• Early Development (2.5–3.5 years old)
• Sing and Dance (3-5 years old)
• Reading and Speaking Correctly (3.5-4.5 years old)
• Reading and Speaking Correctly (4.5-6 years old)
• Elements of Math and Logic (3.5-4.5 and 4.5-6 years old)
• Art (5-7 years old)
• Drama Studio (5-7 and 8-12 years old)
• Choir (6-12 years old)
• Ensemble Singing(7-12 years old)
• Reading (6-7 years old)
• Writing (6-7 years old)
• Elements of Science, Logic and Math (6-7 years old)
• Reading (7-8 years old)
• Russian Language (7-8 years old)
• Science, Math and Logic (7-8 years old)
• The Russian Language (9-10 years old)
• Russian Literature (9-10 years old)
• The Art of Mathematics (9-12 years old)
• Russian History and Culture Seminars(9-13 years old)
• The Russian Language (11-13 years old)
• Russian Literature (11-13 years old)
• Russian History and Culture Seminars (13-16 years old and adults)
• Seminars in Sciences and Arts (13-16 years old and adults)
• RFL for Children (5-7 and 8-12 years old)
• Adult Russian Conversation Group
• Russian Language Through Art, Music and Film (adults)

Children find out about the world primarily through play. Little children are curious by nature, so we aim to develop their minds and imaginations through play. We intend to familiarize children with elements of mathematics, awaken their creativity through group activities, and perhaps the most important of our tasks is to help them develop their speaking abilities, both in the technical sense of learning to make correct sentences and express thoughts effectively, and in the social sense of communicating in a group of peers. To reach our goals, we use different teaching methods, from talking about a topic and describing pictures to learning short rhymes accompanied with finger games. Our lessons consist of three parts: speech and cognitive development exercises, active play and art. In class, we implement various techniques and use various materials, including Nikitins' early development games and "The Kind Tales" ("Dobrye Skazki") by A. Lopatina and M. Skrebtsova.

Our classes, aimed at early development of musical abilities, consist of several parts:

• Appreciation and recognition of classical vocal and instrumental music pieces
• Developing the ability to define the character of the piece by its tempo, rhythm and tone
• Introducing children to symphonic orchestra instruments and folk instruments, training children to recognize the sound of each instrument
• Singing simple songs and vocal pieces with children
• Freeform dancing to various styles of music, imitating the movements of animals, toys etc (i.e. dancing like a lark, a doll, a toy soldier to "The Children's Album")
• Developing children's gross motor skills and rhythm through dancing and musical games
• Introducing elements of pitch development and music literature

We use music by such composers as Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Khrennikov, etc. in our classrooms.

The program is tailored for the speaking capabilities of the age group of 3.5 – 4.5-year-olds. This age is characterized by active imitation in speaking, as well as intensive vocabulary growth, the ability to hear and understand questions and answer them, at the same time coupled with the limited ability to participate in a dialogue, since speech development is still at the early stage. These specifics of the age group determine the goals of the class to be the development of cognitive abilities in speaking, and creating the necessary basis for mastering such language skills as speaking, listening and reading. The main direction of our work lies in the following:

• Drawing the child's attentions to his/her own speech and that of others
• Developing the child's organs of articulation
• Vocabulary enrichment
• Enhancing use of grammar in speaking
• Developing skills of cohesive speaking
• Introducing the child to the notion of sounds and the elements of sound analysis

At this age speech development is directly linked to fine motor development, therefore finger games and articulation exercises are included in the program.

The main goal of the class is to develop cognitive skills in speaking, particularly the following:

• Learning to listen and to speak
• Paying attention to words, the child's own speech and that of other people around
• Developing the child's active, passive and potential vocabularies
• Developing grammatically correct and cohesive speech
• Developing sound recognition, production and understanding of the system of sounds in speech

We put a great emphasis on word games, in which children learn about word formation and word change, grammatical compatibility of word and sentence structure. The course as a whole, as well as each individual session, is planned based on children’s life experiences and speaking experiences.

