At Little Hoofprints, we aim to give every child the strongest possible start in life. Our research-informed, whole-child approach uses rich literature, real-life objects, guided discovery and meaningful play to help children learn naturally. Along the way, we nurture lifelong habits such as curiosity, concentration, perseverance and taking pride in one’s best effort.
Our programme is mastery-based: children progress when they are ready and receive additional guidance and opportunities when a skill has not yet been mastered. Development is assessed gently and continuously through everyday activities, giving us a more accurate understanding of each child than a once-off assessment on a single day.
With an Educational Psychologist and Occupational Therapist on site, we can identify areas requiring support early and guide parents on the best way forward. Our goal is to build strong foundations for future schooling while developing confident, capable children who genuinely love learning.
Where did it start?
As an Educational Psychologist and a mom myself, I witness children going through pre-school, having to sit still for extended periods of time, loose their imagination and sense of exploration and being put into boxes. I also see a decline in play overall. Play is the highest form of learning and development for a child's brain and therefore we see more and more children with difficulties. There is a time where children have to learn to sit still and learn, it is definitely not in early childhood. In fact it is detrimental to their development and mental health later in life.
I decided to start this homeschool to give children the opportunity to develop in a natural, warm and attachment based setting, a childhood where they can grow and develop the way that it was supposed to be for children. Bringing experiential learning back. Research now shows that the decline of experience for children in the way our society approaches and implements early childhood education, creates sensory difficulties, under developed emotional children with lower empathy, it destroys natural curiosity and creativity, to name a few.
The research also shows that children who develop through play in early education do extremely well academically in later years and the chance of developing mental, behavioural or learning difficulties decreases significantly. Furthermore their attitude towards learning also stays positive into their adult life.
Our Teachers have over 30 years of experience in early childhood education. Our children are in good hands.