Classes

2024 Spring Session

NLLC is not a drop off program, but an opportunity to create a community for your whole homeschooling family.

2024 Spring Session Important Dates

  • Friday February 23rd- Class Submissions Due

  • Wednesday March 13th – Class Leaders Early Register.

  • Friday March 15th – Open Class Registration for membership.

  • Friday March 29th – First Day of Spring Classes

  • Friday May 17th – Last Day of Spring Classes

Grey: All are Welcome, Yellow: 3ish-5ish, Pink: 7ish-9ish, Blue: 9ish and up, Green: Communal Activities​. ​ Hiking Club and NL FUN-CHESTRA will be outside the Friday Meetings

Already a Member? Know what classes you want to sign up for? Register for classes through the Member’s Portal.

If the cost is a barrier to becoming a NLLC member or attending classes, apply for a scholarship. 

2024 Spring Classes

ClassesTimeAgesRoom
A is for Art!10:30-11:257 + Adult Participant WelcomeRoom A
Acting for Film1:30-2:259+Ping Pong Room
Book Buddy Explorers11:30-12:25AllLunch Room
Comedy Improv Club11:30-12:259-13Ping Pong Lounge
Ethobotany: Gift of the Plants1:30-2:309+Lunch Room
Hiking Club1:00Alloff site
Ithaca B-Ball Training Sessions11:30-12:259+Gym
Mechanical Wrestling Robots 7-1110:30-11:257-11Lunch Room
Mechanical Wrestling Robots 11-159:30-10:2511-15Lunch Room
Morning Singing 9:00-9:25All Gym
Navigation on Land and Sea10:30-11:259+ Adult Participant WelcomeRoom B
Reading Between the Lines10:30-11:259+Ping Pong Lounge
Social Justice Murals9:30-10:257-13 Adult Participant WelcomePing Pong Lounge
Sports for Littles9:30-10:253-5Gym
Swing Dancing10:30-11:257+ Adult Participant WelcomeGym
The Art of Math11:30-12:259-13Room A
Who Speaks for the Trees?9:30-10:259-13Room B
NL Fun-chestraTBA7+TBA

2024 Spring Session Classes

These are the class offerings for the Spring Session.

 
 

Morning Singing

Ages: Open to all
Time: 9:00-9:30
Room: Gym
Max. Students: All are Welcome

We will start off each Friday morning with an open singing class led by Jay Leeming. Jay is a guitarist and songwriter who has made many different kinds of music over the last thirty years, and he will lead everyone in easy yet interesting songs from around the world. This will be a judgment-free zone where we can all play with sound together. Come join us!

Class leader: Jay


Acting for Film

Ages: 9+
Time: 1:30-2:25
Room: Gym
Max. Students: 12
Material Fee: $5.00

Each week we’ll learn new acting techniques to apply toward a filmed project. The project will be a series of connected scenes that we will devise in class together. As the actors tackle scene work, character study, and line memorization, they also expand their emotional vocabularies, deepen their abilities to empathize and learn to communicate more clearly. Students will leave the class with a basic understanding of acting on camera, and a digital copy of everything we film in class!

The ideal student is one who can read aloud comfortably, has interest in the performing arts, and is passionate about supporting fellow classmates in a safe space.

There will be lots of handouts (scripts, etc) that participants will want to bring with them every week. Please bring a folder or binder that can house all of these items. Pencils and highlighters will be provided.

Class leader, Darcy R.


Ithaca B-ball Training Sessions

Ages: 9+
Time: 11:30-12:25
Room: GYM
Max. Students: 14
Outside Instructor Fee: $20.00

In Ithaca B-ball training sessions, kids will learn:

Basketball drills that measure sharpness.
Drills that easily ingrain fundamental basketball (picks, hand offs, etc).
Mini games that create a competitive environment but results with everyone feeling more confident and filled with excitement.
Drills and thought exercises on how to learn, measure and build skill in anything you do.

When the weather is nice we can walk to the GIAC basketball courts for class.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

Class Leader, Gini V.

Outside Instructor, Coach Will

Hello my name is Wilmer Abreu, Coach Will. I am a happily married father of three. I spend most of my days banging away at a keyboard, coding web applications for large companies and for my own personal endeavors. Coding is a personal passion of mine and I am lucky to also have it be my profession. I love teaching others to code and hope to one day open up my own web development camp to teach anyone willing to learn. I love playing basketball and most of all boxing. I believe it is important to be well balanced physically and mentally and I strive to be on both ends.


Swing Dance

Ages: 7+
Time: 10:30- 11:25
Room: Gym
Max. Students: 30

Come learn to swing dance.  We will mostly explore swing dancing but also maybe some zydeco dancing and 2-stepping.  You can pair up and dance with whoever you like or dance by yourself.   This class is open to kids and grown-ups alike. Expect to move to great music and have fun!