The aim of the course is to develop memory, attention and cognitive skills. Our classes will support the child's curiosity about the world, as well as help teach numeracy and spatial skills and develop logical thinking in game-based activities. Most of the assignments will improve the study skills of children by focusing their attention on rules, examples and following the procedure in solving a problem. We use methods that foster both creativity and self-control, and our homework assignments are tailored to the individual capabilities of each student.

The course includes:

• Working with various tools and materials (paper, cardboard, paint, pen, chalk etc.)
• Making collages and appliqués from paper and other materials
• Teaching the basics of perspective, volume, form and composition
• Mastering paints and pencil techniques
• Learning about painting genres (portrait, landscape, still-life etc.)

During its two years of work our theater produced four plays, performed at a charity event at Washtenaw Community College and prepared several dance and drama routines for the final concerts and the New Year's celebrations at the school. Our drama group gives children a unique opportunity to develop their creative abilities, to learn to work in a group and to perform in public. Children communicate with their peers during games and while working on the common project of producing a play. We plan for the children to do acting exercises which assist in developing correct speaking and breathing, attention and imagination. Together, children will dance, work on their rhythm and produce small sketches. At the end of each semester we will put on a show which includes every participant of the group. In the fall semester of 2011 we will be producing "Cinderella" based on E. Schwartz's and Y. Alesyn's plays and prepare skits for the New Year's performance.

Choral singing is one of the most ways to ensure a child's musical development, and at the same time, working on a song is not boring, it is an engaging process similar to a slow and steady climb to an important height. The class is designed to develop children's musical abilities, articulation organs and effective breathing; to form vocal and choral skills; to teach children to sing by ear, to read staff notation and to sing in harmony (by the end of the year); to develop their vocal range. The general structure of the class includes choral singing, learning the basics of music theory and practicing through play. The set of pieces includes items written specifically for a child's voice, as well as the best selections from the musical heritage of the world nations. The children will acquire experience in public performance, a deeper understanding of music and a love of learning. When a child hears his or her voice sound strong and clear in harmony with the voices of friends, it is simply fantastic!

The program is developed for children ages 7 through 12 who have one or more year of choral experience. It includes sight reading of music, two- and three-voice harmonies, singing pieces of various complexity solo and duo, in small groups, a-capella and with musical accompaniment. The children will practice vocal and breathing techniques. The class uses classical musical pieces by Russian and World composers, as well as folk and popular music.

The purpose of the class is to assist the language and speech development of the children and to help them view themselves as Russian speakers. In class we work on sound recognition, learning to hear separate sounds in a word, and understanding how syllables and sounds make up words. At this stage in learning we pay special attention to the development of oral skills, namely listening and speaking. We introduce such notions as "word", "word stress" , "sentence", "vowel", "sound" etc. The lessons will help your child master the Russian alphabet, begin to read, create grammatically correct sentences and make up short t stories on topics provided by the teacher. We teach through play, with the elements of speech exercises and finger exercises. Our materials are Russian traditional and folk tales and rhymes, as well as the works of famous Russian writers like Tolstoy, Pushkin, Marshak and Chukovsky.

Writing classes for this age group are divided into two levels. The 1st semester is devoted to activities that prepare the child to write, such as drawing, coloring, tracing, writing elements of letters. The 2nd semester is dedicated to studying the block and cursive letters and the graphic elements they are composed of; comparing letters to other letters with similar components, letter writing practice, joining letters into combinations, words and sentences, copying of words and texts from print.

