G·tec Kids, Wykagyl Section, New Rochelle, NY
For close to 30 years, G·tec Kids has provided programming in the creative arts and sciences, serving students in grades 2 through 5 living in lower Westchester County, New York. G·tec Kids curriculum caters to what kids need most: a rich and personalized after school enrichment environment that challenges bright and creative children. Students build set designs to create animated movies, create commercials for their inventive product, paint stained glass windows, fabricate model lungs, use CAD programs to design the architectural layout for a business building, and so much more! G·tec Kids specializes in semi-private instruction, where no more than 4-6 students attend each class. For more information, please go to: G·tec Kids
Recognized by nationally renowned educators, artists and scientists, G·tec is the winner of the following awards:
- National Association of Gifted Children: Outstanding Curriculum Development Award
- New York State Council for the Social Studies: Program of Excellence Award (2000, 2001, and 2002)
- Middle States Council for the Social Studies: Program of Excellence Award
Sample of First Year Studies: Prehistoric Life
Students decipher information from a pictorial essay depicting prehistoric life. They have fun making fossils, designing prehistoric masks, and conducting an archaeological dig. By observing the attributes on the found bones, students play a matching game to determine whether or not the items are related to prehistoric people or to the dinosaur.
Children refine their skills by engaging in an exploratory, problem-solving “archaeological dig” on the computer. This is followed by constructing a diorama made of clay, displaying a scene in prehistoric times. Students photograph each movement of the clay characters using a digital camera, import the images into the computer, and create an animated movie. Children have fun presenting their animated motion picture to peers and parents. For more information, please go to: First Year
Sample of Second Year Studies
Students learn to be judges in mock trials as they make decisions about juveniles who need help or have broken the law. We call it “N.Y. LAW.” They venture into the world of art history as they design their own version of Chagall’s stained glass window, Lichtenstein’s pop art, Picasso’s cubism, and more. The children continue their study of biology as they create a sample lung, perform enzyme experiments, and examine gas exchanges. Students travel back to Mesopotamia and learn to throw clay pots on pottery wheels and make cuneiform tablets. They write historical fiction pieces that culminate with a videotaped Muppet production. For more information, please go to: Second Year
Sample of Third Year Studies
Students travel into the future to the year 3000. They learn to start a business from scratch, creating logos, slogans, and commercials on videotape to market their invented product. Students learn how to read blueprints in order to create their own site plans, business plans, and interior designs. They create a model room for their business. Students finish off the year competing in an imaginary economic supply and demands game. On the computer, children learn how to design a business plan as well as a home page for the Internet. Students even learn to design in PowerPoint, a presentation package, to learn how to market their businesses, integrating pictures, sound, transitions, video, and text. For our musical segment, students build native Appalachian dulcimers from scratch and learn to play them. For more information, please go to: Third Year
Sample of Fourth Year Studies: Time Travelers
Students travel back in time and are magically transformed. They become judges in Hammurabi’s court and then become Ancient Egyptians using hieroglyphics or designing a statue of an ancient god. Past and present collide as they take on the role of forensic scientists and use CAT scans of a mummy to determine the cause of death. They’ll engineer Ancient China’s Great Wall, make Rangoli India rugs, dive below the Mediterranean Sea in search of Ancient Greece artifacts, build an Ancient Roman arched bridge, fashion a coat of arms during Medieval Times, become Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance, and lastly, design and build an explorer’s ship during the Age of Exploration. For more information, please go to: Time Travelers
