Opportunities to get a fuller sense of The Hub's vibe and programming
Our next open house 'sample mini-session" will be scheduled later this year. Please contact us if you would like to be notified.
In the meantime, while our micro-academy terms are in session, interested young people can visit and participate in part of an actual session to see if the program is a good fit for them. Please contact us to arrange that, or to schedule an individual get-acquainted meeting with a facilitator.
Opportunities to learn more about The Hub and its programming
The Hub's founder discusses how parents can direct their children's education with confidence, and how The Hub can fit into that picture for tweens and teens who want a consistent cohort experience too. Full recording here.
The Hub's founder shares tips for how parents can effectively homeschool teens while also doing paid work, and how the arrangement can be managed in ways that meet everyone's key needs. Full recording here.
The Hub's founder and one of The Hub's original micro-academy facilitators discuss The Hub's unique model with four college professors of education (from the University of Kansas, Harvard, Arizona State University and the University of Indiana) on Dr. Yong Zhao's "Silver Lining for Learning" podcast. Full recording here.
The Hub's founder and the micro-academy's co-facilitators discussed The Hub's program, how a participant-driven approach differs from a curriculum-driven approach, how we gauge results, and more. The recording can be viewed on The Hub's Facebook feed. (To get individual questions answered, please send us a message here.)
The micro-academy's co-facilitators share tips and tools they use to encourage participants to take ownership of their learning journeys, and the benefits of doing so. These are things that anyone who is in a position of supporting someone's learning can also put into practice. The recording can be viewed on The Hub's YouTube channel.
The Hub's founder and the micro-academy's co-facilitators discussed The Hub's vision and how it gets put into practice. The recording can be viewed on The Hub's YouTube channel. (To get individual questions answered, please send us a message here.)
An overview of The Hub micro-academy's first term and the plans for next term, presented by The Hub's founder and the two co-facilitators. The recording can be viewed on The Hub's YouTube channel. (To get individual questions answered, please send us a message here.)
The Hub's founder discusses The Hub's unique model on Michael Ostrolenk's "Emergent Human" podcast. Full recording here.
The Hub's founder and the micro-academy's co-facilitators discussed The Hub's vision and the plans to achieve it, starting with the launch of the micro-academy and other programming in Fall 2020. The recording can be viewed on The Hub's Facebook page. (To get individual questions answered, please send us a message here.)
Special opportunities that fall outside our regular academic-year programming
In this highly interactive and creative online camp (which will meet for three half-days that week), participants will work together to create an original, multimedia spin on a historic event of their choice. More details here. (Note: This camp is not taking any more participants.)
Special opportunities that fall outside our regular academic-year programming
Prepare to experience some of the joys of travel during an empowering and interactive crash course focused on opening up the world through online exploration. More details here. (Note: This camp has concluded.)
Prepare to experience some of the joys of travel during an empowering and interactive crash course focused on opening up the world through online exploration. More details here. (Note: This camp has concluded.)
Special opportunities that fall outside our regular academic-year programming
An empowering and interactive group workshop that will guide participants on a journey to discover their own inner heroes and to use creative writing to document what they find. More details here. (Note: This camp has concluded.)
Special opportunities that fall outside our regular academic-year programming
An empowering four-afternoon workshop on making ElectroTins—turning little mint tins into crazy and creative optical illusions using simple circuitry. More details here. (Note: This camp has concluded.)
The greatest adventure is knowing yourself and connecting to the world around you. We invite you to explore and discover new things about yourself and your surroundings, while playing and expressing yourself through movement and art. More details here. (Original artwork by Rudy Van Daele.) (Note: This camp has concluded.)
If your tween or teen is interested in creative storytelling and enjoys group projects, this highly engaging, multi-media storytelling adventure should be their jam.
Using a method called reconstructive storytelling, the camp will take a multidisciplinary, hands-on approach to learning. By exploring history in a collaborative, creative setting, participants will have the opportunity to take on an enjoyable challenge with a group of peers, while also developing practical skills (depending on the chosen storytelling methods and roles, this can include research, organization, teamwork and project management, as well as creative writing, illustration, video production, and public speaking, among others).
For example, in previous iterations of this program theme (which has also been the basis of some Friday Forum programs at The Hub), participants have learned about the history of King Henry VIII through fictional break-up letters addressed to his many wives (among other creations), and about Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds broadcast by producing a video about a modern-day hoax inspired by his.
By learning and retelling a story from the past in our own way as a group, we can make it personal, make it our own, and really connect with it. This is a co-creative program, so each individual is expected to be an active participant in the group, with the expert guidance of dynamic facilitator duo Miró Siegel and Brooklyn Wetzel.
