2024年8月至2025年6月，杭州惠立幼儿园一直致力于获得“好奇心教学法”（The Curiosity Approach）认证。这一教学法融合了瑞吉欧、蒙台梭利和华德福等教育理念，享誉全球。其核心在于环境创设——通过使用自然真实的资源来培养归属感。

任何来到我们幼儿园的人都会对精心设计的环境印象深刻：不仅是视觉上的赏心悦目，更能促进深度学习、人际关系的建立以及批判性思维的培养。在我们的理念中，环境是第三位教师，与成人和同伴共同支持孩子的成长。

"好奇心教学法"官方认证

评估小组在审阅了350页的详实材料后特别指出：

认证流程的每一个模块都聚焦于环境的不同方面。从智能资源到叙事机会，从启发性活动到感官体验，每一个模块都鼓励教师们深入审视现有的教学实践并寻求改进。例如，在第一模块中，团队对资源进行审查，思考选择背后的原因。结果发现，杭州惠立幼儿园已经深度融入了好奇心教学法中自然真实资源的使用。

然而，某些领域仍有改进空间——例如，逐步替换掉预先染色、色彩过度饱和的空气干燥黏土，改为可持续的天然黏土，让孩子们可以根据自己的喜好进行涂色。这样的转变不仅有益于环境和孩子们的健康，还能进一步培养他们的选择权、自主性、想象力和创造力。

我们的双语协同教学模式为探索第六模块——叙事教育提供了独特的视角。通过结合中文与英文，我们的创意教学团队将故事作为学习的基础——无论是来自多元文化的传统故事、蕴含道德元素以支持社会发展的故事，还是支撑班级项目探究的书籍。

叙事教育已深深融入幼儿园的教学中，通过“文学周”等活动以及戏剧教育、以说促写（Talk4Writing）和故事工具包等教学方法持续推进。我们特别设计的家长工作坊帮助家庭将叙事作为孩子成长的关键要素：提升语言能力、激发想象力、拓展读写知识并培养积极倾听的能力。

利用开放性资源作为讲故事的道具，让孩子们能用想象力自由创造属于自己的故事：一块石头可以变成船或大象，一块木头可以是大怪兽格拉法罗，一颗玻璃珠也能变成海盗的宝藏——一切皆有可能。

让我们通过一个实际例子来看看环境如何作为第三位教师，与成人和同伴共同发挥作用。在我们的小小班中，真实的材料取代了旧的塑料教具，这使得即便是最年幼的孩子，也能在面对真实物件时产生更持久的思考。

孩子们乐于模仿身边的成人——他们往往更想玩“大人的手机”，而不是玩具手机。给予孩子真实资源，而非假想替代品，能够提升他们游戏的价值。

这一点在小小班将真实水槽引入户外阳台时得到了充分体现。经过设施团队的安全改造，这个金属水槽成为了戏水活动的核心区域。孩子们通过反复试验探索裸露的复杂管道系统，深化了对因果关系的理解。当水流中断时，他们还能运用探究能力解决问题，这培养了创造性和批判性思维。

该区域配备了多种真实的厨房用具，如金属勺、滤网和陶瓷茶壶，让孩子们通过游戏重现日常生活场景。

给予孩子真实材料的信任与尊重，不仅增强了家校之间的联系，也激发了他们的好奇心，探索物品的多种用法——例如用勺子作画，或用刨丝器把粉笔磨成细粉。孩子们逐渐意识到：一个物件可以有多种用途，而他们也因此成为自己学习道路上的探索者与创造者。

我们为幼儿园教职员工所展现的辛勤付出和奉献精神感到无比自豪，他们始终致力于为孩子们提供最好的教育。特别感谢引领认证过程的“好奇心教学法”核心团队：Lucy老师、Tanis老师、Yvonne老师、Marisa老师和Tracy老师。

如今，杭州惠立幼儿园正在协助天津和上海的姊妹学校开启他们的认证之旅，进一步深化我们教育大家庭的纽带。

杭州惠立幼儿园——在最年幼的学习者心中播下好奇、惊奇与探索的种子。

Our Nursery Gains International Recognition

– The Second Location in China!

