SAT 2 PM  • In Person

Jump into Our Roaring Time Machine

A Time Travel Story Workshop

For Ages 8-11

Peter Herrmann of unsplash

Taught by Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho

Saturdays, 2pm - 3pm

Mountain View Library Study Room

January 24  – March 28, 2026

(9 sessions, No Class Feb. 21)

Minimum 2 students 

Maximum 5 students

Tuition: 

2 Students: $765 per student

3-5 Students: $720 per student

(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)

Imagine meeting Cleopatra, shaking hands with Martians, and taming a T-Rex. All three would be amazing, first-hand encounters if we could travel through time!

For anyone who has been intrigued by our mysterious past or the potential to explore our technological future, this workshop is the perfect opportunity to discover a fantastic world. 

We invite students to experiment with their imagination and ideas through writing and illustrating their own adventure tales.

We’ll provide a highly interactive, playful environment to inspire students to brainstorm ideas and create their own stories of time travel, historical fiction, science fiction, or anything in between. 

Our workshops will walk through every step of the writing process:

• understanding the structure and the power of a compelling story

• embedding historical or scientific details and facts

• 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.

For questions or to register, please contact Shu-Hsien at: 

[email protected]

WED 8:30 AM • Online

 Young Entrepreneurs

A Peek into the World of Business

For Ages 10-13 

Lilian Do Khac of unsplash

Taught by Writing Coach Royd Hatta

Wednesdays 8:30am-9:30am

January 14 – March 25, 2026

(10 sessions, No Class Feb. 18)

Minimum 4 students 

Maximum 9 students

Tuition: 

4 Students: $585 per student

5-9 Students: $545 per student

(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)

Do you have a favorite product or a company you admire?

In this course we'll be investigating the promise and problems of businesses, companies, and entrepreneurship. We'll see what It takes to survive and succeed!

For the first half of the course, each student will choose a company to study.

We’ll look into how these businesses found ways to tap into their creativity, consult their customers, and make critical choices to navigate towards sustainable success.

We'll ask questions like:

• How did a company like IKEA begin? 

• Who are their ideal customers?  And what made them so successful?

• What techniques do they employ to ensure customers return for more?

• And most importantly, what can we learn from their failures?

For the second half of the course, we'll brainstorm potential home-based businesses that students can test & develop with support from family. 

We'll invite guest teen entrepreneurs to share their experiences. On the final day of class, students will present their One-Page Business Plans.

Readings may include excerpts from:

• Dirtbag Billionaire by David Gelles (Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard)

• Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur

Lessons will include:

• Highly interactive, hands-on brainstorming exercises to inspire curiosity

• Opportunities to apply newly learned skills and concepts to real world scenarios

• A step-by-step process for developing the following skills: planning, doing research, interviewing, organizing notes, thinking critically, problem-solving, writing & revising

Dear Parents,

This course will encourage students to visit libraries, explore museums, take field trips, and/or contact local experts to gather information.

Thanks in advance for your support from home!

For questions or to register, please contact:

[email protected]

WED 10 AM • Online

Independent Projects for Tweens

A Deep Dive into Curiosity

For Ages 10-13

Taught by Writing Coach Royd Hatta

TC Photography from unsplash

WEDNESDAYS 10 AM - 11 AM • Pacific Time 

January 7 - March 18, 2026

(No classes week of Feb. 18)

10 Lessons

Tuition:

3 students:  $600 per student

4-8 students: $550 per student

(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)

Have you ever wondered what a voyage to Mars would really be like?

What would be required to survive the trip and the stay?

Or how do artists create a graphic novel from start to finish?

This Independent Research Project encourages students to explore a specific question or topic that intrigues them.

They’ll learn concrete steps for exploring their chosen field’s world and write a research paper to share with our community.