Parents and siblings are welcome to audit the class!

No experience or gear required. Please wear clothing, including footware, that you can dance in: Sneakers are easier to dance in than snow boots.

Class Leaders: Jerone G. with Molly K.


Sports for Littles

Ages: 3-5
Time: 9:30-10:30
Room: Gym
Max. Students: 6

We will move and work together to develop coordination and collaboration. We will roll, throw, and kick; run and pass; hide, seek, and relay; and have some fun!

The ideal student would be between 3-5 years old and enjoy active games involving props / equipment such as small basketballs, tennis balls, ping pong balls, badminton birdies.

Please come wearing sneakers or some other shoe that they can grip and move in. A favorite ball that they are willing to share is also encuraged as are water bottles.

Class Leader: Jeff B.


Social Justice Murals

Ages: 7+
Time: 9:30-11:25
Room: Ping Pong Room
Max. Students: 20
Material Fee: $15.00

This class is designed to be an all ages, co-learning experience – parents and kids are invited to participate equally as we learn about our local social justice murals and the issues they explore through weekly teach-ins. We will also collaborate to design and create our own justice-themed mural(s) on a wall or electrical box. Weather permitting, we will go on walks to look at murals up close and hopefully meet some local muralists!

The class will be designed for kids ages 7 and up, but I’m open to younger kids who are super interested. Parents are welcome to audit the class, even if you don’t have a kid in the class, just show up! You don’t have to be an artist or want to paint to participate as there will be other roles such as conceptual design, buying paint, securing mural locations, etc.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

Class Leader: Shira Evergreen


The Art of Math

Ages: 9-13
Time: 11:30-12:25
Room: Classroom A
Max. Students: 12
Material Fee: $5.00

In this class, we’re combining math and art! We’ll explore how shapes, patterns, and symmetry play a role in creating beautiful artwork. From tessellations to geometric designs, we’ll see how math helps artists create amazing masterpieces. We’ll also dive into the world of famous artists like MC Escher and Paul Klee, who used mathematical concepts in their work and illustrations of the Book of Kells. Get ready to unleash your creativity as we discover the magical connection between math and art!

The ideal student would have an interest in math and/or art, with a desire to be creative. Students should be directed to wear clothes that can get messy, or bring a smock.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

Class leader: Susanne Q.

Co leader: Shannon O.


Comedy Improv Club

Ages: 7-13
Time: 11:30-12:25
Room: Ping Pong Room
Max. Students: 12

Let’s get together and play comedy improv games. We’ll try out a different game each week and repeat favorites along the way. Ideas for games and warm-up exercises welcome!

Ideal kids are willing to be silly and be good listeners so they can collaborate with their peers in creating comedy.

Student Leader: Lion E.

Adult Support: Shira E.


Who Speaks for the Trees?

Ages: 9+
Time: 9:30-10:25
Room: Classroom B
Max. Students: 9

Trees work not as individuals but as a collective community. They provide a wonderful model of cooperation and reciprocity. If we want a sustainable community, we can begin by looking at the trees. In this class, students will learn more about the tree community near NLLC, consider trees from different perspectives, and understand how we, as humans, can be better stewards of the trees. I hope to also connect with the City Forester or other person caring for trees in our community during or outside class time. Finally, we consider the question, Who speaks for the trees? I hope the answer will be US! Students will use persuasive and informational writing skills (such as writing to the Ithaca Times or the mayor, an info label to hang from a tree, or a brochure) to educate and/or advocate for the trees in our community. Students need to be fluent readers and write a paragraph or two for this class. I will provide instruction and support for writing, such as graphic organizers. Many of these lessons are part of my research and I will be taking pictures.

Target age range is 9+. Students need to be fluent readers and write a paragraph or two for this class. Students should be able to follow directions especially when we go outside!

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

The instructor will be absent: 4/19, 5/10

Class Leader is Rachel T.


Reading Between The Lines

Ages: 9+
Time: 10:30-11:25
Room: Ping Pong Room
Max. Students: 12

Each week the students will read a short article, essay or story at home in preparation for class. We will be rereading and discussing these short texts together and learning how to read more closely. And participate in stimulating group discussions. Some goals will be learning how to make connections, identify ideas, themes and arguments, learning how to take notes, improve retention, and participate in meaningful discussions about the texts.

Participants should be independent readers with an interest in becoming more comfortable and confident participating in discussions about texts. Students who do most of their reading with audiobooks or listening to parents read aloud can absolutely participate if they are motivated to develop and hone their comprehension and group discussion skills.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

Please be sure to bring your notebook, a pen or pencil, copies of the text comprehension’s that week, with you each week.