From August 2024 to June 2025, the Nursery at Hiba Academy Hangzhou has been diligently working towards earning the Curiosity Approach accreditation. The Curiosity Approach is renowned worldwide as a fusion of pedagogical visions, including those of Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Steiner. A key element of this approach is the environment, which fosters a sense of belonging through the use of natural and authentic resources. Anyone who steps into the Nursery will attest to the impressive and carefully designed environments — not just to please the eye, but to encourage deep learning, facilitate relationship building and promote critical thinking. In their philosophy, the environment acts as the third teacher, alongside the child's adults and peers.

Feedback from the assessment panel (on the 350 pages of evidence submitted!) highlighted:

Each module of the accreditation process focused on a different element of the environment. From intelligent resources to storytelling opportunities, and from provocations to sensory experiences, the modules encouraged a deep dive into current practices and areas that could be strengthened further. During the first module, they audited their resources to challenge themselves to explore the reasons behind their choices. It was found that the Nursery had deeply embedded the use of authentic, natural resources integral to the Curiosity Approach. However, some areas showed room for improvement — for instance, transitioning away from pre-dyed, hyper-pigmented air-drying foam clays to sustainable natural clays that children can paint or colour according to their preferences. This shift not only benefits the environment and children's health but also promotes choice, autonomy, imagination and creativity among our pupils.

Our bilingual co-teaching model provided a unique perspective for exploring Module 6 – Storytelling. Utilising both Chinese and English, the creative teaching teams use stories as the foundation for learning — whether through traditional tales from various cultures, stories with moral elements to support social development, or books underpinning class project investigations. Storytelling is deeply embedded in the Nursery, with events like Literacy Week and teaching approaches such as Drama in Education, Talk4Writing and Tales Toolkit. The specially curated Parent Workshop supported families in using storytelling as a crucial element of their child's development—enhancing language skills, imagination, literacy knowledge and active listening. Using open-ended resources as props for storytelling opens imagination for recreating firm favourites and becoming authors in their own right! Rather than only set characters, the pupils can use loose parts to enact stories and adventures according to their own thoughts or ideas. A pebble can be a boat or an elephant, a wooden block could be the Gruffalo and a glass nugget a piece of pirate treasure – anything is possible.

Let us explore a practical example of the environments working as a third teacher, alongside adults and other children. In the EY1 classroom, authentic materials have replaced old plastic ones, leading to sustained thinking even in the youngest learners when faced with real objects rather than toy equivalents. Children derive joy from replicating the adults around them—how often does a child desire the real phone over a toy one? By trusting children with real resources instead of pretend options, the value of their play is elevated.

This was evident when EY1 introduced a real sink into their outdoor balcony. Made safe by the Facilities team, the metal sink has become a focal point for water play. The learners develop their understanding of cause and effect by being able to explore the intricate pipe system that is exposed to them through trial and error. This also offers the children the opportunity to engage in creative and critical problem-solving. When the water stops flowing, they can use their investigative skills and work out why. Within this area, there are a multitude of authentic kitchen utensils such as metal spoons, cullenders and ceramic tea pots, allowing the children to recreate their everyday lives through play.

Trusting children with authentic resources — the real deal — demonstrates respect for their experiences and strengthens the home/school connection. It also supports the children's curiosity about how resources can be used in different ways, such as using a spoon for painting or a cheese grater to cut down chalk into a fine powder. The children are learning that one item can be used and explored in many ways, which empowers them to be pioneers of their own learning.

We are so proud of the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the staff in the Nursery and their unwavering commitment to providing the best for the pupils. Special thanks go to the Curiosity Approach Accreditation team who led the charge: both Ms Lucy's, Ms Tanis, Ms Yvonne, Ms Marisa and Ms Tracy. 

Our Nursery is now supporting the sister schools in Tianjin and Shanghai as they embark on their accreditation journeys, further deepening the bonds within the educational family.

The Nursery at Hiba Academy Hangzhou — Inspiring curiosity, awe and wonder in their youngest learners.