Teacher: Marina Kalinovsky

In the class children will learn how to use different materials (paper, pencil, brushes, acrylic paint) and correctly situate the drawing on paper.  Students will also expand their knowledge about art and painting, and will certainly become acquainted with many works of remarkable artists.

I have been playing chess seriously for 40 years and am the Vice President and 2009 Club Champion of the Staten Island Chess Club. My rating is over 1700 and my correspondence rating is in the 1800’s.

I firmly believe that, with a bit of effort from student and teacher, anyone can become a decent player. When the beginner plays a reasonable game; when the more advanced students grasp the subtle moves that win or lose - that makes the teaching fun for me!

Teacher: Ed Selling

• Young students will learn the rules of chess starting with learning the Pawn Game (just pawns against each other with the goal of being the first one to get a pawn to the other side of the board).

• We will learn how each piece moves and gradually add them to the chessboard with similar small games to learn how to use each piece.

• In addition to the concepts of Win, Lose, and Draw we will learn about Sportsmanship.  Making and keeping friendships while playing is more important than just winning a game!

• We will learn to recognize patterns and how to quietly concentrate.

• Learning how to imagine what will happen in the future on the chessboard and the consequences of our actions.

• We will learn about Check and Checkmate and also Draws.

Chess is a complicated game but can be learned by young students.

The class promotes:

• Logical thinking
• Combinatorial thinking
• Nonstandard thinking
• Imagination
• Fine motor skills

Individual and Group Projects:

• Cities (cities, planes, cars, etc.)
• Egyptian Pyramids
• Castles
• Zoo
• Airport
• Dinosaurs
• Pirates
• Other

Teacher: Victoria Usova

This course includes the following themes (2 classes per theme):

• Prehistoric cage drawings, modelling of animals
• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome
• The Middle Ages
• The Renaissance
• Impressionism
• Abstract Art

Kids will:

• visit prehistoric cages and will try to draw using coal;
• discuss pharaohs and pyramids;
• draw their own Ancient Greek vase;
• build a coliseum;
• visit a castle, draw a portrait of the owners and design a coat of arms;
• roam the little streets of Italy and talk about the great masters of Renaissance;
• draw using dots, as impressionists, and invent their own black (or orange) square;
• model figures out of clay using wire armature;
• analyze the influence of one period on another;
• in play format, get knowledge about varied topics such as composition, color harmony / disharmony, line vs. stroke, proportions.

Teacher: Jenya Frid

This course is for young artists who fell in love with the world of stories and fairytales.

In this class students will:

• Create their own books, as well as several other interesting projects
• Develop imagination, fantasizing and creative thinking
• Experiment using various art techniques and materials
• Magically transform into the favorite fairytale characters

Teacher: Natalya Makarova
Teacher: Yuliya Volchok

Lessons promote natural curiosity, which all kids possess.  Classes will concentrate on:

• Getting to know the world around us
• Development of visual and logical thinking
• Development of attention and visual memory
• Development of imagination
• Development of speech
• Development of mathematical thinking

Next question: where to go sledding on Staten Island?  I have read people naming Clove Lake Park and Silver Lake Park among several other golf courses as their favorites.  Personally, I have found Arthur von Briesen Park to suit all my sledding needs.

Pros: Not crowded (not too many people know about it), all types of hills (from small for the little ones to the bigger and scarier rides for older kids).

Cons: There are some trees (wearing a helmet is always a good idea), fenses at the end of some rides.

Another reason why everybody should keep a sled in the house: it is much more fun to go grocery shopping this way.  Instead of leaving your child at home watching cartoons or taking them to the store just to hear them whine as you are caring heavy bags, consider putting your kid on a sled together with all the heavy load.  They will get the satisfaction of helping you, while getting a sled ride at the same time!