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Veronika Šmídlová
Headmistress/owner

My name is Veronika Šmídlová and I am the headmistress of the school Montessori Children´s House. I was born in Montreal, Canada, but the most of my life I have spent in the Czech Republic, so I am fluent in both Czech and English language.

In my life, I have always followed what life was offering to me. That´s why my journey might be different from others. During my studies at High School in Prague I was studying abroad one semester in Nova Scotia, Canada at Horton High School. I noticed that their way of teaching is much more suitable for me. After I finished high school, I studied one year at the University of Economics and two years at the Charles University of Pedagogics majoring in Education and mathematics, both in Prague. This experience showed me that this is not the way I want to be taught. During this challenging time, I did leadership training, and I became a certified coach. I was working for a half year in the Outdoor Montessori kindergarten Cestička, where I got excited about the Montessori method. Thanks to these experiences I found out what I want, which is an alternative way of studying and teaching. Therefore, I completed the certified Montessori training for working with children between 3 and 6 years old.

I am always open to learn new things. I am interested in psychology, motivation and children´s development and that´s why I attended seminars of the therapeutic method The Journey.

Montessori Children´s House means a lot to me. I fell in love with this place so quickly and I just knew that I am in the right place at the right time. Every day I am learning so much from all the children. They are showing me that this is what I want to do, this is my destiny and thanks to them I have found my passion and meaning in life.

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Lýdia Drabiková
Lead teacher

My name is Lýdia and I am from Slovakia, where I grew up with my parents and three older brothers in a small village. I enjoyed a simple, rural life where I would find any reason to help my mother cook, wash the dishes, work in the garden, or take care of the animals. Even though my parents had never heard of the Montessori method, I felt like I had experienced a true Montessori childhood.

I studied Chemistry and English literature at Comenius University in Bratislava. To finance my undergraduate studies, I found a part-time job as a teacher in a private kindergarten, where I was introduced to Montessori pedagogy by a colleague. I was intrigued by this different view on children’s education, and therefore I enrolled in a two-year national course on Montessori pedagogy. The more I learned about the Montessori approach to children’s development, the more I wanted to put it into practice. Luckily, an opportunity arose and I took up a job as a full-time Montessori teacher at Private kindergarten and primary school of Maria Montessori in Bratislava. During this time, I completed a multitude of Montessori-oriented courses and I am looking forward to extending this list even further.

When I moved to Prague in 2020, I looked for a Montessori kindergarten where I could apply all my acquired knowledge, but at the same time broaden my horizons and challenge myself. It is then no surprise at all that I ended up at Montessori Children’s House.

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Susanna Kaletski
Teacher’s assistant

My name is Susanna and I am a U.S. native from Birmingham, Alabama. I grew up with a passion for creativity and was fortunate to have been raised in an environment that nurtured my interests. That is why there is nothing more magical to me than to watch a child discover their own interests and help them to nurture that love of learning new things.

Even with all my creative pursuits, my primary interest has always been in English literature and linguistics. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a B.A. in English, I moved to Brooklyn, New York. There, I became a full-time nanny and suddenly knew that working with children was what I was meant to do. However, I knew that there was something more.

This is why I decided to come to Prague in 2019 in order to begin a career teaching English. I received my TEFL certification and began teaching English in a Montessori school. I quickly fell in love with the Montessori approach to early childhood education and am excited to be a part of the community at Montessori Children’s House, where I continue to grow and learn more every day.