Education & Classes in Carol City

The two founders of Aquachild Swim School—Scott Launer and Brian Lilburn—came to embrace aquatic education through disparate means. When Scott took his then 2-year-old daughter, Jaya, to swim lessons, he was amazed to see 10-month-old babies floating on their own and began his journey to becoming a youth swim instructor. Brian, who nearly drowned in a backyard pool as a toddler, learned to love the water rather than fear it after his mom enrolled him in swim lessons. Scotty and Brian now share their life-saving knowledge alongside a staff of instructors that are all certified in water safety, first aid, and CPR.

Through Aquachild Swim School’s specially designed lessons, infants as young as 10 months learn to roll from facedown positions to back floats where they can breathe easily, and 1-year-old students begin to swim with their heads down, then twist onto their backs for air. As kids progress, they learn the four major strokes (front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly), brush up on the basics to keep them confident, or start snorkeling. The instructors lead adult lessons to help older students learn how to paddle at pool parties or triumphantly retrieve their boss’s golf ball from a green’s lagoon during corporate outings.

In Great Balls of Yarn's four boutiques, knitters and crocheters of all experience levels browse more than 20,000 balls of yarn, including luxurious fibers from Trendsetter and Noro as well as hand-dyes from Prism and Malabrigo. Talented fiber artists guide knitters and crocheters as they transform vibrant fibers into wearable works of art during beginner through advanced classes. Project-specific sessions focus on creating table runners, borders for blankets, and baby booties to keep wee ones' feet warm and steps soundless during midnight refrigerator raids. Amid the shops' soft lighting, tapestries intermix with shelves of color-coded worsted and washable yarns alongside cashmeres and silks. Great Balls of Yarn also arms textile technicians with needles, notions, and books full of inspiration and yarn-charming incantations.

The intricately designed, European-style buildings that populate the Buenos Aires cityscape enchanted the eyes of Argentina native Cari Cohen at an early age, inspiring her to earn a degree in architecture from the University of Buenos Aires. Driven to push the boundaries of architectural innovation, Cari began delving into other creative media to expand her horizons, sparking a newfound fascination with abstract art and jewelry crafting. She has since moved to Miami, where her original paintings have been showcased at events such as Art Basel and Art Miami.

Cari founded The Fun Palette as a way to share her passion for the visual arts with kids and adults, hosting a variety of imagination-spurring classes for students of all skill and experience levels. During the studio's painting sessions, students can closely follow their instructor's step-by-step instructions to create flowing landscapes or abstract pieces or go off the beaten path to compose self-portraits that reimagine the painter as a bowl of fruit.

"Every garden begins with a seed, and every seed needs a dedicated gardener for optimal growth." This concept poetically sums up the idea behind Playing the Game of Life, a community center that brims with a bevy of preschool, after-school, and adult programs led by motivating teachers. Under their tutelage, younger students combat obstacles such as stress, bullying, and obesity while flourishing in an arts-based education. Through classes such as jewelry making, nutritional education, speech therapy, and ballet, participants learn to build social skills, increase their confidence, and communicate feelings more effectively than stealing someone else's journal and passing it off as their own. Playing the Game of Life also hosts cognitive-therapy classes to aid older pupils suffering from memory loss.

StatusAir's Discovery Flight lessons grant spectacular views of South Florida as experienced instructors rated by Certified Flight Instructor-Instrument (CFII) school potential pilots and otherwise first-time flyers in the art of running a Cessna 172 plane. Along with comprehensive ground lessons, they'll also supervise the flights and end with a debriefing on the ground, gently reminding participants that capes are optional.

The specialists at Dance Express XD Performing Arts Center lead programs for 2- to 20-year-olds, drawing from a catalogue that spans the style gamut. In addition to helming classes such as jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet, and cheerleading, the experienced team cultivates a familial atmosphere designed to help participants boost confidence levels and synchronicity.

In addition to classes, the studio puts on an annual June recital that casts anyone who wants to participate regardless of skill level. To encourage further involvement outside of courses, instructors motivate their protégés to try out for the competitive team, plan costume themes for spirit week, and choreograph tap-dance renditions of their favorite Morse-code fairy tales. The team also provides a waiting room monitor for parents interested in observing classroom routines.