October 28th, 2009 larry
This week a new language class for kids opened up in Logan Square. Multilingual Chicago has been helping corporations with language classes and translations and has now opened a studio to help kids up to the age of 5 learn Spanish. They will expand to new languages in the future. Kids classes run about $140 per 9 week session. This is a real price break from many of the language immersion classes in the area (by several factors). Multilingual Chicago is at 2934 N Milwaukee in Chicago.
The new studio is very modern and comfortable. Though there are class offerings for adults to take with their children, parents with kids ages 3-5 are encouraged to relax while the kids take their own classes. There is a cafe stocked with coffee, tea and snacks. The classroom is also warm and comfortable and has a sliding wall that expands for bigger classes or just to give the kids more room.
We went to the open house this past weekend and took a class geared for 3-5 year olds. They taught the classroom on a rug which the kids thought was very funny. Our instructor, Anna, was vibrant and entertaining and was prepared for kids who had little background in Spanish though the class is taught with speaking very little English. She used several techniques that we thought really encouraged participation and made the class more fun. Anna used a fake microphone that she held out to the kids when she wanted them to speak or repeat something. Clapping and songs were used to get the kids used to a phrase or sentence. The class opened with “Como te llamas nombre” which even I remembered as “What is your name?”
Anna also used many visual and physical cues to help explain the vocabulary and phrases. The class stomped their feet fast and slow to learn “rapido.” They got up in a circle and held hands to make a “grande” circle and then rushed to the middle of the circle to make a “pequeno” circle. Pictures of a big king and skinny queen were used to describe “delgado” and “grande.” Then the kids were allowed to color a face to learn the parts of the face and the colors of crayons. Through all of these exercises Anna used the mircophone to get kids to repeat the words and gave high fives when the kids got it right. By the end, the kids really wanted those high fives.
The class ended with a picture book read in Spanish. As you can see, this is a power packed hour where the kids are learning a lot using a variety of fun tricks and techniques. My kid had a ball, especially at the beginning when it was very new and he got to yell Spanish words into the microphone. I look at Multilingual not as a startup new company, but a company that has a great heritage in teaching languages and is now leveraging those skills with the kids at an extremely inviting price point. The class we took was fun, educational and my kid is still singing some of the quick little songs this week.
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Mom Says:
Dad Says: The class is taught using language immersion which means no English. I wasn’t sure how our kid would react, but he participated quite a bit and it seems that the vocabulary really stuck with him after the class.
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October 21st, 2009 larry
Jelly Bean Sports runs sports classes for the very beginner athletes who are just starting to learn how to shoot a basketball, kick a soccer ball, and hit a baseball. Currently, they are teaching classes at the Hoffman Estates Park District. We got a chance to take a basketball class last week and experienced a wonderfully different type of sports class.
What is special about Jelly Bean is that they acknowledge that teaching the beginning athlete (3,4,5,6, year old) is much different than teaching the more mature kids. We all have been there, trying to get our kids to stand on a line, stand still to wait for a pitch, or even to throw a ball in your general vicinity. Our kids like balls, but they just aren’t big on rules, structure, and quite frankly sports. Candy, toys, and cartoons seem like a much better time.
So Jelly Bean takes that understanding and uses it to teach sports. Coach Pickles leads the classes and is as much a cartoon character as he is teacher. He comes out in a silly costume with huge shoes. One week later and my kid still asks how somebody could have feet that big. Coach Pickles uses humor, word games, and analogies that small kids can appreciate to teach sports in a fun way.
In our class, there were many instances of these techniques that have really stuck with our kid. For instance, to teach them to stand on their toes, he asked the kids to push on their belly buttons to “blow themselves up” to their toes. To get the kids to line up on a line, he dared them to stomp on the line as hard as they could. To learn to pass a basketball, he taught the kids how to make chicken wings with their elbows and let them have target practice against pictures stuck to the wall (instead of throwing the balls at each other’s heads). And layups started in the pizza position (one hand up like you are carrying a pizza), and end with “A, B, Knee, Shoot.” Or as we know it, 2 steps, lift the leg, and lay the ball against the backboard. My kid has retained every single one of these verbal hints.
