April 13, 2004 > Alsion Summer Institute Offers a Unique Experience

This will be an exciting summer for those lucky enough to enroll in the Alsion Summer Institute. Small groups of highly motivated seminar participants will share an enriching and interactive experience with enthusiastic, highly trained teachers. This program is designed for secondary level students who crave to know more in an environment that thrives on imagination and discovery. According to Michael Leahy, Summer Institute Director for Alsion Montessori Foundation, learning will be "discovery based." Education at the Summer Institute is designed to be fun and "hands-on;" an experience that creates a powerful atmosphere of individual and group discovery in the areas of science and language.

The institute will sponsor three different language immersion programs - Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese - giving participants a thorough knowledge of conversational use, grammar, situational vocabulary and an appreciation and understanding of the associated culture. Over six weeks, students will meet for three hours each day (five days a week) and immerse themselves in their chosen language.

Concentrated use of language stimulates learning and will provide the opportunity for students to read, write and speak their chosen language at the end of the session. Groups will meet in a fun and challenging environment. Here, the use of an additional language will grow naturally, without the stress of trying to remember lessons from short sessions separated by significant blocks of time devoted to other subjects.

Another seminar offered by the institute will explore "The Five Biggest Ideas in Science" using a book of the same title as inspiration for discussion. Six weeks of dialogue and exploration will investigate five big ideas that help scientific disciplines question and understand human knowledge. Traveling through time and space, these ideas will lead participants from current understanding of the atom, through the periodic table to explore the "big bang" and plate tectonics leading to evolution and finally a discussion of benefit/risk analysis of discovery.

Designed to stimulate thought and explore basic scientific principles, the emphasis will be on how an organized process can lead to answers... and yet more questions as well. Reenacting observations and experiments that have led to scientific "breakthroughs" and visits to local research laboratories will enhance an understanding of how science uses the scientific method to achieve progress. Big, creative ideas that have been discussed in scientific circles throughout the world will be presented to young, inquiring minds as a basis of discussion and debate.

Language Immersion / The Five Biggest Ideas in Science
Monday-Friday (3 hours/ day)
June 21 - July 30
For grades (next September) 6 to 9, Ages 11 - 14

For more information, call (510) 445-1127 or info@alsion.org
Alsion Montessori Foundation
155 Washington Blvd., Fremont