Education & Classes in San Diego

While her husband was in Iraq, KinderJam founder El Brown struggled to entertain her toddler with high-energy, enriching activities that would prepare him for kindergarten. Drawing on her master's degree in early-childhood education and more than a decade as an educator for children around the globe, Brown devised a program that has since become a preschool franchise reaching more than 1,300 children in four countries. The KinderJam curriculum, designed to mesh with NAEYC framework and Developmentally Appropriate Practice standards, fosters creativity and school skills with vibrant props, creative movement, and boisterous music. For younger participants, weekly BabyJam sessions strengthen bonds between infants and parents through music-fueled tickling, cuddling, and trigonometry-proof analysis.

Founded with the goal of outfitting its pupils with the skills necessary to excel in the spa and salon industries, Milan Institute of Cosmetology deploys a rigorous curriculum that emphasizes professionalism and hands-on learning to train fledgling cosmetologists and aestheticians around the country. As the most important aspect of the course of study, student salons and spas serve as a real-world classroom wherein nascent beauticians—under the careful supervision of their instructors—can practice their newly minted skills on humans or sentient mannequins. The beauty apprentices gussy up patrons head to toe via sundry lavish salon and spa services—specific to each location—that may include nail services, haircare, facials therapeutic massages, or nourishing body wraps.

You'll also get to choose from a variety of instruments, including guitar, piano, trumpet, drums, and the instrument inside your throat-box. See the sidebar for a complete list of lessons.

The kitchen can seem bewildering to a child peering up at the many colanders, peelers, and skillets on the shelves, but a lesson from the trained cooks at Young Chefs Academy of Gahanna quickly demystifies kitchen utensils and cooking techniques. Weekly classes introduce kids to culinary concepts that vary each month, and full-day camps explore the culinary traditions of different countries and time periods. Weekend events highlight exotic dishes or take children on cartoon-themed picnics. In addition to kid-friendly offerings, the academy hosts team-building exercises for adults and businesses, pitting friends and coworkers against one another in Iron Chef competitions with all food, recipes, and English overdubs provided.

Young Chefs Academy provides a fun, safe, and motivating environment for kids to become acquainted with the art of food and food presentation. Engaging chef instructors instill lessons of kitchen etiquette and safety in youngsters growing up in a world full of laser can-openers and sharp pasta rakes, giving children a capable handle on their surroundings as they journey into the land of food. Classes educate a variety of age groups, with specially catered classes for the kindergarten elite and junior line cooks, combining nutritional meals with basic food-prep skills that teach how to correctly follow a recipe to edible fruition. Senior flambéists are offered advanced classes that dig deeper into kitchen secrets and hone specific skills and techniques that expand the parameters of cooking creativity. Most classes last 90 minutes.

Commanded by a retired Navy fighter pilot and commercial captain with more than 25,000 hours of flying experience, Grey Eagle Aviation's team of certified flight instructors guides students skyward via flights that range from first-time cruises to professional training missions. Students receive their instruction at [McClellan/Palomar Airport])(http://gr.pn/Mkma8u), a tower-controlled airfield that makes a great training environment due to its facilities, sunny weather, and ban on toy planes. Before placing them behind the steering column of a Cessna 152 or 172, instructors teach burgeoning pilots through ground studies in computerized classrooms with modern aids and training materials.