Academic Camps,
Academics Camp,
Board Games Camp,
Camps,
Chess Camp
This activity does not have any upcoming sessions open for registrations on ActivityHero right now. We can send you an email when they do.
Student-Teacher Ratio 6:1
Founding Story: As a parent looking for simply the best math education for my mathematically inclined child, I had my child try every existing offering in the market. However, I found them too rigid, too dry, and lacking the individualized, high-quality teaching I was looking for. Therefore, I left my executive career and started Descartes Learning Club to offer an extremely high-quality math and logic after-school learning experience that I would like my child to have because many more children deserve this to achieve greatness in life.
Our world-class advisors include Lexing Ying, a professor of mathematics at Stanford University, and Xiaomin Chen, a former coach of the Chinese IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) team, which currently ranks #1 worldwide.
Expert Instructors:
- Jacopo, our senior instructor, has a Master’s Degree in Mathematics with a 3.9 GPA and was awarded the 2023 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award from UC Berkeley, where he taught for 12 terms. Previously, Jacopo has also taught elementary school, middle school, and high school students for numerous years, including preparation for various math competitions.
- With an accomplished career as an entrepreneur and business leader, Beatrice holds an MBA degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business and is the Founder & CEO of Descartes Learning Club. Having also taken graduate-level courses in early childhood education, Beatrice has taught many highly popular classes to the students who've taken our math after-school classes.
Topics & Activities:
Students will take engaging math & logic enrichment classes that involve lots of 1:1 guidance due to our 6:1 student-to-instructor ratio and rigorously trained expert instructors (see above), learn to play chess, and develop problem-solving skills by playing various strategy board games while exploring gameplay strategies. They will also enjoy plenty of outdoor recess play at the nearby Chan Kaajal Park and indoor play building Lego, playing strategy board games, or reading.
See details of the deep-dive math topics below. In addition, we will also assign individually calibrated math practice to each student based on their math proficiency levels during these day camps:
For our chess classes, we will use the internationally renowned “Steps Method” developed by Rob Brunia and IM Cor van Wijgerden. IM Cor van Wijgerden also has a background in education but devoted most of his life to chess. He was the national coach of the Dutch women's and youth teams. The “Steps Method” is the official method of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation and is widely used throughout Europe and gaining popularity in the United States.
For our strategy board game sessions, we will not only play the games but also teach students to think strategically and explore different gameplay strategies. Students not only develop critical thinking skills but also practice their ability to communicate their thoughts in a playful environment. The games we will play may include The Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Carcassonne.