Our First School in Brasilia

National Treasure: Oscar Niemeyer’s masterpiece, The National Cathedral in Brasilia

The staff of The Institutes was invited to present lectures to parents in Brasília, Brazil in November. Pregnant mothers and parents of newborns and young children attended a full day of lectures on enriching brain growth in the first twelve months of life.

The Senior Class offers a warm welcome soon three of them will be forced to graduate and go to first grade!

Waldemar Neghme and his staff did the hard work that made the entire trip possible. Waldemar is the Director of The Valle de Filadélfia School in Brasília. He raised his own son on The Institutes program and wanted to create a school where children could have a program based upon The Institutes Early Development Program. That school is now three years old and has children from age two up age six. Once our lectures were finished we had the opportunity to visit our first school in Brasília.

Breakfast with our parents – what a good idea lots of questions served up with Brazilian cheese balls

We began with breakfast with the mothers of the school. From the moment we arrived they told us the wonderful things that their children had achieved in school. Clearly they adore the school and see significant changes in their children since they began there. Like our mothers all over the world they were full questions. We really enjoyed our time answering their questions and encouraging them to try new things with their children.

How touching to see our program so lovingly replicated in each class room

Then we were given a tour of the school. We visited each class starting with the two-year- olds and going up to the five-year-olds. In each class the children were reading in both Portuguese and English, learning mathematics with ease, and devouring Bits of Intelligence. We got a very good introduction to Brasilian history and the amazing architecture of Brasilia through what the kids already knew!

Waldemar introduces us to our wonderful Suzuki Sensei – a little army of tiny violins decorate the music room.

The children have a beautiful human development course where they were very happy to show off their skills as brachiators and gymnasts. It all ended with a wonderful violin concert.

The School Violin Ensemble tucks into their repertoire with gusto, later they will brachiate with equal enthusiasm!

The Right Stuff: Daniel, a very tough brachiator shows off his prowess.

A balance beam not for the faint of heart but no problem for Ana Lis, our little gymnast.

It was a very emotional experience for each of us. To see these beautiful little Brazilian children doing exactly what our kids are doing was deeply touching to us. The classes were characterized by great teaching on the part of each teacher and over-the-top enthusiasm on the part of the kids.

Bottom Line: Everyone is enjoying everything.

We had the opportunity to meet with the teachers and answer their questions and exchange ideas for their school. The facility was outstanding.

Great teachers asking great questions and creating a unique school for Brasilia and for Brazil

The children have a beautiful place to learn with ample space for running, biking, even rowing since the school is located right on the lake which surrounds Brasilia. They have a warm baby pool and two larger pools, even a football field!

Our day ended with an invitation to their first graduation ceremony. There school only goes to age six then their children must move on to first grade! One of the three six-year-old graduates read a lengthy speech that he had written to say a fond and very sad farewell to his beloved teachers and his fellow students. It was hard to imagine such a sophisticated little boy going to first grade. Everyone in the room was crying! They asked us to address the families. We proposed let’s not graduate these innocent children let’s make a first grade right here for them!

One of our very first graduates, Rafaela, with any luck she will be back.

Everyone applauded that idea! So the next step is to expand the school to include first through sixth grade.

What a wonderful day it was for us. We can’t wait to work with this wonderful school and see it grow and expand.

We say a fond farewell to our teachers. (from left to right: Liliane, Natália, Stefane, Janet Doman, Nathália, Benish, Letícia and Tathi)

We will be back!