Education

To strive for every child of the Lyceum to be a personality, eager to learn, able to create, distinguished by achievements.

Self-sufficiency. We believe that every child’s intellectual growth starts with the ability to find their own solutions, to have their own opinions, to listen to others and to seek consensus.

Diligence. The future begins now. In developing the leaders of tomorrow, we need to foster the right attitude that achieving the best results requires a sustained and long-term effort and commitment.

Friendliness. Children need to understand and feel early on that they will always achieve more in life by acting together with others, and that everyone’s contribution will be strengthened if friendly, respectful and ethical cooperative relationships are fostered.

Citizenship. Commitment and caring for others is the key to success. If children learn early on to treat others as they would like to be treated themselves, they will develop a responsible attitude towards the consequences of their actions – the basis of citizenship.

The Little Klaipėda Lyceum educates children aged 2-6 in accordance with the original curriculum developed by the Klaipėda Lyceum, which is based on the UK Early Years Foundation Stage and pre-primary curricula, adapted for children in Lithuania.

The whole education system is focused on comprehensive education of the child, responding to the individual needs of the child. A methodology of different learning styles is applied throughout the educational process, based on Gardner’s model of multiple intelligences.
Classes have a lot of experimental, cognitive-creative activities, and the educational process is dynamic, playful and interesting.

The following areas of the child’s cognition are developed: daily living skills, physical activity, perception and expression of emotions, self-regulation and self-control, self-awareness and self-esteem, relationships with adults, relationships with peers, spoken language, written language, foreign languages, scientific knowledge of the world, calculation and measurement, music, dance, acting, visual expression and aesthetic perception, problem-solving, exploration, creativity, initiative, perseverance, learning to learn.

Professor at Harvard University and chief expert at the Innovation Laboratory Dr. Tony Wagner identifies 7 key competences for success in the world of tomorrow. When developed correctly, children’s abilities make it easy to assimilate knowledge, understand its meaning and application, and to integrate it and create new knowledge in a collaborative and cooperative way. We consider the skills identified by Professor Dr. Tony Wagner of Harvard University to be of the utmost importance and place the highest focus on their development.

The Little Klaipėda Lyceum makes an early effort to spot able, gifted and talented children and to give them the attention they deserve in their development. We prepare individual education plans for these children, the content of which goes beyond the general curriculum, is in line with the child’s personal interests and responds to the individual education style of each child. The group educator informs the AG&T coordinator about the observed able, gifted and talented (AG&T) children, who helps the educator to assess the needs of the child and to prepare an individual education plan for the child.
We personalise and differentiate our work with AG&T children through joint sessions and individual work. Children are constantly encouraged and taught to think critically and creatively. Reasoning, problem-solving and searching for answers to various questions, unleashing the imagination, awakening curiosity, perseverance, consistent work, cooperation, and developing leadership traits are an integral part of the daily process of educating gifted children. Teachers apply the methodology for assessing the child’s individual progress throughout the educational process and systematically discuss the educational process and results with the AG&T coordinator and the child’s parents.

Klaipėda Lyceum is committed to the safe and healthy education of the child, which is why the Health Improvement Programme has been put in place since 2018. It is integrated into everyday activities, starting in pre-primary education and ensuring continuity at other levels of education(s). The Health Improvement Programme includes fitness, sea therapy, morning and corrective exercises, healthy eating, aromatherapy and music therapy, colour therapy, children’s yoga, various massages, Nordic walking, agile games in the fresh air, herbal teas, inhalations, etc. Every week, the healthcare professional conducts health lessons in accordance with a specially designed programme.

The school serves only fresh and varied food. We pay particular attention to product combination.
Children with allergies, intolerance to certain foods, or families with a different eating philosophy are offered a separate food plan.

Application of different teaching/learning styles in accordance with Gardner’s theory-based model of multiple intelligences.
The theory of multiple intelligences helps every child become successful.

The aim of the educational theory developed by Howard Gardner and his followers is to identify the nature of each personality as early and as accurately as possible, to reveal it to the child and to the parents, and to put the child on the truest and most direct path to success and happiness in life. That path must begin as early as possible – in kindergarten, in school – and then, once we know ourselves, we can nurture our nature and spread it throughout our lives.

The Klaipėda Lyceum already applies the methodologies of different learning styles and Gardner’s model of multiple intelligences at the pre-school stage.

Gardner and his followers distinguish 7 types of intelligence that are independent of each other:

Typically, 2-3 types of intelligence dominate a child’s personality. Together with other intelligences, they form a unique combination of intelligences that is unique to each child. This uniqueness determines the individual learner’s preferred way of thinking, processing and understanding information, i.e. his or her own learning style and strategy.
In accordance with Gardner, all kinds of intelligence need to be valued and developed. The organisation of the teaching/learning process is geared towards the development of multiple intelligences through a variety of activities. Organising different activities activates different types of intelligence. The focus is on recognising and strengthening the child’s strengths by systematically moving to motivated education in other areas. Educators identify the learning styles best suited to each child’s intellectual development, based on methodologies developed by educational scientists and practitioners.

