Stimulating Kids’ Minds With New Challenges : After-school enrichment classes provide an opportunity for children to succeed at something.

For parents looking for academic enrichment for their children--and something more than crafts and sports--there are a wide range of intriguing choices.

Some classes are run in storefronts; others are held at local colleges or learning centers. A few firms will bring after-school classes directly to the school--public or private. Some build on skills taught in the school curriculum, while others offer topics that are rarely part of a school day, like cartooning, street dancing or robotic programming.

All kinds of kids benefit from participating in after-school enrichment programs, says Arlinda Eaton, chairwoman of CSUN’s Department of Elementary Education.

Some children are ahead of the class in a subject and need a way to move beyond to find challenging material. Others want to pursue a new area of interest or try something that is vastly different from what they have done before.

Frequently, enrichment classes are an opportunity for children to succeed at something--and that sense of achievement can spill over into real school, fostering further gains, even in very different subjects, Eaton says.

The trick is to find a class that truly interests the child. Gene Wallace, who owns Futurekids in Northridge, a computer skills learning center, asks parents to bring their children to the center before signing up. “You’ve got to be sure the class is something the child wants to do and feels comfortable with,” he says.

Eaton, too, encourages parents to take the child’s lead. “Have a very genuine discussion with the child, and remember, the class shouldn’t be what the parent is interested in, but what the student is eager to pursue,” she suggests.

Wallace says he sees more and more parents using enrichment classes to create their own after-hours schools, mixing and matching classes in academics, music and sports to create a self-designed super school without walls.

Whether in public or private school, many children enjoy the stimulation they can get after the day’s last school bell sounds.

Funny Faces

Clowning Around: Performance Skills for Young People is designed to give children some amusing skills. The course includes juggling, string figures (like Cat’s Cradle and Witch’s Broom), origami, balloon animal-making and yo-yo-ing.

“It teaches children to follow directions and gives them a good sense of accomplishment, too,” says instructor Jacqueline Tan. Students receive the materials they will need to perform the skills at home.

Learning Tree University, 20916 Knapp St., Chatsworth, (818) 882-5599. Meets six Wednesdays, 4 to 5:30 p.m., beginning Nov. 10; $59. For ages 8-13.

Instant Replay

Geared for children who are interested in drama and are curious about seeing themselves perform on video, TV Commercials Workshop allows students to create, direct and star in their own commercials based either on a product they create or on something already on the market.

Course is available through Kids In Motion, a West Hills-based firm that brings a wide range of after-school courses to local schools.

Kids in Motion, 6520 Platt Ave., Box 222, West Hills, (818) 346-4851. Courses meet immediately after school, as arranged. The six-week course costs $48. For ages 6 and up.

Stepping Out

Folklorico Dancing is for beginners interested in learning such regional Mexican dances as La Bamba or El Jarabe Tapatio. Costumes are provided, and the last class includes a performance.

Offered through Mission College, at the Cultural Arts Center, 13000 Sayre St., Sylmar, (818) 364-7387. Meets 1 to 2 p.m. Saturdays; $29. For ages 6 to 12.

To learn the latest MTV moves and get an aerobic workout at the same time, try Street Dancing, which covers the individual steps of street dancing and coaches participants in dance improvisation, too.

Learning Tree University, 20916 Knapp St., Chatsworth, (818) 882-5599. Meets eight Tuesdays, 5 to 6 p.m., beginning Nov. 9. $59. For teens.

It All Adds Up

Kumon Math’s self-paced learning system--based on a series of sequential work sheets--is designed to guide children through mathematics, from basic addition through applications of differential calculus. Students take a diagnostic test when enrolling, then are placed at an appropriate level, moving ahead as they succeed at each level’s achievement test.

Homework assignments are given after each session. Children attend 30-minute classes twice a week.

Kumon Center, 32107 Lindero Canyon Road, Suite 215, Westlake Village, (818) 879-9760. Open 2 to 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturdays. A special group for 3- to 5-year-olds runs 9 a.m. to noon Monday and Thursdays. $75 per month. For ages 3 and up. Other centers are in Chatsworth, Northridge, Granada Hills, La Canada and Calabasas.