There will be a book club that takes place on the two sessions that I will miss, 4/19 and 5/10. Class will still take place.

Class Leader: Jeanette D.


Ethnobotany: Gifts of The Plants

Ages: 9+
Time: 1:30-2:25
Room: Memorial Lunch Room
Max. Students: 9
Material Fee: $5.00

In this class we will be exploring the relationship between humans and plants throughout history and across cultures, especially in our very own backyards & community. With hands-on exercises and class discussions we will cover topics including, but not limited to: Botany Basics, Plant Ecology, Plants as a Vital Source: Food, Medicine, Materials, and the very Air we breathe. We will also explore the concepts of Reciprocity and Reverence for the gifts of the plants.

The ideal student will be curious about foraging, herbalism, and ancestral skills with a desire to deepen their ability to Notice Nature. Reading & writing skills will be helpful but not crucial. Most importantly a desire to participate in collaborative discussions and activities, with the ability to quietly listen to peers.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

Class Leader: Hana P.


A is for Art!

Ages: 7+
Time: 10:30-11:25
Room: Classroom A
Max. Students: 13
Material Fee: $15.00

The aim will be to work on several different project ideas, some of which will include sketching in nature, learning about how colors interact, Pysanky egg design, and starting a great sketchbook!

Whether your student thinks of themselves as an artist already or not, this class is ideal for anyone curious about art and building new skills. The aim is to create a very judgment free space for us all to have a fun time together making art!

Please bring a hardcover sketchbook, ideally 8×8/8×10 or larger.

Adults are welcome to audit. Please speak with the leader about materials.

Class Leaders: Sara T. Shannon O. , and Susanne Q.


Book Buddy Explores

Ages: All are Welcome
Time: 11:30-12:25
Room: Classroom B
Max. Students: 10
Material Fee: $2.00

This class will be for kids of all ages who like to read and be read to. Each week we will have a book theme and read all together and in pairs or small groups then do projects related to our books. Possible themes are: Friendship books and make friendship bracelets, interview our buddies and make book marks. Journey or fairy tail and make story maps and/or our own board games. Animal books and make simple puppets to retell stories or making play dough animals. Fantasy and acting out the story or play make up your own stories games.

Ideal student enjoys reading to younger kids, just reading themselves or likes to be read to. Student should be excited to make their own stories, games, drawings and puppets to relate to book themes.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay

Class Leaders: Liz H. and Amanda S.

Student Leaders: Fiona B. and Lena B.

 

Hiking Club

Ages: Open to All
Time:  Wednesdays at 1PM
Room: OFF SITE
Max. Students: 25

Spring is right around the corner, let’s get out into nature! Each Wednesday at 1:00 our group will meet at a different trail and hike together. Singing, snacks, and general merriment are encouraged, and all are welcome to participate! We’ll share exact meeting locations with the hiking club and any changes due to the weather. We hope you can join us!

Our tentative schedule: 
4/3 Taughannock Falls (Amanda) 
4/10 Mulholland Wildflower Preserve (Deborah) 
4/17 Lab of Ornithology Trail (Amanda) 
4/24 Hike at Flat Rocks (Deborah) 
5/1 Cornell Arboretum (Amanda) 
5/8 Hike Around Beebe Lake (Deborah) 
5/15 Cascadilla Gorge Trail to Collegetown (Amanda)

Class leader: Amanda S. & Deborah L.

  

Mechanical Wrestling Robots 7-11

Ages:  7-11
Time: 10:30-11:25
Room: Lunch Room
Max. Students: 10
Material Fee: $54

This class will focus on learning how to make mechanical wrestling robots inspired by insects and crabs. This course would also cover topics in electronic circuits, physics, and hacking in the traditional sense.

Participants should be interested in the material and ready to have fun/engage

Class leader: Liz B. 
Outside Leader: 
Joah

 

Mechanical Wrestling Robots 11-15

Ages: 11-15
Time: 9:30-10:25
Room: Lunch Room 
Max. Students: 10
Material Fee: $54

This class will focus on learning how to make mechanical wrestling robots inspired by insects and crabs. This course would also cover topics in electronic circuits, physics, and hacking in the traditional sense.

Participants should be interested in the material and ready to have fun/engage

Class leader: Liz B. 

Outside Leader: Josh 
 

Navigation on Land and Sea

 

Ages: 9-11
Time: 10:30-11:25
Room: Room B
Max. Students: 20
Material Fee: $15

Learn the basics of navigating your way while hiking or boating. Topics include how to: read a topographic map and a nautical chart, plot a course and estimate travel time, use a compass and determine your position by taking bearings on visible landmarks (e.g. mountain peaks, radio towers, lighthouses, etc.). You’ll also learn about magnetic north, true north, and magnetic variation (declination). Finally, we will cover the basics of celestial navigation. You will learn the most important stars used in navigation and how to find them using basic constellations and asterisms. We hope to schedule at least one field trip to take star sights at twilight – this is when celestial navigation is done because the horizon and the stars need to be visible at the same time. NOTE: This class will be taught without a lot of math. Higher math can be taught to interested students. Participants should bring to class: a protractor, pencil, ruler and a compass. Compasses can be found on any smart phone these days. For a traditional compass, here is a link to buy a cheap one ($10): through amazon.

