Young Builders workshop – classes for kids

I could write a full essay about how wonderful Young Builders has been for my son. He spotted YBs on his own in kindergarten and begged for months for me to sign him up — the allure of ‘real tools!’. Now in 5^th grade, his enthusiasm has only grown. I have been amazed at his intense focus and passion. I absolutely know the building, reading blue prints, using a large variety of tools, muscle power, problem solving and engineering skills he is gaining will benefit him in his professional and personal life — if not be ‘the thing’ that sparks him on a specific path. There’s nothing like the beaming pride when he finishes a project. My favorite is his little red boat complete with sail. He is greatly looking forward to building a gas powered airplane.
I really like the vibe in the workshop as well. Friendly and collaborative, nice to see many girls and a variety of ages too. Kobi, the owner is unusual for people who work with kids in that he doesn’t ply them with platitudes or talk down to them because they’re kids, my son seems really drawn towards teachers who give honest feedback and have confidence in his ability to master skills, and he definitely gets that at YB. I am really grateful to have this unique workshop in my community, so much so that I have overlooked the fine layer of sawdust that is ever present in the back seat of my car. :D

I’ve learned about Young Builders workshop through a gifted children organization my child belongs to called Lyceum of Santa Clara Valley
. The feedback from Lyceum members was really good, but before committing to drive from San Jose to Palo Alto (45 min. for me) I took my child (12 y. o) and his friend (11y.o) to see the place and the instructor, Kobi. Both of them wanted to do it right away, chose a project and couldn’t wait till their camp start. Kobi at Young Builders seems really good with children. He shows them what to do and how to do it. Then he checks every part and doesn’t allow move ahead before finishing the part «just how it should be». I think it is a very important lesson for children: do the foundation properly first. The instructor works with every kid individually (depends on tools and project) when needed. The max of kids in the workshop is seven. Also all new students should start with simple woodworking projects (usually done in 6 hours) to learn the basic skills. Then they can choose something more complicated projects. What I like about Young Builders is that kids learn to build from scratch. Many of the other building workshops have kits and teach to assemble them, which is kind of OK for the younger kids, but many children can read the instructions and follow them without taking classes. It is a different sense of achievement when you do it all yourself from scratch! Young Builders is a great place. Everyone chooses their own project and work at their own pace. We had 2 days camp 3 hours each, but on second day it was almost 4 hours, because my child and his friend wanted to finish. Now they want to do a more sophisticated project (more time needed).