About The Discovery Place
Hi, I’m Holly, a primary school teacher anD mother of two from New Jersey, USA
Getting out and meeting other English-speaking families in the area: As a mother of two children living in Karlsruhe, I know that developing and maintaining your child’s English while living in Germany comes with challenges. At The Discovery Place, I want to create a space where you and your child enjoy coming–to connect with other families, to have fun together, and to learn!
Learning anD playing go hanD in hanD
As a young mother who found myself at home full time with a little one, I set out to find activities for us to do together–including joining an English playgroup so that she could hear other people outside of our family speaking English. What I found, though, was missing one important aspect: interaction with our kids! Although I enjoyed chatting with other moms, I didn’t only want to sit around and drink coffee; I wanted to do something with the kids–in English.
Within a few months, I had taken over the Story Hour for young children at the American Library in Karlsruhe. After repeated inquiries as to whether I taught classes privately, I decided to offer my own classes and playgroups.
My concept: Educational theme-based course blocks incorporating creative movement, experiments, music, and activities in order to explore the theme’s content. In addition to weekly rituals, which give a predictable structure to the lesson–important for children–every week includes different songs, games, and activities. With each age group approaching the theme from a different perspective, children can build on their previous knowledge when they revisit the theme at a later point. Additionally, siblings can share what they’re learning with each other because no class is ever the same!
From primary school to self-employeD teacher
Simply put, I love teaching. After earning my teaching certification in New Jersey, I worked as a supply teacher outside of London, England, before returning to New Jersey to teach near my hometown. Once I moved to Germany in 2002, I taught for seven years at an international school in Heidelberg, and it was there that I was introduced to a new concept. In their inquiry-based approach, the teacher was seen as a guide to help the students ask questions, set about finding the answers, and reflect on their learning. This concept, and all that I learned there while teaching within the IBO’s Primary Years Programme, helps me today with my own courses.
After my Story Hour and first classes at The Discovery Place went so well, the decision to become self-employed was clear. Along the way, I found that not only do I love teaching the school-age children, I have an incredible amount of fun teaching the younger ones, too!
My mission: Continue to improve
Since I took the step to self-employment, I’ve been able to try out many things and I’ve learned a lot through doing so. I fully enjoy the creativity and flexibility that not being tied to a curriculum affords me. I’ve developed the cycle of themes that I teach, along with learning experiences for various age groups (ages 1-10) and skill levels (beginner to native speaker).
I constantly evaluate my teaching: What worked well, and what can I improve upon? Because each theme and every group is different, I ask where the children are in their learning and what the next step is. What do we want and need to learn, and what’s the best way to learn it? To that end, I listen to parents and children and try to implement their ideas where I can.
Interested in what we do and you’d like to see more? Visit my blog!
What Our Families Say
