Curriculum
At the Natural Learning Center, we meet 3 days a week for a total of 15 hours. Parents are always welcome. We value parent involvement and believe it is crucial to the success of our community.
Our school embraces mixed age groups, reflecting a natural learning environment where children of different ages interact and learn from each other. This approach helps students develop strong social skills such as communication, cooperation and conflict resolution, preparing them for a variety of real-world situations.
The monthly program is determined by the children's interests and the changing seasons. The main areas of interest are nature exploration, arts and crafts, cultural activities, field trips and physical activities.
The center is currently run from our home in the Blixembosch neighborhood. Our area is rich in natural spaces, including parks and forests, which we incorporate into our program for exploration and play. We are also grateful to be in Eindhoven, which offers a wide and diverse range of resources, culture and activities to further enrich the learning experience.
Our approach
Our program is influenced by play in nature, children's interests, learning through play and place-based education, which focuses on understanding and connecting with our natural community. We draw inspiration from various educational philosophies and experts in early childhood development:
Natural Learning: John Holt and Peter Gray, Ph.D., emphasize confidence in children's innate learning abilities.
Aware Parenting: Aletha Solter, Ph.D., advocates discipline without punishment, secure attachment and recognizing crying and tantrums as natural stress-release mechanisms, particularly through her Principles of Learning.
Unconditional Parenting: Alfie Kohn promotes a non-punitive approach to discipline that focuses on unconditional support and understanding.
Self-direction in education: Jürgen Peeters highlights the power of self-directed learning in "Children Are Not Puppies: The Power of Self-Direction in Education. "
Play and Outdoor Learning: The work of Angela J. Hanscom and Richard Louv highlights the benefits of unobstructed outdoor play for children's development and well-being.
Secure Attachment: Dr. Gordon Neufeld and Dr. Gabor Maté emphasize the importance of maintaining strong bonds with children in "Hold on to Your Kids."
Monthly contribution
Natural Learning Center Eindhoven is a B3 school. This means that we are not funded by the government, but are recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. B3 schools are not subject to regular education legislation like public schools, but they do have to meet certain quality requirements and are periodically inspected by the Education Inspectorate.
The monthly contribution per child is €375 (12 months per year). There is a 10% discount for each subsequent child within the same family. This price remains unchanged for the years 2024 and 2025. From January 1, 2026, the contribution will be increased annually according to the CBS consumer price index.
This price includes all costs, although sometimes an additional contribution may be required for special excursions or activities.
The contribution of the first term is calculated by looking at the day on which it starts. So if your child starts on September 15, for example, 50% of the monthly contribution is calculated for September.
Please contact us
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"Our challenge isn't so much to teach children about the natural world, but to find ways to sustain the instinctive connections they already carry."
Terry Krautwurst