The International Montessori preschool "Duhovka" opens a new class in the premises of the Hergetova cihelna at Kampa on 1st September. The preschool offering a Czech - English environment is ready to receive children from the age of two and a half to six years. The school is a part of the Duhovka project, which uses modern pedagogical approaches, namely Montessori methods, to provide bilingual education ranging from preschool classes to high school studies.

The Duhovka preschool at the Hergetova cihelna builds on the success of a preschool of the same name located in Kozlovska street, Prague 6, which has been providing pre-school education based on teaching principles of Maria Montessori already for two years. The Montessori method, which is becoming increasingly popular, makes use of children’s natural desire to discover and explore the world around them. It treats them as unique human beings and leaves them enough space for easy self-understanding. The teacher observes the children, tries to apprehend their needs and cultivates their motivation for learning and further development.

"The Montessori environment is based on respect for the child. We act as a bridge to guide him from one skill to the next and in this he develops self-confidence and independence," says Dorothy Paul, the director of the Duhovka preschool at the Hergetova cihelna and of the Duhovka Institute, Montessori training centre for teachers, about the method. The preschool focuses not only on the individual development of the child, but also on children’s cooperation in groups. Children of different ages play and work together and so learn from one another. Bilingual Czech-English classes constitute an integral part of the educational concept of Duhovka. The international character of the preschool, where children and teachers come from different countries, forms a natural bilingual environment, in which the children come into contact with a foreign language and immediately start acquiring it through games and other activities.

For the upcoming school year Duhovka also opens a grammar school and a high school and thus offers a complex system of Montessori education for children from three to 19 years of age. At the same time, the Duhovka Institute is being created - a training centre aimed at supporting professional development of teachers as well as communication between all school levels.

An Open Day at the preschool Duhovka Hergetova cihelna will be held on Monday, 6th September 2010, from 8,30 am to 4 pm in Cihelná street no. 2b, Prague 1 – Kampa. For more information on the preschool please visit: www.duhovkaskolka.cz