Where can we find classes and private lessons?

Class Offerings
Consider these offerings for group learning experiences.

• Homeschool PE is offered at various YMCA branches.  The YMCA Morgan Family Branch on  classes are held Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
  
• Manito Community Center (Metropolitan Park District) offers art and science classes.  The "Have Art Will Travel" program offers to provide an instructor for a group meeting in  your home.  A few friends can split the cost of a few lessons at a reasonable price.
  
• The Tacoma Nature Center (previously Snake Lake Nature Center) will provide customized classes for a group of 10 or more.  Students may collect pond water critters to examine, under microscopes or study their favorite class of animals.   Call 591-6439 to discuss options and prices.They also offer guided tours for groups of 12 or more at $2.50 per person. 
  
• Science Adventures  offers week long outdoor science day camps for young children  at the Tacoma Community College campus each summer.  Call 1-800-213-9796
  
• The Tacoma Youth Symphony Association offers orchestra experience for six levels of ability.  Rehearsals are on Saturdays.; auditions are in August. TYSA also offers "summer camp" at Evergreen State College.
  
• "The Young Bunch" is a  square dancing youth club in the Tacoma area.  The program is for anyone from about 8 to 90, intended to be enjoyed by entire families.  The group is focused on getting the kids dancing, but leaders encourage parents to join in the fun!  Some homeschoolers square dance as  part of their PE program.  It's much more than just PE, though.  Square dancing is living history, a way to meet new friends, and fun for the whole family.  The first three dances are free (open-house).  Dances start October 5th and continue every Tuesday evening (6:30-8:00) thereafter.  The group meets at Ford Middle School (1602 E 104th).   Individual and family rates are available.  For more information, call: Jennie and Mark Sebree at 472-9092.
  
• Point Defiance Zoo   Most of the Zoos offerings are aimed at the very young, but some might fit into a homeschooler's curriculum.   Visit their web site for current offering information.
  
• Tahoma Audubon Society will help your 3rd-6th grade child learn to identify local birds, plants, and insects.  Children use binoculars, bioscope, and identification guides.  Every fourth Thursday, 3:15-4:45 p.m. at the Audubon Center in University Place.  Maximum 15 students/class.  Call Katrina Weihs , 565-9278. 
  
• See also Summer Offerings, below
  

Music Teachers
Serious music teachers who are dedicated to maintaining and developing their skills to best serve their students belong to the Washington State Music Teachers' Association.  WSMTA  has several local chapters, but you have to know a member to find a member.  For those who have no such acquaintance, contact the Tacoma Home Educators' News for current contacts in Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Puyallup.
Teachers usually coordinate their schedules with the school year, so anyone wishing to hire a teacher should be making those arrangements in early summer.  By August,  openings remaining for the coming year may be hard to find.

Science Tutor
If the word "experiment" causes grins in your house, don't miss this.  Teens interested in anything from occasional informal tutoring to a formal science club will be delighted to meet Loren Kelly.  Loren is writing a science text for homeschoolers, and is eager to find subjects for his own experiments: trying out his teaching ideas on students.  Loren writes:

"I am looking for teens who are interested in physics (and other sciences) who might like to try the activities from my book, or who are working with another curriculum and would like to form a class with an experienced teacher.  Right now I am not interested in getting paid for teaching.  I am more interested in simply making contact with homeschoolers who are seriously interested in science…to learn what kinds of texts they like, whether they do enough lab work, what their career interests are…"

While willing to tutor or advise any homeschooler interested in science, Loren is primarily  seeking students to work through his half-year physics program. The course is lab based:  theory is learned hands-on.  Students need to be seriously interested (the course isn't easy) and need to have previously studied algebra and geometry.  They also need to be responsible: Loren requires a substantial deposit to ensure not only safe return of his materials but also completion of his course so he will get the feedback he needs. 
Loren has a bachelor degree in physics and a masters degree in teaching.  He taught physics and chemistry in Maple Valley for two years.  Now, he occasionally teaches and tutors homeschoolers while staying home to raise his children and work on his book.  He may be reached at 761-9411, or write him at 4110 6^th Ave., 98406.
Summer Offerings
Metropolitan Park District offers art and science activities; watch for flyers.

Miracle Ranch, ministry of CRISTA, (360)697-1212
WHO:  grades 1-5 or 6-8 day camp $187;  grades 3-12 camps $345 + options
WHAT:  horsemanship, go-karts ($10/ride), arts & crafts, batting cages, archery, concerts, aqua jump, rodeo, rocketry,  canoeing/boating, sports, sailboards, campfires...
WHERE:  On Horseshoe Lake, north of Gig Harbor and south of Bremerton.   Day  Campers travel by van from TCC transit station.

WHY:  "to help youth begin and grow in a personal relationship with God."
Tacoma Public Schools Enroll at Central Admin. Bldg., 4th floor in early June for these classes.
  Foreign Language Immersion (choose from 6 languages) for 4th - 8th graders July 12-July 29; Cost is $95.
  Tumbling, Rope Skipping, Unicycles, etc. information won't be available for another week.
Science Adventures offers day camps for K-6th grade at Tacoma Community College.  (Call 1-800-213-9796)
YMCA
  Fit For Fun classes lasting from 9:00 am - 12:15 pm Monday-Friday for ages 5-12.
  Gymnastics for  ages 6 - 14;   Basketball clinics, games, training for grades 3-12
  Soccer for ages 5-14;    Racquetball and Tennis for ages 9 - 12
  Chess for ages 6 - adult;   Weight/Circuit Training for ages 11 -1 4

Camp McCullough, ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Tacoma, (253)272-3286
WHO:  grades K-2 day camp $130; Grades 3-5, 6-8 or 9-12, $235.
WHAT:  40 wooded acres and 900 feet of lake front, cedar cabins with bunk beds and showers, canoeing, sailing, swimming, archery, arts & crafts, great speakers, loving staff. 
WHERE:  On Pipe Lake, east of Kent and in the new town of Covington.  Travel by bus from the church.

WHY:  "to provide all with an opportunity for a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and for real growth in understanding God's Word."