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Writing Coaches
Shu-Hsien & Royd
Fall 2024 Classes
The following classes are currently available for enrollment.
Please note that we also teach small private classes that are not listed here.
If the offerings below do not fit your schedule, feel free to email us, and perhaps we can find a class for your young writer.
To register, please send an email to [email protected].
Please provide:
- The title of the course
- Your child's name
- Your child's age as of September 5th
- A daytime phone number for us to reach you.
Either Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho or Royd Hatta will respond as soon as possible.
For the safety of all, we recommend masks during our in-person sessions.
The classes offered below are ordered by age.
Ages 8-11
Magic & Mayhem
MON 1 pm - 2pm
(Currently Full)
An In-Person Adventure Story Workshop
For Ages 8-11 (Rising 3rd-6th Graders)
Taught by Writing Coaches Shu-Hsien Ho & Royd Hatta
Isaac Sloman from unsplash
MON 1 PM - 2 PM Pacific Time
SEPT 16 - DEC 9, 2024 (10 lessons)
Palo Alto CA: Hosted by Parent Roberta P. in her backyard
Minimum 5 students
Maximum 10 students
Tuition:
5 students: $460 per student
6-10 students: $415 per student
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, detailed feedback on written assignments & travel fee.)
In stories, when a hero chases a villain off a crumbling cliff, the hero falls and grabs a tree branch growing from the edge! Yikes. That’s what we call mayhem!
Now, it’s up to us to create magic. Does our hero have the ability to float or fly? Or do they use the “magic” of their mind to think of clever ways to escape without harm? Either way, our hero is pushed to learn something new and to harness this power to make the world peaceful again.
This roller coaster experience is exactly what we love as readers. Stories allow us to be transported into the shoes of our hero, so that we can safely follow great adventures full of mayhem while curled up in a cozy nook.
This course will ask students to develop their own stories as we share the dips and dives of a story map and all the steps for the creative process:
- brainstorming & choosing ideas
- developing characters & plots
- organizing
- writing first drafts
- revising
- editing for clarity
Students will be invited to read an excerpt of their stories on the last day of class.
Join us in our Magic & Mayhem Story Workshop to create a world where everything is possible!
To register, please contact Royd at: [email protected]
Globetrotter News
WED 10 AM - NEW DAY & TIME!
Strange Stories from A Strange Planet
A Fun Entry into Nonfiction Essay Writing
An Online (Zoom) Workshop
For Children Ages 8-10 (Rising 3rd-5th Graders)
Taught by Writing Coach Royd Hatta
Angel Sanchez from unsplash
Sept. 11 – Nov. 13, 2024 (10 lessons)
WEDNESDAY 10 AM - 11 AM Pacific Time
Minimum 3 students
Maximum 8 students
Tuition:
3 students: $460 per student
4-8 students: $410 per student
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)
Did you know that glow-in-the-dark dolphins were recently seen leaping through the waters off the Southern California coast?
Have you heard about how Australian scientists discovered a 150-foot-long silly-string-shaped creature in a deep sea canyon?
Believe it or not, these are true, recent events found in the news!
In this workshop, students will be invited to become reporters who share exciting events based on surprising facts, numbers, colorful details, and interviews with experts.
We’ll begin with made-up news stories as a way to understand how to build fact-based articles. Along the way, we'll introduce a fun visual game for understanding the structure of a news story. Next, we'll guide students to develop their own nonfiction articles and essays.
As always, we'll walk through all steps in the creative process:
- generating and choosing ideas
- organizing facts and details
- writing with momentum
- revising for clarity and logic
- editing toward a final draft
Each student will be invited to present a reading on the last day of class.
To register, please contact Royd at: [email protected]
Ages 11-13
WED 8:30 AM • Becoming Story Detectives
An Online Introduction to Literary Analysis & Essay Writing
For Ages 11-13 (Rising 6th - 8th Graders)
Taught by Writing Coach Royd Hatta
SEPT 11 - NOV 13, 2024 (10 lessons)
Wednesdays, 8:30am-9:30am Pacific Time
Minimum 6 students
Maximum 10 students
Tuition:
6 Students: $465 per student
7-10 Students: $425 per student
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)
The best novels and short stories can “Make us Care” and encourage us to question our humanity.
This course will examine the inner workings of a story (and to us, everything is a story) through the eyes of a reader-detective.
We’ll immerse ourselves in short stories that resonate long after we’ve experienced them.
Through key literary devices, we'll illuminate their hidden meanings, pull apart their shocking endings, and develop a keen ear for their epiphanies.
