Meet the two New Yorkers who are
starting preschool for adults
A
Lapidos is a part-hippie, part-four-year-old devoted to
seeing adults break out of their routines and rediscover the “magic” of
childhood. It is one of the reasons that Lapidos, 30, is starting a preschool for
adults. Anyone older 18 can enroll in Lapidos’s Preschool Mastermind, a
month-long course where adults can carry out activities like finger-painting,
show-and-tell, nap time, or a class picture day.”
B
Lapidos, who in 2013 started a skipping club in Brooklyn, says she’s always looking for new ways to get
people in touch with the freedom of childhood. “Adults are in this routine,
this stagnation, and by tapping into
the ‘play’ part of our brains by skipping or doing the things that we did in
preschool, we’re bringing ourselves back to another place, another time with
ourselves, maybe when we were more believing of ourselves, when we were more
confident and ready to take on the world. And I want to nourish that in people,”
Lapidos says.
C
Candice Kilpatrick, who is her teaching assistant, has a
master’s degree in teaching. Adults can relearn and master things that they
failed to understand as children, Kilpatrick explains, offering the example of “bilateral
integration skills” (being able to perform tasks with both sides of your body
simultaneously). “Using both sides of the body at the same time is like stair
steps; you master this level, then you go to the next level. “Maybe your life
would be more enhanced if you did go
back,” she says, expounding on the
possibilities of their novel program. If Lapidos is the dreamer in this
project, Kilpatrick is the grounded realist. But their outlook on life is
determinedly rooted in optimism.
D
The price of the course ranges from $333 to $999, excluding art-supply,
snack-day, and class-trip expenses. Classes will be held at night once
every week in Lapidos’s home-office “play space” in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Beyond getting adults to reconnect with their
four-year-old selves, Lapidos and Kilpatrick want Preschool Mastermind
applicants to be “stuck” people who
are seeking a new way of approaching life.
E
Kaufman, who has himself waxed nostalgic about the magic of preschool, says introducing that
childhood ritual to adults could actually be valuable. “Allowing adults to
break free of their critical thinking and ordinary experience can jolt them into a new awareness that
changes their perspective and allows for greater insights.” With their brains
and a lot of optimism, the two women are ready to spark creativity in a class
of ten students. “It’s New York.
You take any type of adventure you want in New York, and now you can go back to
preschool!” Lapidos declares.
Adjusted to
(1)
tapping
– poklepávání
enhanced
– zlepšený, zvýrazněný
expound
– vysvětlit
stuck
– uvíznutý, zaseknutý
waxed
– stat se, přibývat
jolt
– otřást, trhnout, cuknout
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to
a paragraph.
1 Kilpatrick thinks people should go back
2 Adults can break free in New York
3 Prise and content of the classes
4 A month-long preschool for adults
5 Adults need to break free
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 What is Lapidos’s job?
2 Why did she decide to do that?
3 Who is her partner? What are her opinions?
4 What do they say about the course?
5 How can life of enrollers change after attending the
course?
3) Explain the following words and phrases.
1 nap time
2 skipping club
3 dreamer in this project
4 class-trip expenses
5 seeking a new way of approaching life
4) Answer the following questions.
What is leisure time? How can adults spend it?
What are ways of spending leisure? Why is active leisure important? What is the biggest problem concerning a
valuable spending of free time?
Video:
Tips, sources of information:
Source:
(1)
CHIDINMA
NWOYE, Irene. Meet the two New Yorkers who are starting preschool for
adults. The Village Voice [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-20]. Available
at: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/meet-the-two-new-yorkers-who-are-starting-a-preschool-for-adults-6686092
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