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IMACS to Premiere Virtual Robotics Class for Home-school Students

Program held during school hours to accommodate home-school schedules

PLANTATION, Fla. - August 27, 2007

The Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (IMACS) is announcing a Computer Enrichment & Virtual Robotics class for fourth through eighth grade home-school students. The class, which has been part of the IMACS curriculum for several years, is now offered during school hours.

The program, located at the IMACS Plantation headquarters, is meant to enrich traditional home-school curriculum. “IMACS has been an important addition to our family’s curriculum,” says Julie Fishman, a Hollywood home-school educator whose son studied the IMACS Virtual Robotics curriculum this past summer. “We are excited that our son can attend a class just for homeschoolers during the day.”

Home-school students in the self-paced course will design and program robots in a virtual reality, learning how the gears and wheels affect the physics behind the robot’s movements.

The class is a hit with IMACS students. “Typically the children have no idea they’re learning valuable academic concepts,” says Terry Kaufman, IMACS President.

The class was designed to “feel” like a video game. Using high-tech graphic displays, the students complete a series of missions to acquire tools and skills that help them complete the overall project. As the children become more proficient, the missions become increasingly advanced.

Unlike video games, however, the class focuses on building a wide set of academic skills, including logical reasoning, mathematics, engineering and computer science.

As children progress through the curriculum, they begin to write computer programs using a graphic-based computer programming language.

The hour-long class is offered once a week on either Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. or Fridays at 10 a.m. The cost is $149 per eight-week session. Sibling discounts are available, as well as discounts for dual enrollment in both the home-school class and the IMACS Mathematics Enrichment program.

The session begins Sept. 5. Free trial classes are available on Wed., Aug. 29 and Fri., Aug. 31.

For more information or to register for a free trial class, contact IMACS at 954.791.2333, or visit them online at www.imacs.org.

The Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science uses lively and innovative methods of teaching high-level mathematics, computer science and logical reasoning skills to elementary and secondary school students.

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