Past projects have included:

• the science behind cryptocurrencies

• how to save California sea otters

• where to find a T. Rex skull

• the use of mindfulness among athletes

• marketing tools for selling a game app

• Verdi and the amazing orphans he taught to play violin

• and the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans.

All topics are welcome. Students will share their readings on the last day of class.

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]

WED 1 PM • In Person

 Independent Projects for Teens

A Deep Dive into Curiosity

For Ages 12-16

Taught by Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho

Hosted by Parent Katrina O. in her Palo Alto home

NASA Hubble Space Telescope at unsplash

WEDNESDAYS 1 PM - 2 PM Pacific Time 

January 14 – March 18, 2026 

(No class Feb. 18)

9 lessons

Tuition:

6 students:  $550 per student

7-9 students: $500 per student

(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)

Have you ever wondered what a voyage to Mars would really be like?

Or how monarch butterflies survive their long-distance migration to Mexico?    

Or, what the steps are for creating a graphic novel from start to finish?

This Independent Project course is a space where students can explore a specific question or topic that intrigues them.

They'll learn concrete steps for digging into the research and creating a story or essay.

Past projects have included the science behind cryptocurrency, how to save endangered California sea otters, and ocean mining for valuable minerals for electric vehicles. 

All topics are welcome. Students will share their readings on the last day of class.

We invite you to join us on this special journey!

Lessons will include:

• Highly interactive, hands-on brainstorming exercises to inspire curiosity

• Opportunities to apply newly learned skills and concepts to real world scenarios

• A step-by-step process for developing the following skills: planning, doing research, interviewing, organizing notes, thinking critically, problem-solving, writing & revising

Dear Parents,

This course will encourage students to visit libraries, explore museums, take field trips, and/or contact local experts to gather information.

Thanks in advance for your support from home.

To register, please contact Shu-Hsien at:  [email protected]

WED 10AM • Online

American Voices:

A Comparative Literature Course

& Writing for Depth 

for High School

for High School Students

 Ages 14-18 (Grades 10-12)

Taught by Writing Coach Shu-Hsien Ho

By Dev Benjamin of Usplash

WEDNESDAYS 10 AM - 11 AM 

Pacific Time

January 14 - March 25, 2026

10 Lessons (No Class Feb. 18)

Tuition:

2 students:  $800 per student

3-8 students: $650 per student

(Includes lesson prep, 1:1 sessions, and detailed feedback on written assignments.)

What does it mean to be "American"?

How do family history, race, culture/ethnicity, religion, gender, and lived experience inform our worldviews?

How do we see ourselves and each other?

Whether immigrant, migrant, or born within the borders of the current United States, each person will respond with a unique reply. This question of identity has perhaps always been part of the human search for belonging and community. 

This course will ask students to read, discuss, and compare both short and longer works by contemporary American poets and authors from the 1900s to present day.

Readings will be selected from the following:

Poems, Short Stories, Novels & History-Based Sources:

• Poetry by Joy Harjo, Juan Felipe Herrera, Langston Hughes, Amanda Gorman, Lee Herrick, Mary Oliver et al.

• "Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu (Magical realism short story about a boy's relationship with his immigrant mother.)

• "The Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan (A short story about a Chinese American girl who discovers the world of chess.)

• James by Percival Everett (The character Jim from Huckleberry Finn becomes the protagonist in this insightful novel about the different languages he uses to survive and save his family.)

• West of Kabul, East of New York by Tamim Ansary (A memoir that is both a response to the 9/11 attacks and a window into Afghan history, culture, and family life before the author moved to the U.S.) 

• Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (Memoir based on the author's family's experience of a Japanese internment camp during WWII.)

• The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (A novel that weaves the journeys of Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters as they navigate their lives in the U.S.)

Students are welcome to suggest other essays, articles, and titles for class readings and discussion.

Assignments will include:

• Short journal responses to readings

• Detailed annotations of readings

• 2 literary analysis papers (4-6 pages in length)

To register, please contact Shu-Hsien at: 

[email protected].