This class is for first-graders who are able to read. We use Holodova's book "Informatics, Logic and Math for 1st- Grade." In addition to logic, arithmetic and geometry components, the class includes elements of applied math, physics and chemistry; it also features exercises to develop memory, attention span, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. We also solve math problems and get familiar with strategy games. In every class children receive both individual and group assignments. We do group project where each group member is important. The objectives of the class are:

• Developing children's imagination and quick thinking
• Supporting their natural curiosity about the world
• Developing their logical thinking and argumentation skills
• Facilitating their individual and group creative efforts

The main goal of our reading lessons is to develop Russian speaking and reading skills, as well as an interest for reading. The children learn to analyze words in terms of their sound and syllable composition, identify roots and suffixes, define the grammatical and lexical meanings of the word, and learn about correct spelling and punctuation of the Russian language.

Russian for 7 through 8 year olds involves introducing children to various phonetic, lexical, morphemic, morphological, syntactic phenomena of the Russian language, as well as teaching the basics of Russian spelling and punctuation. The skills in practical phonetics include comparing letters and sounds, vowels and consonants, stressed and unstressed vowels; defining syllables and identifying syllable-making vowels; differentiating between stressed and unstressed syllables, hard and soft consonants, voiced and voiceless consonants etc. In vocabulary studies children learn that each word has a meaning, observe that some words have more than one meaning, study the rules of word connectivity and practice correct use of words. On the level of morpheme identification children find out about roots, suffixes, prefixes etc. and learn how to mark those morphemes in written word analysis. In morphology children learn about parts of speech without designation as nouns, verbs etc, the role of pronouns, about words in singular and plural, the difference between prepositions and prefixes etc. In learning about syntax and punctuation students obtain a basic understanding of what a sentence is, how it is built and what it expresses; about the role of intonation in questions, statements and exclamations; about the use of questions marks, exclamation points and periods in punctuation. In spelling children learn about capital letters, the differences between the ay a words sounds and the way it is spelled etc.

The class is designed for 2st – 3rd graders who are able to read (at least print letters.) We use Holodova's book "Informatics, Logic and Math" for the 2nd grade. In addition to logic, arithmetic and geometry components, the class includes elements of applied math, physics and chemistry; it also features exercises to develop memory, attention span, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. We also solve math problems and get familiar with strategy games. In every class children receive both individual and group assignments. We do group project where each group member is important. The objectives of the class are:

• Developing children's imagination and quick thinking
• Supporting their natural curiosity about the world
• Developing their logical thinking and argumentation skills
• Facilitating their individual and group creative efforts
• Enhancing children's skills of independent thinking and practical work

This Russian class will help children to learn correct punctuation, understand word structure and word formation, study how our language functions, find out the difference between language rules and spelling rules etc. Studying parts of speech, types of sentences, syntactic roles of words will assist the children in improving their written Russian.

This year we will be practicing articulating and arguing our opinions about the texts we have read, as well as defining and understanding the emotions we experience when reading. Among the main goals of the class are thoughtful and expressive reading, independent investigation of a new text, and writing essays with some preparation on the topics of the texts we read. The materials for reaching these goals will come from the works of Dragunsky, Paustovsky, Chekhov, Esenin and other great writers.

This program is for 4-6 Grades students to provide them with an academically challenging math education and to develop their abilities beyond the school curriculum. The program introduces the process of problem solving as an art, using math in a creative and imaginative way. The program consists of three segments:

• Segment One – Strategies - familiarizes students with rational ways to solve a problem: using familiar methods in new situations, changing the given situation to make it suitable for using familiar method(s), ordering disorder, considering all possibilities, breaking a problem into simpler problems, etc. The problems are categorized by the strategies used to solve them.
• Segment Two – Experiments - guides students into the endless wonderland of patterns, teaches students to discover connections and to find meaningful relationships among components of the given math situation; to formulate and, if needed, to reformulate these relationships as verbal mathematical statements; and to provide these statements with rigorous deductive proofs.
• Segment Tree – Practice - constitutes training in applying basic skills and tools of critical thinking to solving out-of-the-ordinary problems.

