Philosophy

We believe that each child possesses unique talents and gifts. Children are by nature curious and exploring and, hence, are inclined to learn organically. At the heart of our philosophy is the conviction that we have an opportunity and responsibility to help children become happy, successful, lifelong learners. Our programs provide children with hands-on learning experiences because children learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process. Additionally, we try to create a comfortable, family-like aura in the school that would make children’s morning arrival at school a much wanted event.

Our curricular emphasis is organized around creating, building, exploring and actively growing knowledge. Our programs are presented in a fun and interesting manner which invites children to immerse themselves in all the activities. Our methods, from developmental basics to beginning reading, writing and mathematics reflect an age-appropriate and natural style furthering the development of positive attitudes toward learning. In doing so, we build on elements of Russian educational tradition and culture, actively incorporating methods by Nikolay Zaytzev in early child development. At the same time we adjust our programs to be genuinely bicultural and better reflect American educational realities by incorporating standards of Core Knowledge in our process.

We place a strong emphasis on learning to think critically and creatively, to work cooperatively, and solve problems. We believe that effective teaching capitalizes on the child’s natural motivation to explore, experiment, and to make sense of his or her world. Basic human values such as honesty, respect, forgiveness and wisdom, are encouraged to develop; so that children love themselves, love each other and the world around them, and have the strength of character to make morally sound decisions. The ultimate goal is to develop a positive attitude towards learning in each child and make the process of constant learning an organic part of his or her life.

Mission

The Russian Kids House is a center specifically designed to meet the unique needs of Russian-speaking children and their families. There is a growing number of Russian-speaking families that relocate to the United States, in addition to thousands of Russian kids that are adopted in USA each year. Many of them undergo tremendous stress as they have to adapt themselves to a new environment in a totally different country, a foreign language as well as new families in case of adopted children. We attempt to address the problems associated with the process of adaptation that could be psychologically testing and, in some individual cases could even require specialized support to help children overcome the associated stress. The Russian Kids House also helps children to preserve their native language abilities and cultural identity.