About life learning – D

International Early Childhood Education Consultants

Life Learning NZ provide personalized consultations and customized guidance to help your early childhood learning environments prosper. We are independent education experts who will assists governments, educational organizations, schools and teachers.

We provide practical guidance and support in the key areas of:

Curriculum Development

Professional Development

Management Consultancy

Mentoring For Teacher Licensing & Certification

The Environment

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

– Nelson Mandela

Take a Peek

About Life Learning NZ

Maria is the chief Executive and founder of Little Schools, an award-winning international chain of preschools catering for 0-6 year olds. Her experience and passion within the education sector has now seen the demand of her National and International Early Childhood Consulting Company – Life Learning.

Maria has been asked to speak at many National and International Conferences, including China, Philippines, America, UAE, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. Maria often works alongside New Zealand Government organisations representing Early Childhood Education. In 2016 she also represented New Zealand at the inaugural educational showcase in Saudi Arabia.

Maria is passionate and ambitious about young children discovering their abilities and providing them with the knowledge, skills and values to make them lifelong learners. Her focus is also helping others to develop quality educational centers and developing Leaders with in Early Childhood Education.

Maria has a degree in education as well as being a qualified and trained Primary and Early Childhood teacher and Intergrated Learning Systems Practitioner. Her 40 years of experience in Education has led her to be a valuable member on a number of Educational Boards in New Zealand. She was the Early CHildhood Councils President for a number of years and is now currently on the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal. Mria is also Chair of Life Education Trust and on the NZ Entrepreneurs Organisation Board.

In 2012 Little School won two Her Regional Wellington Business Awards – Best Small to Medium Business and Wellinton Business Woman of the Year. She was also a finalist in the EY entrepreneur of the year awards in 2012. In 2017 Maria was named a finalist in the EY entrepreneur of the year awards in 2012. In 2017 Maria was named a finalist in Wellington Business Gold Awards and also a finalist in New Zealand’s Women of Influence Awards.

Maria Johnson, BEd, DipTchg, DipTchg (ECE)

Life Learning – Improving the quality of early childhood education throughout the world.

Curriculum Development

Latest research shows that high quality early childhood education and care programmes have long term benefits to children.

We now see whole nations investing in quality pre-school education to complement parenting as the best foundation for their citizen’s learning and welfare. Early childhood development is now recognized as a priority to developing life long learners.

A quality curriculum is crucial in children’s learning and development. Life learning NZ will support your centre or organisation by helping you provide planned, purposeful, and systematic curriculum development. We will help you develop a curriculum that empowers children to embrace a love of learning, sparking imagination and creativity, while building strong social and emotional capabilitites in each child.

We provide strategies that enrich whole team environments or individuals within each team. If you are not being role modelled by someone either inside your work environment or outside it, then it becomes harder to develop professionally.

Professional Development

We offer a range of courses and customised staff development to help your early childhood learning environments prosper. Life Learning NZ’s international consultants understand best practices in teaching and are thoroughly familiar with standards-based teaching and assessment. They use data as a starting point and plan strategic change for schools, teaching teams, and individual teachers.

Benefits of Life Learning NZ's Consultancy

It can be implemented immediately
Is relevant and practical
Is delivered by international professionals with classroom experience and who have sound pedagogy.
Is innovative, creative and based on best practice.
Will allow for collaborative ideas and thoughts to be shared
Will imporve teachers knowledge and understanding of current ideas

Management Consultancy

We are continually researching best educational and business practice and bring this wealth of industry knowledge to support your organisation. Whether you require business management advice to a fledging startup, or ongoing development of experienced staff across a number of schools, we bring a global perspective to their work, as they help our schools incorporate best practices from across New Zealand and around the world.

Life Learning NZ’s consultants are a team of professional educators with decades of experience as teachers, coached, administrators and curriculum planners. Internationally recognised, their depth and breadth of experience allows them to provide support to all members of the education community from individual teachers to overseeing business administrators by bringing practical, hands-on experience to the consultancy work.

Continually raising the standards in preschool education is what allows teachers to feel as if they’re making a real difference to children’s lives. Life Learning provides you with programmes that are purposeful for both teachers and children.

We work in key areas within your school, and supply tools that track and report on progress. these areas, combined with our unique and comprehensive consultant review process, ensures that our partners receive the quality professional development consultancy that will see your business flourish.

Our Management Consultancy will Help to:

Ensure reflection and evaluation systems are ethical.
Develop systems that promote positive learning outcomes for children.
Incorporate an ongoing comprehensive self review process.
Develop collaborative consultation process.
Engage your teams into best practice of observing and documenting children’s learning
Ensure the programme is making a difference to the learning outcomes of each and every child.

Research shows that teachers who are coached and mentored are more motivated, enthusiastic, experience higher job satisfaction, and stay in teaching longer.

Mentoring for Teacher Licensing & Certification

A practising certificate is the main way that employers, colleagues and the wider community can be assured that your teachers are qualified and competent. A current certificate shows that you are at the leading edge of education theory for modern learning. Guidance from our experienced experts will provide a broad knowledge base and enable teachers to identify with a more diverse range of learners in the classroom. The result will be a superior teaching portfolio.

To achieve this greater depth of knowledge, our one-on-one programmes include regular observations of teaching. This observation is central to quality teaching practice, yet it can be difficult for teachers to scrutinise their own performance or that of a co-worker. By utilizing the skills of an independent mentor from Life Learning NZ, you remove this barrier and open up discussion in a transparent and non-confrontational manner.

Our Quality Induction Programmers Promote:

Teacher retention
Teacher effectiveness
Quality learning for children

The Environment

The power of effective space and design can influence mood, culture and learning capabilities. We understand that there is potential in every space to help bring out the best in children and their teachers. We have been involved in the design of preschools both in New Zealand and overseas. Life Learning NZ’s educational background allows us to work with you to create an environment that reflects your philosophy and programme.

Our vast experience, both in New Zealand and abroad, had shown that a ‘home-styled’ environment provides a smooth transition from home to school. With our consultation, the environment becomes the ‘third teacher’ and the structure and availability of space affects children’s interactions and exploration.

The two environments, indoor and outdoor, must be developmentally appropriate, but also aesthetically pleasing. Attention to detail of colour, space and resources, allowing independence, and ease of use; these are all crucial components to your unique environment.

Outdoor environments need to be thoughtfully designed, allowing you to incorporate your programme in a beautiful sensory rich space. Small and large areas of play need to reflect the natural wonders of the world, while remaining practical for year-round use.

We will help develop:

Environments that enhance your unique climate and culture
Indoor space which is rich in texture and sensory
Colour consulting to create calming and secure
Outdoor areas which reflect the natural wonders of the world

Your Child is at the Heart of every Decision we Make

Life Learning offers personalised early childhood consultations and mentorship to help your early childhood learning environment prosper. We work alongside individual teachers and the leadership group to develop best practices, empowering teachers and children to be the best they can be.

We believe in holistic learning principles where children develop a love of learning as well as instilling a sense of confidence and creativity in their abilities. Success is measured by the nurturing of well rounded and happy children who are ready to move into primary school and one day take on the world.

Laying Sound Foundations for Lifelong Learning

Little School’s philosophy is to lay sound foundations for lifelong learning – to develop a ‘love of learning’ in each child.

We aim to make children’s transition to school as smooth as possible – preparing children both socially, emotionally and educationally for the next steps in their journey. We also aim to provide skills for life that will develop children’s knowledge, independence and creativity.