OUR HISTORY
THE MOTIVIVATION BEHIND CHERRY TREE NURSERY
By the founder and proprietor, Dalia Ros
It all began with a two year old boy, a souvenir pipe from Tenerife, a newspaper and by merely observing and valuing young children from 0 to 6 years.
I saw my two year old son taking a little pipe that was given as a souvenir from Canaries and which we had on display, high in the wall unit (I did not know he knew it was there) and a newspaper from the side of the unit and sat down on a chair with the newspaper, holding it upside down, reading it, and i say reading it because after few minutes he excitedly showed me a word he recognised... The word was "Hoover". Then he took me by my hand to the vacuum cleaner and pointed to the word again.
I realised then that he was learning to read and he was loving it. But who taught him that word? The answer is: the environment. And there are thousands and thousands of toddlers learning to read by just observing their own environment, watching television and travelling. Under fives are learning not just to read but are learning a second language unconsciously.
So guided by my two year old son, I continued providing him with more words , my attitude and approach was joyously to play this game, and it was the most satisfying, rewarding, exciting game of my life. We built a very close friendship and he loved the attention and affection of the reading game. He used to beg for the game and i was delighted to provide. I will never forget my little son's face when i put a few words together that he already knew to make a sentence; he was very happy to discover that the words have meaning. At two years old he discovered a new world.
He soon read in Spanish "El Oso Winnie" and a few weeks later "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" He read rapidly and comprehended better than a seven year old because he saw reading just like another fascinating game.
Seeing my son's enjoyment for reading, I knew that it would be a crime not to give my daughter the same opportunity. I started to play the reading game with her when she was only 11 months old and she also loved the game. At the age of 2 she read fluently , rapidly and comprehensively books for seven year old in Spanish and English. When she was 14 months old we explored painting , drawing, playing dice games and these activities opened a new world for my children They were very happy as they were fulfilling their inner selves. No tantrums, maybe because they had a lot of opportunities to quench their tremendous thirst for learning.
Having observed my children's incredible eagerness to learn, with a child minding background of 12 years, with knowledge of psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Frobel and Maria Montessori, Cherry Tree Nursery was born and the Day Nursery was opened by Mayor Janet Dunbavand on the 18th of September 1994.
After seeing for myself proof of Montessori's sensitive periods, how the children from birth to 5 years old (not just my own) absorb information at a staggering rate I decided to take action and open the Spanish School 6 months later, for toddlers from 2 years old to adult classes.
Having learned English as a second language, taught children, a large number of students of all levels, observed my own children become bilingual by acquiring Spanish as a second language, I introduced a method of learning Spanish with English simultaneously, teaching what is really essential in a friendly, caring and well structured course for people with no prior knowledge of Spanish and who have very little time available and want to communicate effectively and confidently in Spanish in short time.
Dalia Ros, Founder and proprietor