Tot's 'Ivy' suit
Mom raps preschool
By DAREH GREGORIAN
Posted: 1:56 AM, March 15, 2011
A mad-as-heck Manhattan mom says her daughter's Ivy League dreams have been all but dashed -- and she's only 4 years old.
Nicole Imprescia is suing the $19,000-a-year York Avenue Preschool, saying her daughter, Lucia, was forced to spend too much time with lesser-minded 2- and 3-year-olds when she should have been focusing on test preparation to get into an elite elementary school.
The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, notes that "getting a child into the Ivy League starts in nursery school" and says the Upper East Side school promised Imprescia it would "prepare her daughter for the ERB, an exam required for admission into nearly all the elite private elementary schools."
But "it became obvious [those] promises were a complete fraud," the suit says. "Indeed, the school proved not to be a school at all but just one big playroom."
The miffed mom yanked her daughter after just three weeks -- but the school is refusing to refund the $19,000 she had to pay up front, said her lawyer, Mathew Paulose.
Bonus: The Benefits of Play (Scientific American Mind, Feb 2009)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... d-for-play
The Serious Need for Play
Free, imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed
By Melinda Wenner | January 28, 2009 | 44
Brown did not know which factor was more important. But in the 42 years since, he has interviewed some 6,000 people about their childhoods, and his data suggest that a lack of opportunities for unstructured, imaginative play can keep children from growing into happy, well-adjusted adults. “Free play,” as scientists call it, is critical for becoming socially adept, coping with stress and building cognitive skills such as problem solving. Research into animal behavior confirms play’s benefits and establishes its evolutionary importance: ultimately, play may provide animals (including humans) with skills that will help them survive and reproduce.
