A reader contacted us on Twitter last month asking if we had
any advice about extracurricular classes for her six-year-old son, who is very
interested in buildings and architecture.
I love questions like these.
I love it because it gives us a chance to help a reader in a
palpable way. I love it because it challenges us to make sure we’re on top of
one of our core areas of expertise. And I love it because it’s a reminder of
one of the best aspects of raising kids in this city (and why this is such a
great city in which to be the editor of a magazine for parents).
New York City
cradles and cultivates dreams. There are so many wonderful things that
motivated parents can give their children exposure to. And then once children
show some interest in wanting to learn more or do more, there are always places
and people in the city who will help them go deeper. Unless you’re Malcolm
Gladwell, it’s hard to piece together all the reasons why we ultimately enter
the occupations we do. But it’s fair to say that exposure and opportunity are
always important parts of the equation—and a New York
childhood has the potential to be as eye-opening as any horizon.
How does this work? Let’s consider three scenarios.
The Future
Artist
When the child was very young, his parents might have
stocked the apartment with lots of crayons and hand paint and paper. Maybe they
spent some time together at a great neighborhood craft shop like The Craft
Studio, or took an art class for 18-24 month-olds like “My Chelsea Art Opening”
at apple seeds. Soon enough there are trips to museums—all kinds of museums,
offering all kinds of art, from the impressionists at MoMA to Himalayan art at
the Rubin Museum.
As the child gets older, he’ll start taking more serious classes at the
Children’s Museum of the Arts or Hi Art! and his path to art school and
adulthood will start to take shape.
The Future
Athlete
This child would be the one at Gymboree, for whom tumbling
and all the other physical activities in their early childhood “Play & Learn”
classes always seemed to be a piece of cake. She loves her time on the
playground too, of course—and in a city filled with playgrounds like the one at
Union Square Park, for example, what’s not to
love? Outsiders may think, where do you play sports amid all that concrete?
What every active NYC family discovers is that every sport has its place (or
places)—be it at one of the great Ys (like the 92nd Street Y), or a large
neighborhood children’s activity center (like Gymtime), or one of the well-run
sports league (like West Side Soccer). Once you’re in the loop, you find out
that there actually is grass or turf to be played on at places like Randall’s Island.
When the child is older and truly competitive, she’ll find herself playing for
her high school team, or chances are there will be a great team associated with
a sports center (like the swim teams at Asphalt Green). And then college
beckons.
The Future
International Lawyer Or Businessperson
It’s a big world and New York City
kids know this because they have often have friends who were born in places as
far flung as South Korea,
Lebanon and India.
Consciously or not, their parents have also been raising them to be citizens of
the world by taking them to classes which may have roots in another culture
(like Karma Kids Yoga), and institutions that often bring the best of kids
culture from around the world to the city (like the New Victory Theater). This
exposure only broadens and deepens as kids get older and seek out institutions
known for celebrating the culture and mores of other countries (like the Asian
Society). One more global driver: the city’s great ethnic restaurants. Another
one: the U.N. As for law or business, that’s just a matter of catching the vibe
of the city, and what’s going on with all the adults. Even if somehow your
parents do not have to do any traveling because of work, chances are you
probably have friends with parents who do.
Final thought:
Parents may not be able to mold the essential personality of their children—and
don’t try that at home—but as these scenarios suggest, we can still do a lot to
expose them to all sorts of wonderful interests and excitements. And while it’s
nice to know that, in a sense, we live in a city that does some of the work for
us, it’s still important for us to take a step back now and then and consider
what else we can share or do with them. Do we stick to the familiar and
comfortable, or toss in the occasional challenge?