Professor Gurevich began "The Art of Math" in 2000 and repeated this program again and again upon parents' requests. The content and methods of teaching reflect a wide experience of many years of classroom teaching and coaching a MathCounts team that has performed successfully in Chapter and State competitions. His teaching experiences have been reported in several articles and published in two professional journals: Mathematics in Michigan and Mathematics Teacher.

Last year we were studying the historic events which transpired in Eastern Europe on the territories of modern-day Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and some parts of Poland and Baltic states in the span of 9th through 16th centuries, from the formation of Kievan Rus to the rule of Ivan the Terrible. This year we will continue our studies of history, beginning with the Dark Times. While learning about historic events, children will become familiar with the literature, art, architecture and music of the respective periods. We will continue working with maps, learning about the customs and traditions of Russia (such as clothing, cuisine and holidays) and comparing them to the traditions of other countries and people.

Children will learn to identify parts of speech and parts of the sentence and acquire basic knowledge about the Russian punctuation, morphology and vocabulary. They will build sentences according to the rules they study, create short stories based on given vocabulary, memorize words with difficult spelling and write essays.

Children continue to read the best works of Russian and foreign literature. They practice dramatic reading, master the skill of literary re-telling, and learn selected poetry by heart (the selections are made by the teacher, as well as by the children.)

In the first two years, we studied the historic events which transpired in Eastern Europe on the territories of modern-day Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and some parts of Poland and Baltic states in the span of 9th through 19th centuries, from the formation of Kievan Rus to the war of 1812 and the Decembrists' Uprising. While learning about the historic events, children found out about the architecture, literature, art and music of the respective periods. The third year (2010-2011) was devoted to the study of the life and work of Alexander Pushkin in the context of Russian history and culture in the first third of the nineteenth century. This year children will be learning about the political events after the Decembrists' Uprising, as well as about art, theater, literature and architecture of 19th century Russia.

This class does not have any pre-requisites and does not involve weekly homework. Each participant is required to do some research during the trimester and make an oral presentation on it. In the first half of the course professors from the best universities in Michigan, who have experience working with school-aged children, will present a series of lectures on topics which are not included in the middle and high-school curricula. At the same time children will begin working on their individual projects. The topics of projects can be selected by the students themselves, or suggested by the lecturers in the various disciplines that they will be teaching. The last few classes will be devoted to the children's presentations.

The course will help the students to become familiar with branches of knowledge not included in the public school curriculum, become experienced in independent research, and learn to present the results of their work in Russian.

This is the most fluid and adaptable class that we offer. Because of the variety of needs of the children that come to us, and the variety of ages, we constantly update and change our curriculum to fit the needs of the kids that come: a five-year-old with no previous exposure and an eight-year-old with Russian-speaking parents require different kinds of instruction! The class is taught by a degreed professional in the field of language pedagogy. We have games, we do artwork, we do anything to help your child learn Russian and the pace and level that they are able to achieve.

Come one, come all who are able to converse in Russian to any degree! We meet every Saturday to talk in Russian about all manners of topics, from daily life to film to politics to anything that interests us that particular week. The group discussion is facilitated by a native speaker, an experienced educator in the field of foreign language teaching. In addition to being a valuable resource for language acquisition and cultural exposure, our group is a perfect place to mix, mingle and make friends with other adults that share the rare skill of speaking Russian.

It is clear to any modern educator that language and culture are a combo, and that learning a language is greatly facilitated by cultural exposure. We offer a class of Russian as a Foreign Language Through Art, Music and Film for intermediate learners of Russian. Every week, we select a cultural instance, for example, a video of a popular song, and study the language instances that pertain to it, as well as learn how this language/culture instance fits in the current Russian life. Later, we practice how to use the new words, idioms, grammar and notions that we learned in new and different contexts. Even though it is offered separately and alone, our Russian Conversation Group offers extra opportunity to use the new things we covered in class in conversation with a group of peers.