Fall 2026 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 1
• 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 winter sessions.
Protest and Pursuit:
The Ongoing Search for Equality
An In-Person Literary Analysis & Writing Course for Ages 11-14
Taught by Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho
(No session on Oct. 13)
Sorry, this course is full!
Location: Palo Alto Home
Hosted by Parent Katrina O.
This course will bring U.S. civil rights history to life through the lenses of a graphic novel and a fictional family story.
Our group discussions will be based on the following readings:
MARCH: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell is a graphic novel memoir from the point of view of Georgia’s long-time Congressman John Lewis, who passed away in 2020. This first book in the series shows his childhood and his early non-violent activism during the 1950s and 1960s. He was an organizer of sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and brought the attention of inequality for all Americans to see.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor, is a modern classic based on the author’s father’s experience in the South during the Great Depression. Through strong-willed Cassie Logan’s eyes, we see her and her family’s struggle to keep their land and their family together in spite of the rampant racism in their schools, their community, and even the internalized racism exhibited in a close friend.
We'll discuss and debate the forces behind the continual struggle for equal rights and political representation in American society.
Students will develop their critical thinking skills while learning concrete tools for writing literary analysis essays. As always, we'll provide an essay structure and break down the thinking and writing into small steps. This course is ideal for beginning and intermediate level essay writers.
Writing assignments will include:
- Short journal entries
- Response-to-literature paragraphs
- First draft essays & revisions
To register, please contact:
[email protected]
March Book One - John Lewis Graphic Novel Biography
The Movie in Our Mind: Story Writing for the Visual Learner
An In-Person Workshop for Ages 11-14
Taught by Writing Coach Royd Hatta
- Pixar Films
- Disney Animated Films
- Studio Ghibli animated films
- Short Films
- Black & White Classics
- To Kill A Mockingbird
- The Bicycle Thief
Students will have an opportunity to read an excerpt of their story on the last day of class.
- journal entries
- short reviews of films
- short stories
- longer response essays
Jakob Owens at unsplash
Innes Kopu at unsplash
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)
Throughout our workshop, students will learn various essay structures to fluidly develop their own essays.
This nonfiction workshop will tap into the curiosity, wonder, and imagination of students.
The goal will be to create essays with a clear path and to write with greater ease.
We'll practice capturing our readers' attention with strange facts and compelling stories to drive a point home.
We’ll begin with made-up news stories (“Scientist Discovers a Strange New Species”) as a way to understand how to build fact-based articles. Next, we'll continue with silly and lyrical Persuasive Essays.
From the middle of the course to the end, we'll address real topics of interest with a focus on analysis.
We'll cover:
- News Articles/Essays (Silly & Serious Versions)
- Personal Essays (Silly & Serious Versions)
- Persuasive Essays (Silly & Serious Versions)
Each student will be invited to present a reading on the last day of class.
To register, please contact:
[email protected]
pexels: Jean-Paul Wettstei
Art by Renee Kwan
Minimum 4 students
(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)
Fierce birds, mythical snow tigers, and fire-breathing…rabbits!
We’ve all read amazing legends about unusual creatures, both real and imagined, that sparked our imagination.
This fall, we’re offering a story workshop that’s all about incredible animals and their special worlds.
This workshop is the perfect place for your young writers to start or continue their stories!
To register, please contact:
[email protected]
pexels: Jean-Paul Wettstei
Art by Renee Kwan
Minimum 4 students
(Includes detailed feedback for essay drafts, 1:1 coaching, lesson prep & travel fee.)
Do humans need enemies or a sense of competition to discover themselves? Is conflict a necessary element in society to grow?
This course explores critical thinking tools to analyze famous stories often taught in high school.
We will discuss the role of power, hierarchy, and the lens of competing stories that drive conflicts to their “final” end.
Students will write a literary analysis essay in response to the readings.
Note that one reading may focus on The Outsiders.
Even if you or your young writer has read The Outsiders, this class will show our methods for critical thinking and writing with depth.
Readings may include:
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- Or another novel decided by the group.
Short Stories:
- “Thank you, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
- "The Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan
- “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- “The White Umbrella” by Jish Gen
- “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
- “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury
- “The Moustache” by Robert Cormier
- "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
To register, please contact:
[email protected]
Art by R Kwan
Includes lesson prep, detailed feedback on written assignments, 1:1 coaching, and travel fee.
Imagine facing thousands of flying monkeys as they send bolts of lightning towards you and your towering castle keep. Luckily, your long-bearded mentor has a solution. He teaches you the ancient song of the Galaxy Cat, the only noise that will raise the winged-cow from her sleep and defend those who know this song!
This workshop will invite students to develop unique heroes, mentors, and tricksters, as they delve deep into the adventures, struggles, and unexpected solutions of their story worlds. We will introduce the Hero’s Journey, the hidden, underlying structure that permeates all stories.
Throughout the course, we’ll provide a highly interactive, playful environment to inspire students to create their own tales of fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, science fiction, or anything in between.
This course will walk through all steps of the creative process:
- understanding the structure and the power of a compelling story
- integrating colorful details and action
- generating and organizing ideas
- writing with momentum
- revising for clarity and logic
- editing towards a final draft
Each student will be invited to present a reading on the last day of class.
To register, please contact:
[email protected]
pexels: Jean-Paul Wettstei
Art by Renee Kwan