http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/grownups-pay-big-bucks-attend-nyc-adult-preschool/story?id=29701836

Grownups Pay Big Bucks to Attend NYC 'Adult Preschool'
Mar 17, 2015, 5:29 PM ET
By GENEVIEVE SHAW BROWN

Candice Kilpatrick and Michelle Joni at the Adult Pre School in Brooklyn, N.Y., March 10, 2015. Stressed out adults are spending up to $1,000 to unwind at the World's first grown up preschool.

Getting in touch with your inner child has never been so expensive.

The Brooklyn-based Preschool Mastermind, as it's called, is a preschool-type experience for adults. No, really. And according to its founder, there's show-and-tell, arts-and-crafts such as finger paint, games (think musical chairs) and even naps.

"I realized all the implications of what we learn in preschool," said founder Michelle Joni, who said she went to school for childhood education and always wanted to be a preschool teacher. "People come here and get in touch with their inner child. It's magical."

The class runs through March and meets weekly. Joni was getting ready for tonight's class when we spoke. She facilitates the class with two assistants. There are six students in the class, each hoping to get something different out of the experience.

"One person's here because they want to learn not to be so serious," she said. "Another's here to learn to be more confident." But some are there just to have fun.

Adult preschool -- not unlike New York City's preschool's for children, doesn't come cheap. Payment for the class is on a sliding scale ranging from $333 to $999. Joni said that "preschool is all about choice. I want them to feel good about the choice they're making."


Next week there's a field trip. Then the last week of class is "parent day" when the students bring two adults of their choice to class. One woman is actually bringing her parents.

Joni said that while the planned activities are fun, it's often the spontaneous moments that resonate with the students. "It's the things you don't plan for, the sharing between friends and learning from and working off each other."

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