I am convinced that the one of the most important education that I can give my baby bean is foreign language education. So I did some research and found a French Mommy and Me class near our house. See you there!

Alliance Française de Los Angeles
French cultural and language center

10390 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite #120
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-652-0306

Classes they offer are:

1. Bebe Musique (newborn to 2 year old)
2. Mommy & Me / Petit a Petit (1 to 2 years old)
3. French Preschool (3 to 5 years old)
4. Mini-Groups (3 to 5 years old)
5. French for American Children (7 to 10 year old)

For pricing and class schedule, visit Alliance Française website.

The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk is a free event held every second Thursday afternoon and evening in and around the Historic Core’s Gallery Row neighborhood. For this one night each month, Downtown LA returns to its historic pedestrian-based culture, a vibrant scene that is itself a draw for locals and tourists seeking an authentic urban experience. Launched in 2004 by the then-marginal community’s pioneer gallerists, Art Walk has become a grassroots urban success story, with upwards of 10,000 people coming out each month to see the newest art exhibits, enjoy the bustling street culture, eat, drink and socialize.

Visit Artwalk website for more information.

Your kids could talk about what they did this summer—or just press Play. At Apple Camp, kids ages 8-12 learn how to do cool stuff on a Mac: make a movie, show off photos like a pro, write and record a song, or create a multimedia presentation. You can sign up for as many three-hour workshops as you like. But space is limited, so do it soon. Then get ready for an adventure.

Korean Cultural Center is one of my favorite places to go. Its a great place to go if you want to learn about Korea. They constantly are having all sorts of events, including movie screenings. If you want your kids to pick up a foreign language then you can’t beat their deal, and its affiliated with Seoul National University. Check them out, they’re fun to visit and look at the Korean art, and also great to learn about the Korean people.

Lakeshore store sells products ranging from Furniture, Toys and Learning materials (such as book and CDs) for infants to 6th graders. It is also a great place to get supplies for birthday parties. They have an online catalog where you can browse through all their products. They are also a locally started business, with locations all across town.

Closest one to us is Culver City:

8888 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034

310-559-9630
Fax 310-559-1684

Monday-Friday: 9:00-7:00
Saturday: 9:00-6:00
Sunday: 11:00-5:00

Bye Bye Birdie
The Youth Education/Entertainment Series
Morgan Wixson Theatre
310/828.7519

There’s no better way to introduce your kids to theatre than letting them see their peers on stage. The Santa Monica Theatre Guild does this like few other companies by producing full-length musicals with a cast made up of kids from first grade through high school. You’ll see plenty of our local young performers in this production of the classic musical Bye Bye Birdie! The show will be up and running on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Buy your tickets on line here.

Don’t miss out the great opportunity for winter swim lessons. Registration begins December 3rd, 2008.

For further inquiries, please call 310.458.8700

This is a great and very inexpensive way to have hours and hours of fun with your child. A great way to build problem solving skills early and even work on memory. This can be easily used to train your babies brain to understand colors, animals and feeling textures. You can buy it at www.infantino.com

Westside Ballet is a great place to take your yongsters to get their agility and muscle development up. They provide a ton of Ballet education, your child can start early and continue going if they want. Check them out.

I’ve been told that studying music develops a child’s brain. I’m conflicted on that opinion. Some of my best friends are musicians many of the are extremely smart and witty, others- not so much. Ah maybe we’ll just play that off to the unusually high amount of drugs the “not so muchers” did. Anyway, this place looks pretty neat, and their prices aren’t too bad. An 8 week course will cost you $225 which is like what $28 per session. They cover Piano, Guitar, Violin, drums and percussion. Their classes are designed to get your child some experience with a variety of instruments before they choose an emphasis. They also provide single instrument classes. If i was going to get my child lessons i would start with piano. My reasoning- it will give them a grasp of pitch. Also- if you have a piano at home- keep it tuned for your kid otherwise you’ll screw up their pitch for years to come.

Check out Music Stars & Masters

They are on the second floor next to Nordstrom

(310) 470-1400