We went to the first tournament and the event was pretty efficient event and well run. The kid had…read morefun and it was painless for the parent. Everything is provided including the notation sheet and clocks. Suggest to send a welcome email to the first time family and wish the results were uploaded a little sooner to USCF but otherwise no complains.

My kids (rated 1600 & 1200 at this time) absolutely loved Play N Go. It's quads, their favorite…read moretournament format. Super nice playroom/hall environment--never crowded, always plenty of tables and chairs for parents, etc. Amazing staff--very helpful, attentive, and thoughtful! And the cash awards always made them super happy when they got lucky :-)

New York Chess and Games is fantastic! Our two boys over the last 2 years have been to both their…read moreweek long summer camps and their day camps when school is not in session. Christian (the Director) is fantastic and always has a smile on his face and even though has a ton of kids (summer camp, afterschool, etc) always remembers my kids names and my husband and mine as well! Christian is also super flexible as we've had to drop the kids in last minute if plans fell through and is always super responsive. The location is AMAZING. As a black mom of two black boys - I love that the staff is DIVERSE - all colors and genders of the rainbow. Representation matters! I also love that they mix up the day with chess free play, board games, outside play and a movie with chess instruction. The kids have learned the game of chess and have developed a love of it - Thank you NY Chess & Games!

This is a wonderful place for kids to learn chess! The people who run the program are passionate…read moreabout kids learning the game. They are wonderful role models and are funny, patient, and engaging. This is the fourth year that my kids have been attending their after school and summer camp (since they were ages 4 and 6). This chess program has helped build their social skills, their analytic thinking and their confidence. Plus, the kids love it there; they say, "it's like going to camp in a toy store!" Also, any day that school is closed, they offer an affordable all-day chess camp from 8 am-6 pm that's so appreciated by us working parents.

So glad I found iCanMandarin. They customized the curriculum to meet my son's needs and interest…read morefrom the beginning, which helped my high school son to stay in the class for several months in spite of his busy schedule. His teacher helped him to become interested in speaking and reading in Chinese again. The small class size helped him to get individualized attention from his teacher as well. Highly recommended!

My child is really enjoying Fun with Mandarin via zoom. The teacher is engaging, and maintains a…read morehigh percentage of Chinese speaking during the class, interspersed with English for instruction. iCanMandarin staff are very communicative and responsive to our questions. I'd recommend this class to anyone interested in a fun and age-appropriate introduction to Chinese for their child.

My 4 (just turned 5) year old son absolutely loved the Everyday Heroes class that he took with…read moreNicole this summer! Everything from the initial course description, to registration, to attending classes, to knowing what was done in each class from Nicole's weekly email updates--all explained clearly and accurately so that we knew exactly what to expect and could talk about the day with our son to discuss the things he learned with Nicole. I couldn't believe the amount of activities and creativity Nicole facilitated within the time she was with the kids. It was a dream to have a class that included painting, drawing, reading, writing, storytelling, making smoothies, and social-emotional learning. And Nicole does it so seamlessly, allowing the kids to be creative and enjoy the time with each other. It was play at its best! But what I loved the most was seeing everything my son created by the end of the course--which included a superhero cape, mask, tools, artwork, a self-portrait, book (that Nicole had hard bound!) and the beautiful photos of my son in his costume in front of a backdrop the kids had created. Nicole not only took the photos but printed them out for us to frame! My son looked like a real superhero and had the biggest smile on his face. Nicole is clearly a seasoned, skilled, and enthusiastic educator whose kindness and patience with children is rare. She really, truly understands kids and gives them the tools and encouragement young ones need to flourish with new challenges. I can't recommend her courses enough--I'm hoping we can take another one with her soon!

From Wonder is a very special program -- the kind of experience a child and their family will…read morealways remember and talk about. This summer, my four-year-old son spent two consecutive weeks in Nicole's camp sessions and was overjoyed to go every morning. Nicole is a stunningly creative, highly experienced teacher who puts tons of energy and thought into every activity she plans. My son had a ball and came away with new skills and passionate new interest in whole range of topics. I could not recommend From Wonder more enthusiastically to any family who values educational enrichment, fun and creativity for their kids.

My daughter who has an aptitude for chess is a student at Chess Max Academy. She takes private…read morelessons with Max himself who is Grand Master! She started with Max when she was 5 years old. She is now 7. I have used other chess grandmasters and she was never excited as she is with Max. Through my experiences, I came to realize that not only is Max a grandmaster, he is also an excellent chess instructor! Max Chess Academy offers private lessons as well as group lessons. He engages his students with different exercises and drills. Max was World Blitz Champion therefore he has the extra skill of teaching Blitz chess which my daughter absolutely loves! She loves the challenge of thinking or making decisions and moving the pieces at lightening speed. It's actually very interesting to watch! Max really cares and looks after his students. He is results driven. He even goes to local and out of state tournaments to coach his students. He appreciates that parents are putting an effort into teaching their kids chess and he takes that commitment seriously. The location itself is excellent. He is located on 1st between 76th and 77th. There is a comfortable waiting area for parents to sit and wait. Along with group classes he also has classes for school breaks and summer. He also has other instructors. I believe he offers chess instruction in mandarin and Russian as well! My daughter has really benefitted from chess instruction with Max outside of chess itself. She has developed great problem solving skills, memory, endurance and even emotional intelligence. Believe it or not these youngsters experience a lot of highs and lows on the chess board. I can't thank Max enough for commitment and attention he has given our daughter. Every child can benefit from learning chess. They may not all be grandmasters but I promise you the skills they learn at a young age they will utilize for the rest of their lives!