These critical thinking tools are essential for mastering academic essays and literary analysis in particular. As always, we'll provide an essay structure and break down the thinking and writing into small steps.
Our readings will be chosen from this list:
Short Stories:
- "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu (fantasy short story that won the Hugo & Nebula Awards)
- "All Summer in A Day" by Ray Bradbury (science fiction set on Venus)
- "The Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan (an unexpected chess and family story)
- "The Lady or the Tiger" by Frank R. Stockton (a classic with a mystery ending)
- "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst (a beautiful and heart-wrenching story of two young brothers)
We'll read one of the following novels:
The Giver by Lois Lowry (Futuristic story about a boy who begins to question his society and its rules when he is selected to become the next Receiver of Memory.)
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (Two teen boys fight for their lives and run out of town. They discover that their lives can be so much more than what they grew up believing.)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (An animal fable and warning that reveals how language can be manipulated for the purpose of absolute power.)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (A black family struggles to keep the land that they own in the face of racism in Depression Era Mississippi.)
Writing assignments will include:
- Short journal entries
- Response-to-literature paragraphs
- First draft essays & revisions
To register, please contact Royd at: [email protected]
John McMahon from unsplash
Micha Parzuchowski at unsplash
Ages 12-14
THURS 11AM • Utopian vs. Dystopian Worlds
An In-Person Science Fiction Literature & Writing Course for Ages 12-14
Taught by Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho
Sunnyvale CA: Hosted by Parent Danielle R. in her backyard
SEPT 5 - NOV 7, 2024 (10 Lessons)
Thursdays 11am-12pm PST
Minimum 5 students
Maximum 10 students
Tuition:
5 Students: $460 per student
6-10 students: $415 per student
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, detailed feedback on written assignments & travel fee.)
Readings will include:
• Short Stories by Ursula Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, etc.
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry's famous futuristic novel, The Giver, presents a utopian society where everything is provided to Jonas and his community. They take care of their elders, their children, and their families. They have food, healthcare, education, and jobs for everyone. In fact, they live without pain or war. However, when Jonas is selected for the special role of the Receiver of Memories, he begins to question the decisions of the leaders.
This novel reflects a major theme and debate in science fiction: What represents an ideal society? Can humanity discover a peaceful solution to living together?
This course will explore literary analysis through weekly readings and thought-provoking, lively group discussions. We'll use a Socratic seminar approach to ask deeper questions and develop critical thinking and writing skills.
Students will write journal entries and short thought pieces as a way to digest and outline their ideas before sharing them in class.
The final assignment will ask students to address major themes and symbols in a literary analysis essay.
As always, we'll chunk down the thinking, organizing and writing into doable steps.
To register, please contact Royd at: [email protected]
Marc Olivier Jodoin of unsplash
Donald Teel of unsplash
High School (Ages 14-18)
Thieves, Tricksters & Tribes
WED 10 AM
High School Fiction Writing
An Online (Zoom) Workshop
For Grades 9-12
Taught by Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho
Jeremy Hynes from unsplash
SEPT 18 - NOV 20, 2024 (10 lessons)
WEDNESDAY 10 AM - 11 AM Pacific Time
Minimum 2 students
Maximum 8 students
Tuition:
2 students: $585 per student
3-8 students: $550 per student
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)
"In a family of thieves, the one who does not steal
feels like an outcast, guilty for choosing a different path."
Indeed, the intense human need to belong, to be part of a tribe, is as old as the beginning of time. Hence, a central question in stories is "What will the hero choose in the end?" To be pulled by the bonds of blood and loyalty or to break free and seek another destiny?
In this workshop, we'll explore the deeper motivations of our heroes to create compelling, dynamic stories. We'll draw from concepts in the fields of psychology and sociology, as well as the insights and tools of seasoned writers such as Brandon Sanderson, Amy Tan, and Stephen King. We'll encourage students to attend local, live author events, and if available, bring a guest author to a Zoom session.
Students will be invited to develop fictional characters with complex backstories that drive them forward into their mishaps and adventures. Writers of all skill levels and genres (fantasy, science fiction, mystery, realistic fiction, comedy, historical novels included) are welcome.
Our classes will provide:
- Brainstorming exercises
- Tips for building internal & external character arcs
- Exercises for creating immersive settings
- Tools for addressing plot structure
- Suggestions with working through writer's block
- Lively discussions on selected novel excerpts & short stories
- Time for actual writing
To register, please contact Shu-Hsien at [email protected] or