love to win, but we don’t always know how to win. In this class, we’ll use mathematical insights to deconstruct a range of games and puzzles. We’ll learn new games, play them in class, and then develop different strategies that help us master them. Bring your enthusiasm for play!
Times: Section A: Girls Only, 12:30-1:20 pm Section B: 1:30-2:20 pm Section C: 2:30-3:20 pm Instructor: Katherine Cook
Grades 6-8
Innovative Essays: Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Creative nonfiction essays present true information in innovative, exciting, unpredictable ways. In this class, we’ll use published creative nonfiction as the basis for our own literary experiments. We’ll write essays that are stories, lists, and instructions; that are based in observation, memory, and research; and essays that find their own form during the writing process. The primary focus of the class will be writing essays that captivate your reader, so audience awareness will be one of the main skills we practice. You’ll have the chance to be the audience for your peers’ work as well as the chance to hear how your peers and the instructor respond to your work. You’ll also have the chance to take your essays home to work on them during the week if you choose. At the end of the course, we’ll dedicate one class session to a reading during which each student will share a favorite brief essay or portion of a longer essay with classmates and parents. In the final session, we’ll work collaboratively to create an online class anthology.
Time: 1:30 – 3:20 pm (100 minute class) Instructor: Chelsea Jennings
Counting for Experts
Counting is at the heart of mathematics, and advanced counting (or combinatorics) is the place to find some of the most elegant and powerful problems in mathematics. In this class, we’ll learn how experts count. Topics include:
- Double Counting
- Permutations and Combinations
- Pascal’s Triangle
- Fibonacci Numbers
- The Pigeonhole Principle
By the end of the class, we’ll be able to prove that two people in New York have the same number of hairs on their head, that there are more games of chess than particles in the known universe, and why two powers of 10 must differ by a multiple of 2012.
Some exposure to algebra is recommended.
Times: Section A: 12:30-1:20 pm Section B: 1:30-2:20 pm Instructor: Daniel Finkel
Grades 9-11
High School Combinatorics
In this project- and presentation-centric class, students will pose and solve tough mathematical questions from combinatorics, or advanced counting. We’ll start with fundamentals of the subject–permutations and combinations, Pascal’s triangle, and the pigeonhole principle–and branch into beautiful examples of recursion and elegant counting. Potential topics include the towers of Hanoi, generating functions and partitions, Fibonacci numbers and the golden mean, and more.
This class will challenge the most advanced high school students, but will be accessible to any student with a firm grasp of algebra and an interest in math.
Time: 2:30 – 3:20 pm Instructor: Dan FinkelNote from Winter 2012
January 14th’s 1:30 and 2:30 classes were cancelled due to weather. The make-up session for the How to Count classes, Exploring Essays, and Geometry of Reflection will be Saturday, March 24.