Adolescent Program 12 - 15 years

Even as a first grader, I gave my grandparents F’s on dictations and wanted to be a teacher because of the power they have. Later, I resisted that power and learned in Boy Scouts that power is not about dominance, but about cooperation and the ability to do great things. Kids are the ones with the power to change the world, and the things they do every day are huge. So huge that they transcend themselves. I’m trying to awaken that same energy in adults. I love my job because it gives me the power to facilitate this miracle and serve humanity. I touch the mystery of life every day.

Hanka Slabá graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, where she later led seminars on communication in practice. She has experience in working with children from 18 months to adults. She has taught in kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools. She has completed an international diploma course to become a guide for children aged 0-3 (Heidi Philippart), 3-6 (Maria Roth), leadership training (Sue Pritzker) and started 6-12 training (Kay Baker) with Association Montessori International (AMI). She was involved in the founding of Montessori Schools Andílek and Montessori Institute Prague. She has experience from international schools in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Poland, Austria, the USA and Slovakia. She works as a Montessori methodologist and assistant of international AMI trainings. She has also translated language materials into Czech for the needs of 3-6 training. She is the author of the book Montessori Kindergarten and cooperates as an expert supervisor with the publishing house Portál and Euromedia. She is a wife and mother of 4 children, whom she guides in the spirit of Montessori principles.

I have enjoyed natural science and learning about living and non-living things around us since I was a child. I started teaching children and young people in high school through extracurricular activities. Especially through the equestrian club, which is also my biggest hobby. Later, while studying in college, I led a research interest group, which kind of combined my professional side of life with what I enjoy. And that is sharing the excitement of exploring and observing nature, learning, researching, and at the same time passing on my knowledge and experience. Motivating children to be independent and to seek out solutions, to be interested in the problem at hand and to  support them in their efforts to move forward is what makes sense to me.

I studied Zoology of Vertebrates at the Faculty of Science at Charles University in Prague. I have also been working for a long time as the head of leisure activities at the House of Children and Youth of the capital city of Prague. I am also the Head of the Youth and Youth Activities Department of the City of Prague. In recent years I had the opportunity to work on a very interesting project “Biodiversity dynamics across a continuum of space, time, and their scales” at the Faculty of Environment of the University of Agriculture in Prague. In my spare time I do horse riding, cycling and hiking.

I like expeditions. To the countryside, to modern cities and to the past. Every trip is a new experience and enrichment. Who wants to understand the present should look to the past. I watch the contemporary world closely and try to understand it in context. How we relate to planet Earth today will fundamentally affect the lives of our children. I therefore try to guide them towards personal and societal responsibility. Andílek encourages this approach and that is why I feel comfortable here. Being a useful guide for children and students is a great challenge.

Pavla studied Religious Studies and Philosophy at the Hussite Theological Faculty, and later Pedagogy at Jan Amos Komenský University. While studying, she started working as an editor of Lidové noviny. She remained in the media for several years. She worked at Hospodářské noviny, Aktuálně.cz and Deník. After that, she worked for the Futuroom project, organising training and education for journalists. After the birth of her children, she returned to teaching. As a participant of the Teacher Live programme she worked at a Montessori school in Kladno. In 2019, she attended the Introduction to adolescent workshop. Since childhood she went to camp, later as a head counselor. She is working in the adolescent program in Andílek as a coordinator and teacher of humanities.

During my studies, I was interested in learning mathematics in different ways than I had experienced. In my master thesis I focused on non-traditional approaches in mathematics teaching, on the problem and project method. This led me to search for a school that would do exactly that. It was also important for me to find an environment where it is natural to approach children individually, where there is a sense of support and trust towards students and each other among colleagues, and where everyone is striving to develop further. In Andílek I found exactly that combination of a welcoming, supportive environment and the opportunity to learn and explore mathematics from a different perspective.

Klára studied Mathematics Teaching for Secondary Schools and English Philology in Olomouc. During her studies she spent a semester at university in Norway and England. In the last year of her studies she taught construction mathematics and English at a secondary school. She has been going to camps all her life and spent two summers as a counselor at summer camps in the USA. She enjoys working with children and young people and has been involved as a volunteer in various organisations since high school. She enjoys spending her free time in nature or creating with pencil or thread.

I’m an American from Detroit, living in the Czech Republic now for more than 30 years. My whole life has been a journey of self-learning, and working with adolescents has been a repeating theme. The Adolescent farm is a concept close to my heart as I attended an alternative elementary school in Oxford, Michigan, situated in a farm environment. As a teen, we moved from the city to a farm where I learned to earn money and raise livestock. During those years, I was an active teen leader in our local 4-H chapter.