Ages: 10 to 15+
Dates: Monday, July 17, Wednesday, July 19, and Thursday, July 20, 2023 (no formal session on Tuesday, but the Zoom room can be opened for group collaboration on that day, as needed)
Hours: 1 – 4:30pm US Eastern Time (with two breaks; participants can also eat snacks/meals during meeting times if needed, as long as it doesn't interfere with the program)
Cost: $200, with 10% discount for current and past members of The Hub (via enrollment in The Hub's micro-academy), and 10% sibling discount. (Please contact us to inquire about grant money availability if the full cost is prohibitive for your family.)
Day 1 (Monday): Discovery and decision making (story selection, and why is it interesting?) , as well as organization and responsibility (who will be working on which part of the story?)
Day 2 (Tuesday): No formal meeting this day, but participants can do research if desired, and the Zoom room will also be open for collaboration and discussion on the chosen theme, if needed
Day 3 (Wednesday): Work, work, work (collaborative work time, with feedback and sharing of ideas)
Day 4 (Thursday): Finishing touches and presentation
(Note: This camp has concluded.)
If your tween or teen is interested in travel, or would just like to explore the world from the comfort of their home, we invite them to join dynamic facilitator duo Miró Siegel and Brooklyn Wetzel in an engaging crash course focused on opening up the world through online exploration!
Dates: Tuesday, July 19 - Thursday, July 21, 2022
Ages: 10 to 14+
Hours: 1 – 4pm ET (with a 15-minute break)
Cost: $190, with 10% discount for current and past members of The Hub (via enrollment in The Hub's micro-academy), and 10% sibling discount. (Please contact us to inquire about grant money availability if the full cost is prohibitive for your family.)
The facilitators will walk participants through the steps of planning their future travels, including (but not limited to):
Participants will be empowered to take ownership over their experiences by integrating planning, budgeting and general research skills into their toolkit. The camp will culminate with a brief guided trip presentation to other camp participants. So pack your (virtual) bags and get ready to go wherever your heart desires!
(Note: This camp has concluded.)
If your tween or teen is interested in travel, or would just like to explore the world from the comfort of their home, we invite them to join dynamic facilitator duo Miró Siegel and Brooklyn Wetzel in an engaging crash course focused on opening up the world through online exploration!
Dates: Tuesday, June 28 - Thursday, June 30, 2022
Ages: 10 to 14+
Hours: 3 – 6pm ET (with a 15-minute break)
Cost: $190, with 10% sibling discount (please contact us to inquire about grant money availability if the full cost is prohibitive for your family)
The facilitators will walk participants through the steps of planning their future travels, including (but not limited to):
Participants will be empowered to take ownership over their experiences by integrating planning, budgeting and general research skills into their toolkit. The camp will culminate with a brief guided trip presentation to other camp participants. So pack your (virtual) bags and get ready to go wherever your heart desires!
(Note: This camp has concluded.)
The Hub micro-academy's dynamic facilitator duo (Brooklyn Wetzel and Miró Siegel) will be leading this four-session workshop, guiding participants on a journey to discover their own inner heroes, and to use creative writing to document what they find.
Dates: Monday, July 19 - Thursday, July 22, 2021
Ages: 9 to 13
Hours: 1 – 4pm ET (with breaks)
Cost: $240
This camp will focus on the Hero's Journey. In The Hub’s spirit of co-creation, self direction and inquiry, the workshop's direction will be guided in part by the interests of the heroes as we travel together, using elements of the Hero’s Journey as signposts, jumping-off points and places of discussion. The goal is to inspire and support participants as they explore and then choose the journey they personally want to write about. By building a friendly and welcoming social space, we will move beyond what stops us from writing freely, and transform those fears into places of creative potential. Each young person will be supported to find and express the bravery to say "yes" to the “call to adventure” and move forward confidently as a writer.
More concretely, the workshop will encompass the following elements:
(Note: This camp has concluded.)
Learning is an adventure, and the greatest adventure is knowing yourself and connecting to the world around you. We invite you on a shared adventure to explore your most immediate world—your home, back yard, or whatever else you can easily access—to discover new things about yourself and your surroundings. In the company of skilled facilitators and other young explorers, this close-to-home adventure can help you discover hidden treasures that are within you and all around you, and serve as a stepping stone to grander life adventures.
This camp will be guided by two highly experienced facilitators who are passionate about helping young people find hidden resources and live their best lives. In each session, we will play; offer various ways to explore our spaces, individually and jointly, through movement, art, writing, and storytelling; and share our adventures as a group. Rudy will guide you in fun and creative ways to engage your body in space. Svetlana will support you in generating and expressing ideas in your own way (through writing, photography, other art forms, etc.).
