Illustration by Vahram Muradyan; images by Les Byerley / Shutterstock; QuartoMundo / CGTrader This article was published online on August 3, 2021.Last March, just before we knew the pandemic had arrived, my husband and I enrolled our son in a progressive private school in Pasadena, California. He was 14 and, except for a year abroad, had been attending public schools his whole life. Private was my idea, the gentle kind of hippie school I’d sometimes wished I could attend during my ragtag childhood in Boston-area public schools amid the desegregation turmoil of the 1970s and ’80s. I wanted smaller class sizes, a more nurturing environment for my artsy, bookish child. I did notice that—despite having diversity in its mission statement—the...
Credit: Universal M. Night Shyamalan films are among the most divisive. Do you love or hate his twist endings? Is The Village an unsung masterpiece or B-movie schlock? Does the ending of Signs ruin the whole thing? Which is his best film? Which is his worst? Still, he’s managed several number one openings, including his latest outing, Old, now in theatres. Check out: What’s new on Netflix When looking at some of the negative sides of his legacy, it’s hard not to scoff at what are, in many cases, bad faith critiques of his work (including some blatantly racist jabs) and signature twist endings. In contrast to Robot Chicken’s “what a twist” bit, the vast majority of Shyamalan’s films don’t...
It may be time for me to admit that my “weekly” column has become a monthly column. It used to be that non-fiction took me a while to read, but I could polish off a novel pretty quickly. These days, fiction takes me significantly longer to finish, and even the graphic novels are piling up. Admittedly, part of it is that I’ve been able to host game nights again (and my stacks of unplayed games are also overflowing), but part is also that the pandemic has basically taken up residence in my brain and is using a lot of background resources. At any rate, I did manage to read a few books this past month, so here we go! The Bug...
Wondering what to do with kids this weekend in NYC? How about this dance festival, or explore for insects on this hike. You can even tour one of the ships at the South Street Seaport – for free! Check out the rest of our fun weekend event picks for kids below! Photo: iStock Summer Kids 2021: Tots Sing & Play This event is a 45 minute musical and rhythm class for small children with singing, shakers, and varying genres and original songs. It is a free event that participants must register for in advance due to strict capacity limits. Event Details. NYC Transit Museum Is Reopening The New York Transit Museum is reopening! Make a reservation and learn about new...
Get the necessary and right homeschool supplies to a fantastic school year! Are finding homeschool supplies something you are looking for this year? It’s no secret that COVID-19 and the shutting down of schools gave parents a lot to think about when it comes to homeschooling their children. In the U.S., 2.5 million children were homeschooled in 2019. By the end of 2020, that number exploded to 9 million! Perhaps it’s not simply the pandemic that has you considering the homeschooling option. Some parents choose to homeschool their children because their children lack progress in traditional schooling or because they have a different view when it comes to educational philosophies. Whatever the reason for wanting to homeschool your little ones,...