This is the methodology followed by most private schools in the UK.

A narrative game is an imaginative, collective role-playing game in which children create a shared storyline. It is a holistic educational approach that organically combines children and adults’ cultural experiences, exploration and learning from each other, co-creating an immersive game storyline.
Narrative play is not a staged story, not theatrical acting, but real events in children’s lives and events from other stories that children know and love, woven into the narrative world of play. A key feature of an evolved narrative game is the ability of players to develop shared ideas and create a storyline together. The characteristic of such a game is that it is collective, takes place in the imagination, develops in time, the created plot poses challenges, is interesting and promotes the full engagement of children.
By combining feelings, knowledge and practical activities during the narrative play, a holistic development of the child’s personality (is) takes place, awakening the child’s creativity, motivation, imagination, logical thinking, strengthens the will, self-control, helping to understand the position of another person and build relationships. In this way, a basic structure of narrative thinking and a basic pattern of communication are formed in the pre-school age. The development of narrative thinking and skills it entails are crucial for the transition to abstract, logical thinking and theoretical perception of the world.

Forest School (Peter Houghton and Jane Worroll) is an inspiring activity that provides all children with regular opportunities to learn, develop confidence and build self-esteem through learning in the forest or other natural settings. Forest School lessons help children learn about nature, encourage them to observe and explore every detail of nature, ask questions, develop cognitive skills, think critically and solve problems. At Forest School, various integrated activities help children develop their cognitive skills – to learn counting, to get to know letters, to read, etc. For this purpose, children usually use simple and environmentally friendly items: cones, shells, acorns, thread, fabric scraps, sticks, twigs, wooden blocks, pebbles, etc. Children develop creativity, thinking and imagination through the use of such simple materials and objects during games.
The Forest School reflects the idea of therapeutic learning, which aims to maximise children’s social, emotional and developmental potential, allowing them to take more risks, learn more independently, achieve their goals, be active, play and accumulate experience in direct contact with nature. The pedagogue evaluates each child’s hobbies, learning style and work with him/her to encourage the child to use all his learning abilities. Forest school lessons promote the comprehensive development of the child. Children are extremely curious, eager to play, explore the world around them, and actively choose activities that manage their own learning process.

Philip Yenawine, an educator in New York, and Abigail Housen, a psychologist and specialist in cognitive science, developed a way of getting to know and seeing art for schools: visual thinking strategy (VTS).

The visual thinking method is based on an active dialogue between the teacher as interviewer and the children. The interviewer uses the universal framework of questions developed by psychologist Abigail Housen and educator Philip Yenawine. The system of questions encourages children to engage in dialogue and to look at artworks without preconceptions and prejudices. Since each participant sees the paintings differently, at the beginning of the session the focus is on objective facts describing the work of art: shape, composition, colour, materials. This is followed by a discussion of the children’s subjective interpretations of the work.

Although the object of the visual thinking strategy is art, similar exercises can be carried out with advertisements or anything else that uses visual language to convey its message.
When applied over a long period of time, it is also possible to reach a rather abstract, almost philosophical level of thinking. When this practice is repeated many times, the children and the teacher begin to trust each other and feel the power of the emerging conversation.

The importance of the visual thinking strategy is that people are much more focused on what they see, with no one offering them the right answers – meaning is created by talking. The visual thinking strategy also allows us to speak up to those who are often quieter or think they don’t know the right answer. In such a dialogue, children can just listen to each other, understand how they see one and the same thing differently and without feeling the ability to develop critical thinking.

It is essential to help children understand the impact of their thoughts, words, actions (and reactions) in order to create a basis for their future well-being. Being aware of your mindset formation(s) means being able to accept criticism and stay open. Children are taught to think positively in order to accept the feedback they are given and to learn through their own experiences. They continue to develop strategies for improvement because they believe that even something that has failed can bring them some benefits. Children who have grown up and learned to think positively from an early age are expected to have a much better chance of living happy, healthy and successful lives.
Mindfullness is an educational technique that helps focus on your presence in the here and now, and teaches to accept yourself and others, avoiding negative judgements of others. Mindfullness can help you get rid of stress and negative thoughts, and help you feel happier. It is also noted in practice that these short sessions help children to develop concentration, improve the school microclimate and learners’ academic achievements.

This play area is unique in that it is equipped with special equipment to create a multi-sensory environment designed to develop the primary senses of touch, sight, hearing and smell.