New York Family’s November 2013 Issue

Photo by Mark Abrahams / Trunk Archive

Amanda’s Second Act
After years on both the big and small screens, actress Amanda Peet has added a few more plum roles to her resume: mother of two, childhood vaccination advocate, and playwright

Lights! Camera! Celebration!
Our annual birthday party guide—inspired by some of our favorite kids’ movies—is your roadmap to the city’s best party venues—plus, plenty of fun themes, décor and game ideas, and tasty treats

Work It Out
Our career blogger Barri Waltcher helps at-home parents navigate their return to the workplace

 

Family Fun Guide

Ten Great Events For November
Power of Poison exhibit, Intrepid Museum’s Scout Day, “Ballerina Swan,” and more

 

Home & Away

Moms Of Real Estate: Part 2
In the second installment of our “Parents & Real Estate” series, four moms—and real estate power players—dish on neighborhood gems and making smart choices for family living

Travel
A wanderlustful winter destination guide to suit every family’s interests (and climate preferences)

Quality Time
Set your Thanksgiving table in style with our picks for seasonal décorcrafting, and baking

 

Columns

Editor’s Note
Giving thanks

Events & Offers
An Art Farm in the City semester class and membership giveawayupcoming camp fairs, and the scoop on our weekly newsletters

Scoop
Julianne Moore’s new children’s booka kids’ clothing store on the LESthe latest tech toy, and more

A Special Place
For 20 years, Eastside Westside Music Together has been helping parents and kids bond over the joys of singing and movement

Starting Out
Renowned parenting expert Priscilla Dunstan shares her insights on managing a crying baby and the importance of early infant-parent bonding

Special Needs
In Raising Henry, her book about parenting a child with Down syndrome, Columbia professor Rachel Adams examines the broader issues faced by families raising children with disabilities.

A Good Idea
No one has done more to help adoptive families and orphaned children around the world than local mom and “orphan doctor” Jane Aronson

Activity Of The Month: Music
A parent’s guide to helping their budding musician select a first instrument—with tips from local instructors and experts

Hot Trends
Get set for the winter sports season with our roundup of awesome city basketball programs

The Last Word
A local mom has visions of raising another baby as her teen nears the end of high school

Relevant Directory Listings

See More

HudsonWay Immersion School

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{">A pioneer in language immersion since 2005. After school language classes provide a fun and effective way for preschool and elementary children to learn Mandarin or Spanish language skills through project based learning and fun, engaging themes.</span></p>

The Language Workshop For Children

<p dir="ltr">After offering both group and private lessons for many years and analyzing the results over time, The Language Workshop for Children, founded in1973, has decided to emphasize private remote lessons at shorter intervals. Our skilled educators will focus their attention exclusively on the unique needs, learning style, and interests of your child. This allows a bond to develop between teacher and student, which has been shown to drastically improve retention. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>OUR METHOD </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Developed by the pioneers of language education for children, our programs bring decades of experience to your living room with individualized, active language classes. Each lesson is based on proven methods and materials perfected to capture your child’s attention during the ages when he/she absorbs information the fastest.   </p> <p dir="ltr">While other online language classes rely on videos for passive learning, we deliver interactive, and engaging lessons with native-fluent teachers. In addition, all our teachers are certified in the Thibaut Technique which has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other well-respected publications.  </p> <p dir="ltr">Our short one-on-one lessons give kids the chance to focus, hear pronunciation clearly, and practice speaking in their target language. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>THE PROCESS</strong> </p> <p dir="ltr">First, students have a short meeting with our Director Francois Thibaut, in English, with their parent(s) present. Mr. Thibaut will determine the best course of study, including class length and frequency, the right teacher, lesson format and materials (or action games for younger students.) Then the learning begins! Mr. Thibaut will continually check in on your child’s learning to assure they are getting the most of their classes. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>OTHER OFFERINGS </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">We can also help your child prepare for: the French subject tests for SAT, AP & CLEP, the European DELF/DALF, the Canadian TEF and other standardized testing, college entry exams, studying or traveling abroad, cultural changes when moving abroad, and much more! </p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a97d759c-7fff-6e4d-8e93-70e093aa10f1"> </span></p>

Speakitaly NYC

<p>SPEAKITALY NYC offers stimulating and entertaining lessons for children 0 to 16 years through a wide combination of activities based on the communicative approach anchored in the Common European Framework of Reference: active learning (group work, role plays, etc.) and practice exercises aimed to improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Kids will start speaking and using Italian in a very natural way.  Small classes capped at 6 students to make sure each one gets the needed attention and facilitate learners' progress. </p> <p>Our method is driven by a didactic method that is the result of constant updates, professional certifications and more than 10 years of experience in working with non-native speakers from different native languages and levels of knowledge.</p> <p>Our aim is to develop a range of Italian language skills while improving accuracy that will enable the students and participants to interact without stress or feeling rushed. We want to help those in the community really embrace not only the true culture in Italy but the Italian culture within New York City… Who doesn’t love what Italy represents in the kitchen, in history & in the arts?</p> <p>Speakitaly wants to support multilingual families who want to learn a new language or pass along their ancestor’s heritage and culture. Raffaella, the founder said: "We see language awareness and intercultural sensitivity as the milestones for an inclusive society. Italian, like all other languages, is an enrichment and a growth in every way. Vi aspettiamo!"</p>