Suri Cruise may wear lipstick, high heels and be the most photographed five-year-old in the world, but this month she got the chance to act like a normal child and go to school - well sort of.
Rather than painting pictures for her parents and reciting the alphabet with her classmates, the daughter of Hollywood actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will be learning much more complicated subjects as she attends Scientology school.
The New Leadership Academy in Los Angeles is a school founded by close friends of Cruise's, actor, Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The controversial religion, which has been widely publicised by the actor, doesn't believe in a regular syllabus for their pupils.
Suri, who is destined to be a poster girl for Scientology by her famous father, has been introduced to the religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard's ideas of affinity, reality and communication in her first few days at school - even though she is probably too young to understand it. Despite reports that Cruise, 49 and his 32-year-old wife have turned their backs on the faith, proud mother, Holmes, was pictured collecting Suri from school, where's she sure to have done a hard day's studying.
Age is nothing but a number at this school as one former Scientologist revealed the complicated learning that takes place: 'Instead of learning basic words and maths, Suri and the other children will learn how to rid themselves of engrams – that is, past memories that block learning and understanding,' they said. 'Everything is so different,' they added. 'The kids are on a special diet that includes low-carb lunches and even days of fasting, and the lessons are steps towards the eventual ‘revelation’ that we are all descended from aliens.'
But it's not just odd food and unusual subjects that take centre stage at the Scientology school, one of the key modules of Suri’s education at the $30,000-a-year school is robotics, where the children learn to build and interact with robots. The private elementary school based in Calabasas, California, has attracted wide speculation over its use of Study Technology which is the teaching methodology developed by Hubbard.
Rather than painting pictures for her parents and reciting the alphabet with her classmates, the daughter of Hollywood actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will be learning much more complicated subjects as she attends Scientology school.
The New Leadership Academy in Los Angeles is a school founded by close friends of Cruise's, actor, Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The controversial religion, which has been widely publicised by the actor, doesn't believe in a regular syllabus for their pupils.
Suri, who is destined to be a poster girl for Scientology by her famous father, has been introduced to the religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard's ideas of affinity, reality and communication in her first few days at school - even though she is probably too young to understand it. Despite reports that Cruise, 49 and his 32-year-old wife have turned their backs on the faith, proud mother, Holmes, was pictured collecting Suri from school, where's she sure to have done a hard day's studying.
Age is nothing but a number at this school as one former Scientologist revealed the complicated learning that takes place: 'Instead of learning basic words and maths, Suri and the other children will learn how to rid themselves of engrams – that is, past memories that block learning and understanding,' they said. 'Everything is so different,' they added. 'The kids are on a special diet that includes low-carb lunches and even days of fasting, and the lessons are steps towards the eventual ‘revelation’ that we are all descended from aliens.'
But it's not just odd food and unusual subjects that take centre stage at the Scientology school, one of the key modules of Suri’s education at the $30,000-a-year school is robotics, where the children learn to build and interact with robots. The private elementary school based in Calabasas, California, has attracted wide speculation over its use of Study Technology which is the teaching methodology developed by Hubbard.