An individualized learning center for mathematics study, Mathamazement is designed to allow children to advance at their own speed. Computers and other learning tools are used in conjunction with assignments.

Mathamazement, 6047 Tampa Blvd., Suite 303, Tarzana, (818) 881-2333. By appointment; $24 an hour, billed monthly. For ages 5 to adult.

Pushing the Right Button

Futurekids is a learning center designed to teach children everything from understanding the nuts and bolts of hardware, to keyboarding and word processing, software applications, programming and robotics.

Futurekids, 9017 Reseda Blvd., No. 106, Northridge, (818) 700-0011. Class offerings and times vary, but groups meet weekly. Four children per class. $70 to $80 per month. Ages 4 and up.

The 3 R’s, Revisited

Run by Mission College, these three different courses--Reading, Math and Creative Writing--offer drills and time-tested methods to advance children in each subject. The reading course includes phonics, and oral and silent reading exercises; the math course covers fractions, decimals and percentages; and the creative-writing course reviews grammar and its application in creative-writing exercises.

Granada Hills High School, 10535 Zelzah Ave., Granada Hills. To register, call Mission College, (818) 364-7387; students can enroll in any or all. Each class meets in the afternoon once a week for six sessions. Courses are ongoing. For third through sixth-graders. $39, plus a $4 lab fee.

How Comical

Cartooning covers simple methods of drawing animals and people using geometric shapes, line, texture and color. Children also will learn how to create facial expressions that show emotion.

Learning Tree University, 20916 Knapp St., Chatsworth, (818) 882-5599. Meets 10 a.m. to noon six Saturdays beginning Nov. 13. $59. For ages 8 to 12.

Writing Comic Books is designed to teach students to create their own comic book manuscript, from creating an exciting plot and characters to developing a story from panel to panel and selling stories to a comic book publisher.

Learning Tree University, 20916 Knapp St., Chatsworth, (818) 882-5599. Meets 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. six Thursdays beginning Nov. 11. $69, plus a $3 materials fee. Ages 10 to 18.

The World Is Your Laboratory

Quest in Science, directed by Irene Allert and Robbie Revel, will bring courses in more than 20 subjects to any school campus for an after-school enrichment program. From “Investigating Rocks and Minerals” to “Science and Crime: Paper Chromatography” and “Glop, Goop & Slime: Chemistry for Kids,” the courses include lab experiments and hands-on activities.

Quest for Science, 9601 Owensmouth Ave., No. 19, Chatsworth, (818) 896-4144. Four- to six-week classes, ranging from $8 to $15 a session. For grades one through six.

After school doesn’t work for everyone. Science by Mail is designed for children to do by themselves or with up to three friends or siblings. Developed by the Museum of Science in Boston, Mass., the program assigns students to working scientists who volunteer to correspond with participants. More than 25,000 children participated last year.

Kids get three different packets over the school term. This year, students will study building structures, sound and time. Each packet includes a series of experiments, with all the materials needed to conduct them, and a special challenge project. The children send their challenge solution to their assigned scientist, who responds in writing.

For information, or an application, call (800) 729-3300. The cost is $49, which can include membership for up to four children. Fourth through ninth grade.

Breaking the Language Barrier

Spanish for Young People is a conversational class geared to help children build a day-to-day Spanish vocabulary.

Children will be involved with mime, songs and games and will converse about everyday activities, places, people and things. A textbook is required.

Learning Tree University, 20916 Knapp St., Chatsworth, (818) 882-5599. Meets 4 to 5 p.m. eight Wednesdays, beginning Nov. 10; $59. For ages 8 to 12.

Phyllis Bloom, the Spanish Teacher, instructs small groups of children in her Encino home and uses a combination of conversation and multimedia technology--including songs and poetry--to teach children to listen to and speak Spanish.

Call (818) SPA-NISH. By appointment; $60 an hour for the group, plus $5 for each additional student. For ages 8 to 12.