Nice new place ran by Maxim Dlugy and his wife. Maxim is really into chess and it shows. The place…read moreis similar to a small apartment though with a bunch of chess boards and 2 small rooms for tournaments (with an adequate number of clocks/boards.) The gold room is more for stronger tournament play while the silver room is more of a younger kids room (I assume this is used for his lessons.) A good change from the somewhat stuffy Marshall for events. Check the website though the calendar is a bit confusing. Give them a call if you are having issues. My only issue with the place is it's location. It's not the neighborhood of course but the Upper East Side means late running tournaments are really hard to get home from. There is a 6 train somewhat close to here...somewhat.

I signed up for an in-person beginners Spanish class at the Manhattan location. It was a little…read morepricey in my opinion (plus you have to buy a separate book for the class from the store that is around $30), but I was so eager to grow in my skills I decided to sign up. I am someone who has a good base of Spanish under my belt, but for a beginners class this was very difficult. It felt very freeform/loose and I didn't feel we focused on grammar enough to speak in sentences (though we were expected to aloud in class). If you are someone who prefers structure, this is not the class for you. I attended every week until the last two courses because I felt I was not gaining anything, plus two of our classes got rescheduled due to the teacher's illness (not their fault, but I would've rathered a substitute as many of us travelled from BK for the class...) and we never received information about when they would be made up? I sort of feel like it was a waste for me The teacher was super nice and obviously very knowledgeable, but I think this class will not be a good fit for you unless it's just for a hobby or trying to memorize phrases for a vacation. It felt way too informal. If you are seriously trying to learn Spanish, I would not recommend and suggest you take your money elsewhere, though I cannot speak for my classmates or other language courses at this place

7 weeks (and just 7 classes) isn't a lot of time to learn a new language, but I'm surprised at how…read moremuch progress I made in such a short time. Eduardo was a fun and engaging Spanish instructor. Classes were well structured, but didn't feel overly rigid. I felt engaged the whole time. I went into this with intermediate skills in French, which definitely helped. The course is quite fast paced and covers a lot of ground. If you have no experience with a second language you'll definitely need to study harder to keep up. I used Duolingo for a month before the class and it definitely helped get me started with at least some knowledge. I wish there was a little more time for conversation and interaction between students, but I don't see how they could do it unless the class met twice a week. Overall I liked the format of the class and would recommend it!

Sishu Mandarin is by far the best place I've found to study Chinese. I was open to either virtual…read moreor in person classes (and they offer both) but ended up going with the in person to get a bit of community too. The instructors are so kind and willing to help you individually, and they really break things down so you understand quickly and solidly!! Sishu even provided a free digital copy of our textbook and workbook, which is a huge plus above other classes I looked at. I can't recommend Tian and his team enough for helping me be less nervous about studying and feeling confident with my Chinese language!! Whether you're looking to learn for work or just fun definitely look into their lessons. Xie xie Sishu!

As my two years at Sishu Mandarin comes to an end, I feel very honored to leave a review for Sishu…read moreMandarin. As a non-native speaker, I'm very honored that Tian took the chance in giving me the opportunity to put into practice my knowledge of Mandarin Chinese acquired through my discipline at Peking University and manifest it through teaching students enthusiastic about learning Chinese. What sets Sishu apart is our dedication to our students. We go through great lengths to personalize lessons to meet each student's need. All of the teachers on our team go through training and are rigorously evaluated by our founder, Zhou Tian. Zhou Tian is the embodiment of what it truly means to be a leader. He keeps a tight grip on the quality of our classes, arranges scheduled times to listen in on our lessons, and he never fails to provide constructive feedback whenever teachers don't meet standards. Throughout these two years, I've worked very closely with Tian to start our first podcast on Spotify! Which was incredibly fun to make and I highly recommend it for advanced Chinese speakers. Tian is always looking to take our school further and even teaches free Chinese classes. He is consistently finding innovative ways to make learning Chinese accesible to everyone. Having been a teacher on his team, I can testify that he is always looking out for every single one of his teachers and maintains transparency amongst his teachers on accounts, team performance, and company goals. He earnestly takes it upon himself to always manage open communication with teachers whether it may be their personal concerns regarding teaching methods or ways to improve their classroom presence. He takes a lot of care into making sure that every student and teacher relationship match. He has taught me so much and has given a plethora of opportunities to grow professionally. Whether you are looking to take Chinese lessons or develop your teaching career, Sishu Mandarin is the best school you can choose in New York City.

Kumon and Mathnasium were very different from each other. There's really no substitute for touring…read moreboth. We took our child to both to see which was a better fit and there was a clear and strong preference for Kumon. Kumon was more structured and we found this particular branch to be well run. Our child is showing immediate improvement, and we're really happy.