It was very obvious to us that an enormous amount of thought was put into every aspect of teaching sports, in our case basketball. Every little trick and comment has a distinct purpose regarding basketball basics. But it was not all fun and games. Coach Pickles is a stickler for following directions and no cheating is allowed. When some of the bigger kids in the class weren’t running all the way to the lines during the race, he made them start over again and the smaller kids won because they followed the directions.
We talked to many of the parents in the class and they were all repeat customers, some with multiple children in the class. Jelly Bean Sports is not expanding too quickly because it has to be hard to find more people that can put on the performance that Coach Pickles does, so you’ll have to go to Hoffman Estates. The Coach never gets frustrated, never gets irritated, always has a good demeanor and words of encouragement. We have yet to find a class like this anywhere else that truly caters to the beginning athlete with so much success. The combination of good teaching, good sportsmanship, and fun is something we haven’t encountered before.
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Larry and Donna
Mom Says: We have tried Park District and private sports before, yet Coach Pickles was the only one that left such a positive impression on our son. Usually he is bored (Park District), has fun but learns very little (chain gym classes), or gives up because its too hard/serious (boutique sports classes). Jelly Bean Sports is really unique. I was impressed. If you live in the Northwest Suburbs definitely give it a try!
Dad Says: To have my kid come home from a sports class and remember what he learned was pretty shocking. He actually wants to pass the basketball around because he laughs so hard doing the chicken dance.
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October 14th, 2009 larry
The movie version of Where The Wild Things Are takes the book and expands it like a balloon. Every aspect of the film is visionary. Spike Jones and Dave Eggers screenplay is so real and evocative of what it’s like to be a kid. Both of these guys have such a knack for touching your memories like they are raw nerves - pretty amazing. The costumes and sets are magic. So simple and yet ridiculously complicated, I can’t do them justice with any description. The soundtrack is by Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. What a brilliant choice! The music is primative, yet modern and original, and absolutely integral to the film.
As a mother of a boy this movie is especially resonant. It makes me appreciate my boy. To understand his need to smash things as much as to build. It’s about a child’s need to be heard, loved, included, useful and powerful. It also reminds me of how scary it is to grow up. And how insecure in the world a child can feel.
This is absolutely a movie for adults, teens and older kids. If people want to know at exactly what age a child will enjoy this movie, I really don’t know. You have to know your kids. Where The Wild Things Are is intense. Only a few parts are scary, but the whole movie is heavy. Sure, Max is on a great adventure and there are some high energy times when Max really tears it up, but overall this is not a movie filled with action. It’s filled with emotions, dreams, and fears. It’s loaded with gorgeous images, amazing Wild Things, and magical moments. Will your younger kid be into that? My five year old is not ready to appreciate it. Hopefully in a few years he will be, because I can’t wait to watch it with him.
Click Here to read more Parent’s Reviews of Where the Wild Things Are.
Donna
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October 7th, 2009 larry
Gustafer’s Yellowgold Show is a quirky multi-media concert about a little yellow guy from the sun named Gustafer. The songs are accompanied by minimally-animated illustrations projected onto a large screen behind the musicians. This combination of music and visual art is super-engaging for the kids. Add to that the charismatic creator of the show, Morgan Taylor, interacting with the audience and you have a very successful concert. We saw the show in May 2009 and I’m really glad Gustafer is returning to Schuba’s on Sunday, October 11, 2009 for more families to experience. The show is at 11am and tickets cost $10 (children 2 and under are free).
The songs range from all-out silly to poignant. Of course the silly songs RULED. Both Slim the Eel, about Gustafer’s best friend, and I Jump on Cake, referring to his favorite hobby, stole the show for us. The show lasts only 45 minutes, which I think is the perfect length for little ones. Just as the antsy-ness begins, the show ends. I brought two four year olds (a boy and a girl) who were extremely involved with the performance. They yelled answers to Taylor’s questions to the audience, giggled hysterically during the show, and remembered many little details of the show long after it was over. There were friends of ours who had a 2 year old who loved it as well. This show is great for the whole family.
I do not want to skip over the fact that the musicians were very talented. The 3-piece band was fantastic - producing great sound quality and pretty much rockin’ the room. After reading many reviews of this show, I went in with high expectations. They were met. Definitely check it out.
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