Teacher Danica
Danica came to Canada 20 years ago from Europe, where she was working as a psychologist, working with a variety of challenging cases involving children and adults. After meeting her husband in English class, she made the decision to stay in Canada and start a new life. She decided to start a family, and decided to stay at home with her children. As her children got older, they got to the age of preschool, and there, Danica met her childrenʼs fabulous preschool teacher, who talked her into becoming a preschool teacher. Danica took Montessori and ECE (Early Childhood Education), and later on, she also took training in the Tribes Learning Community. Learning all these different methods and points of view, she realized that the main teaching in all of these philosophies was the vision of a child as an independent, capable self-learner, who will grow and will be eager to learn, as long as teachers prepare an encouraging environment for learning. Danica believes that children deserve to learn in beautiful places, full of wonder and excitement, where they can let their imagination take over in the art area, and satisfy their curiosity in different science experiments. As Plato said a long time ago…“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” She believes that through play, creative art, scientific discoveries, and block building, children expand their vocabulary, learn math and solve problems in a respectful way, and become resilient independent learners for life.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” -Albert Einstein
Working closely with parents and children for 3 years in Parents Participation Preschool, Danica believes that parents play a very important role in their childʼs early learning. Burke Mountain Preschool invites parents to be a part of this exciting process, and with an open door policy, she makes it possible for parents to participate and contribute as much as they would like to in their childʼs growth and learning. Danica believes that Burke Mountain Preschool is not just a preschool, but a place for people to meet and become life-long friends.
Danica is a mother of 2 growing children. She likes to read books, go on enjoyable nature walks with the family dog, and absolutely loves to ski. In the summer time, she also enjoys traveling and going on camping trips with her family.
“My daughter had the pleasure of being taught by Danica at Como Lake Preschool. She is a passionate, caring educator who is dedicated to her students. She encourages her student’s independence and creativity, and also creates an environment of respect and consideration in her classroom. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone!” – T. Lane
Teacher Allyson
Allyson is originally from Ontario but now calls BC home and lives in the Burke Mountain community with her husband and two young sons (5 and 8 years old). She has spent the last 8 years as a stay at home mom to her children and has seen first hand what Burke Mountain Preschool and Teacher Danica deliver after sending her youngest son for the previous two years, he was truely enriched!
Now that Allyson’s sons are school aged, she is very excited to be a part of this preschool community where she can continue to spend her days helping children to explore and learn. She is in awe of children’s curiosity and their need to understand the world around them and believes every child should have the right to learn through play, especially in these young years.
“Education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings. Only then can we play along in their world.” – Vince Gowman