Coming to Czechoslovakia, I first worked at a Gymnasium in Usti nad Orlici, and later in Prague, helped to establish a Montessori pre-school in Nebusice. For several years, as our two children were adolescents, my wife and I led a community program with our local elementary school designed to develop capacities in 12-15 year olds through study and service. These experiences are the background to my work at Andilek.

After graduation, I spent several winter seasons in the mountains teaching children and adults to ski. In addition to the outdoor exercise, it was great to experience the kids’ enthusiasm and the progress they made in two hours, a week or a whole season. After the birth of my daughter, I naturally became interested in the needs of children from a different – for me, new – point of view. Over time we as a family were presented with a new challenge in the form of my daughter’s specific speech disorder – developmental dysphasia. Thus, I am constantly learning to guide my child with special needs through all possible and impossible situations, so far using alternative ways of communication and selected approaches from the field of special education. I feel that through this personal experience and patient approach I can be a suitable support force for children and adults. In addition, the working environment that exists amongst the adults at Andílek is very stimulating and welcoming.

Dominika studied sport management at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport in Prague. In 2011 she received her license from the Association of Professional Ski Teachers and for several years she has been teaching skiing seasonally. She has an internationally recognized certificate in English language at C1 level (Certificate of Advanced English). In her spare time she is a letterpress artist.

A child’s soul, sensitive, insightful and very honest, is a source of unique joy for me and often a teaching mirror to myself. Being with children, working with them and learning from them makes sense. A child’s world offers a true glimpse into the future.

Vítězslav was born when John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Rolling Stones made their debut at London’s Marquee Club. After high school, he chose between forestry school, with a desire to join the Mountain Service, and the lure of the artistic muse. He eventually graduated from the Conservatoire with degrees in composition and conducting and has been involved in music in various forms throughout his life. As a composer and active musician, he has worked with various theatres and many musical ensembles. After the Velvet Revolution, he founded a music publishing company where he produced over 250 CD titles, mainly focused on classical music and jazz. De facto, for the sake of his own daughters, he co-founded Andílek’s Atelier, a creative platform for children from the Andílek Montessori schools. Here, he currently leads a choir, shares his joy of music with the children in individual lessons, and does woodworking. In 2018, he completed the Montessori Adolescent Orientation training in Sweden and is looking forward to the Grade 2 adolescent program he is helping to implement at the school.

I enjoy figuring things out, sorting, assessing and analyzing the facts and dependencies in our world. In today’s information-saturated age, I find this skill very important, and exploring the queen of the sciences – mathematics – contributes to developing logical and critical thinking. In addition to a positive relationship with mathematics and the exact sciences in general, I have enjoyed working with children all my life – for years I have led a children’s club and organised summer camps. With the birth of my children, I found a love for Montessori pedagogy, especially for its emphasis on individual freedom, but also for its scientific approach based on observation, not conjecture. I am very happy to have the opportunity to blend all of these interests and guide the students in their development.

František graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, majoring in Computer Science. Since his studies he has been working in the IT industry as a programmer and manager. He completed the AMI Adolescent Introductory Workshop with Tina Booth and has been working at Andílek since September 2020. In his free time he enjoys exercising and playing the bass guitar.

I was drawn to Andílek mainly because of the values I share with Montessori pedagogy as a teacher and as a mother. It is a deep trust in the child and respect for his individuality. I am very aware of how important it is to build on the child’s inner need to learn about the world and how it works. Supporting this desire is essential for me. My goal in teaching French is that students use the language directly, are not afraid to make mistakes and can use the language from the first moments of learning.

Sylvia graduated from the Pedagogical Faculty at Charles University, majoring in French language and social sciences, and later expanded her qualifications to English language. She studied for two semesters at the Université de Perpignan in France. She has a DALF C1 certificate in French. She is currently undergoing an AMI course for Montessori pedagogy focused on adolescents. She has been working at Andílek since October 2020.

Already in elementary school I realized how much disinterest, or even dislike, a bad teacher can build towards a subject. What I enjoy the most about working with children is discovering their enthusiasm and their individual strengths in what I enjoy so much. It is extremely important to me to lead children to movement, self-discovery and overcoming their own boundaries. As well as getting them out in nature and showing them all there is to do outside. At Andílek, as an added bonus, I work with a great group of colleagues that are also my friends, inspire me and push my horizons further.

Matěj graduated from high school, specializing in ecology and environment. He has been a member of the Boy Scouts since he was 8 years old and is still actively involved as a group leader. He also has many years of experience as a parkour instructor. He has completed the AMI assistant course for ages 6 – 12 and has been working at Andílek since 2017.