Students will be required to bring a Compass, protractor, pencil, ruler each week.

Kids should be focused, good listeners, able to follow directions, and eager to learn new skills, and have a desire to do things outdoors. You can’t navigate inside a house! Interest in hiking, mountain biking, boating (or anything that involves a topo map) is a plus. This will be fun!!!

Our visiting professor is a very fun and smart teacher.

Richard Gregory-Allen, of Dallas, TX & Boston, MA You may know Richard from NL summer camp where he taught the class on converting an exercise bike to an electricity generator. Richard is an experienced offshore sailor and racer, and has 3 times been the navigator for a sailboat race from Massachusetts to Bermuda in which no electronics are allowed. Richard invented an integrated navigation system with a moving chart display, used by yachts, fisherman, commercial shipping, coast guards and Navies around the world. His company was called Laser Plot and the product was called ChartNav. Richard currently works as an IT consultant, musician, sailing & music teacher, and is doing business development & operations documentation for the GrassRoots Festival in NY, NC and FL.

Parents and (quietly self engaged) siblings are welcome to stay in the room but are not required to stay.

Class leader: Lydia 
Outside 
leader: Richard G.

 

NL FUN-CHESTRA

Ages: 7+
Time: TBA
Day: TBA

Room: TBA
Max. Students: 20

Join Lydia Garrison and Richard Gregory-Allen, musicians and singers, for this fun and light hearted music class! We will meet for a 2 hour class, between the hours of 9-3, on the THURSDAY or SATURDAY surrounding these dates: 3/29, 4/19, 5/10, 5/17. (Please email Lydia to indicate your availability of days and times: hello@lydiagarrison.live) 

Kids and interested parents: come bringing voices, instruments serious or silly, costumes if desired, and a song you would like the chorus/band to learn. Email this selection – including a YouTube video – with your available class days & times. Indicate if the song recording on YouTube is placed at a good place for your range (if you’re a singer), and if it’s not, say if it needs to be a little higher, a lot higher, a little lower, or a lot lower. Or, make a simple iPhone recording of yourself singing a snippet of it, and we will determine the correct key. Also indicate if you read musical notation. 
 
No experience necessary. We will learn by ear – aka, “monkey see, monkey do”. We will bring simple instruments for anyone who wants to play something but doesn’t have an instrument of their own. Bring any instruments you play. Be ready to BE QUIET and LISTEN when it’s not time to play. 
We will learn songs class members are interested in learning- anything goes! We will make it simple and fun. 
 

Costumes can play a role in music because sometimes we can feel on the spot to perform things “right,” but in costume, things are more about fun and freedom than “rightness.” Also, some kids may feel more comfortable singing with a mask on. For example, I have a friend who was back stage at a Bob Dylan concert, and before the show, Bob – a very famous singer, in case you don’t know him- was walking around with a paper bag on his head, singing. Performing can be nerve wracking, especially in his case as he was playing for thousands of people. In the spirit of feeling comfortable and HAVING FUN!!!, please feel free to bring costumes that you can play music or sing in. 

 

Click this link to see an example of what we might do in class:

Www.lydiagarrison.live/northern-lights-music
 
Your teachers:
Lydia is a Northern Lights parent and an Ithaca musician, born and raised. You can read more about her on her website: lydiagarrison.live
Lydia learned music by ear and can’t really read music, though she’s learned a bit about it in college, and is trying to brush up on it again. 
Lydia plays fiddle, banjo, guitar, scrubboard, triangle, writes songs and sings. She grew up playing Old Time music and Cajun, and started writing songs as a 14 year old. Now her original songs make up the majority of her performances.
 
Richard Gregory-Allen is a lifelong musician from Dallas, TX and now Boston, MA. He’s played violin, viola, piano, guitar and mandolin in his life, and aspires to do more singing. He’s played classical music, New England Contra Dance music (a little Irish, Quebecois, Scottish, Cape Breton, Old Time), and plays popular music you’d hear on the radio with a couple bands in Boston, MA. You may remember him from Northern Lights Camp, where he taught the class on converting an exercise bike into an electricity generator.
 

TIME AND PLACE TBA

We are looking at Thursdays or Sundays the weeks of: 3/29, 4/19, 5/10, 5/17 – but perhaps based upon availability of interested participants.

Class leader: Lydia