The camp will be a unique blend of individual and group online and offline exploration. We will also create a group Miro board (an online community bulletin board) of all the adventures to share and celebrate on our last day of camp.
“The adventure we engage in when we explore our experiences, thoughts, and feelings is significant,” notes Rudy Van Daele. “We find who we are, and we find resources far more powerful than we ever imagined. The next great exploration is in the home, where we find all the support we need. In this camp, we get to know ourselves and develop new friendships; we identify the places in our homes where adventures begin and continue, when we go on them with our friends. This type of exploration helps me understand my past, excites great pleasures in the present, and is the future adventure I wake up to every day.”
"Where in your home is comfort, creativity, and adventure?
What do you do during the day that will become your dream?
Happily rested, close your eyes, and discover your new best self…"
Dates: Monday, August 3 - Thursday, August 6, 2020
Location: Online and offline (your home, back yard, and any other space available for exploration).
Ages: 9 to 12 (and mature enough to meet the requirements listed below); family members are welcome to join for the wrap-up celebration at the end of the final day
Hours: 10a.m. – 1p.m. ET (if a shorter experience is preferred, a child can join for just the first hour or two)
Cost: $220 (there is also a 10% sibling discount). If the camp would be a great fit for your child, but the price is out of reach for your family at this time, please get in touch.
Size: Camp size will be limited to 12, to allow for personal interactions.
Each day will have a flow, while also leaving room for new things to emerge. This is a sample starting point for a day:
10a.m. - 10:50a.m.: Connection
10:50a.m. - 11a.m.: Break
11a.m. - 11:50a.m. Focus – Travel-related stories
11:50a.m. - 12p.m.: Break
12p.m. - 1p.m.: Sharing
"[My daughter] said it's her favorite camp! ... she's excited about tomorrow." -- L.N. (Maryland)
(Note: This camp has concluded.)
Facilitator extraordinaire Gabriel Mellan (former creative director of the Washington, DC-area KID Museum and educator at San Francisco’s Exploratorium; read more about him and his approach here) will be leading a four-day workshop on making ElectroTins—turning little mint tins into crazy and creative optical illusions using simple circuitry.
“Control motor speed and melt minds with wild patterns,” as Gabriel puts it. "This workshop will introduce really basic circuitry concepts to participants, as we design and build small, spinning sculptures. Participants will explore inventive ways of transforming recyclables to house their creations and hide their circuitry. We will experiment with optical illusions and complex patterns attached to the motors in our sculptures."
Dates: Monday, June 29 - Thursday, July 2, 2020
Ages: 9 to 12 (and mature enough to meet the requirements listed below)
Hours: 1:30 – 4pm ET
Cost: This camp is being offered at cost—$145 for the camp program plus $150 for the kit containing materials and tools (many of them reusable for future projects) that will be mailed to you. (Total cost = $295.)
Size: Camp will be limited to eight children
Each morning will open up with a group session, which will include group discovery of components, questions posed to each other, and sharing our discoveries. Gabriel, in his role as the facilitator, will pull together what the participants have discovered into a short introduction of a concept, process, or a way to use a tool.
After the full group discussion, the online workshop will shift into small breakout rooms within the Zoom platform, to allow for one-on-one coaching in 10-to-15-minute segments. Those not in a one-on-one session will work on their projects, draw ideas out, and connect with others in the workshop. Participants can opt to turn their microphone and camera off, but will stay in the group room so that co-learning and support can occur through Zoom’s chat feature.
The last 40 minutes of the workshop will have everyone together as a full group, and will focus on sharing individual struggles and breakthrough moments. Gabriel will then wrap up the day with a seed to think about for the following day.
Required:
Recommended:
Required:
Optional:
Gabriel's answers to some anticipated questions from children (and their parents):
Can I do this?
Because this workshop is focused on building autonomy and agency through hands-on making, it is important that the project is 100% yours. So is the workspace, the mess you make (and we will!), how you clean up, and the mistakes you make. You can ask for help when you need it, but other people can’t do it for you. Parents aren’t allowed to touch your project without asking you either.
You will also need to know how to connect your headphones with your computer, change the audio and video settings in Zoom, and have a workspace that you can keep set up for the whole workshop. You will need your own email account.
We will be using real tools and manipulating materials in unique ways. You will have to slow down, stay organized, and manage your safety.
Is it difficult?
You will have moments of frustration and failure, as well as times to celebrate the struggle and shout out loud because you figured it out.
"This is [my daughter's] first online workshop/camp/class. She loves your class! Thank you." -- S.D. (Maryland)
"[My daughter] is loving it! ... Thank you so much for providing this! It's extremely well run and planned and giving her something I cannot!" -- L.D. (California)