Curiosity is key
A child comes into our world with an innate curiosity and is a natural learner – never in its later life will there be the same progress as during the first five years, during which we watch and admire the enormous growth of linguistic, conceptual, social, emotional, and motor competences.
From the moment the child is born, it will explore the environment, learn to communicate, and, in relatively short time, begin to construct ideas and theories about how the world works. How much and how quickly the child learns will, however, depend on whether and to what extent the child's inclinations to learn encounter and engage a supporting environment.
We become what we surround ourselves with. That is why we put our love and dedication to provide the child with a beautiful and inspirational environment that focuses on learning and knowledge but also on friendship and love.
We also believe that it is the relationships that a child builds with people, that will inform how much educators and care takers can inspire its development in those formative years, which have a massive influence on the child’s entire life.
Our key aspiration is therefore to know the child, to accept the child in its uniqueness, to help the child explore its talents and to offer all the love and care possible to nurture the child’s early years.
Our Philosophy
Studying children, their behavior and natural ability for learning, we have found rich reassurance within the philosophies of (early childhood) education from Rudolf Steiner, Maria Montessori, Loris Malaguzzi, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Sir Ken Robinson and the concept of Forest Schools. We have incorporated their fundamentals in our approach, but at the same time we aim to develop bespoke and culturally relevant methodologies.
We want to open the world to the child and prepare the child to conquer it. We live in a new époque and when the young ones of today are grown up, the world would have gone through major changes. Technological advancement already provides us with an overflow of information at our fingertips and soon artificial intelligence will be able to perform many of the tasks we had been taught during our time at school.
That is why our focus from an early age is on communication and creative thinking. Our focus is on the qualities that make the human experience unique and let us stand out. It is the child’s abilities and talents, that guide us and that lead us in supporting the child to form its distinct personality.
Identity, Talent and Purpose
Some of the child’s most pertinent needs are located in his/her ability to explore its surrounding external world and simultaneously to develop his/her internal world; forming identity, a sense of self and purpose.
It follows that we are committed to pursuing a culturally responsive pedagogy, one that promotes positive racial, cultural and gender identities and that affirms the pride of place, confidence and importance of the same as essential bases for providing a holistic, rewarding educational experience, built for achieving academic success as well as resilience[1].
From the nuances of stories and imageries, the appearances of toys and book characters, our ethos manifests in the everyday and we seek to affirm the positivity and beauty of our natural looks, the richness of our cultures and the uniqueness of our identities. We ultimately believe that by embracing these foundational aspects of who we are, we open a powerful channel to instil confidence, pride and a strong individual and collective sense of purpose.
[1] Hanley, M., Noblit, G. (2009). Cultural responsiveness, racial identity and academic success: a review of literature. Retrieved from: http://www.heinz.org/UserFiles/Library/Culture-Report_FINAL.pdf
Connection with Nature
A young child learns with all its senses and that is why its environment needs to be imaginative and resourceful. The child needs to move, touch, smell and hear. The child wants to explore what is often ordinary, but full of wonders for a young and inquisitive mind. A young child learns a great deal through imitation and therefore loves to imitate different people and to do things that adults perform at home: cooking, cleaning, reading, gardening, etc.
In today’s urban cultures a young child is often overstimulated with nothing able to keep up with the stimulation from the screen and the fascination observed in adults for mobile devices. Whilst modern technologies in such forms are here to stay and of course do have benefits, we aim on the other hand to provide space for the child to develop its own play with simple materials; be it water, paint, dough or natural objects like stones, shells, nuts, beans etc. This kind of play makes the child feel at ease and nurtures its creativity and learning experiences.
Our teachers are facilitators during the child’s learning processes – we explore together the wonders of the world. A teacher’s primary role is to inspire and guide the child and to learn from it. The first aim of the teacher is always to assist the child to understand how it learns best. That is the basis for creating a passion for lifelong learning.
The benefits for children to be exposed to nature are abundant: it increases focus, enhances creativity and problem solving abilities, improves academic performance, increases confidence, increases physical activity, improves self-discipline and reduces stress to mention a few. In urban setups we tend to get so easily disconnected from our natural environment, but we believe it is vital for a child's development to stay in touch with nature. The connection to the earth and every living thing, also helps the child to develop calmness and empathy.
That is why we prioritise the design of a mostly natural outdoor environment. And we know that it makes the children happy too, if they can play on the playground and in the sandpit, cook in the mud kitchen, plant seeds in their garden patches, watch them grow and harvest. We have a tree nursery and a spice garden, but the kid’s favourite is always the animal corner, where they spend hours observing and taming animals.
Imagination and the Arts
We want to inspire creative minds who will not just be consumers, but actively influence their environment and society. We believe that opportunities for artistic expression are key for a child's natural development and we make it be part of most activities. According to Rudolf Steiner this is what awakens creative powers which will find fruitful and useful application in endless ways in later life and work. The reason for this is based on one of the fundamental precepts of true teaching, namely that when we engage the child in physical, practical activity, such as handwork, we are working on the whole human being and it is essentially in the following ways that handwork affects a growing child:
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it lifts motor activity to the realm of skill
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it transforms willpower into beauty of form
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it changes what would otherwise be an insignificant activity into a virtue.
Preparation for School
Whilst all children (and adults) learn best through play, life isn’t always that kind with us. During all our playful activities the young child’s brain is primed for many different kinds of learning processes. From the age of five our teachers will focus on preparing the child for school. Our teachers will offer activities where the child will be guided to become more familiar with school type surroundings and teachings involving desk learning, drawing, writing and counting skills. In this way we aim to create a smooth and successful transition for our young creators and inventors when they will face a more formal setting.
