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About us
Background
Spirit of Childhood Foundation is comprised of an international group of educationalists and philanthropists, brought together by a commitment to support the parent-child relationship through innovative education.
Foundation Directors:
Jane Hanckel, co-founder of the Spirit of Childhood Foundation, has a background in communication, arts and early childhood. She has researched international innovative early intervention strategies and parenting empowerment strategies to promote and support the relationship between self, family and community as well as the physical, emotional and intellectual needs of the child. She is an inspirational parent educator, a parent of five children and one grandchild.
Derek Spice, co-founder of the Spirit of Childhood Foundation, has a background in business in the U.K. He is an advocate for developmental education and prevention in early childhood. He is a father of five children and one grandchild.
Thanh Cherry has 25 years experience of working with young children as a kindergarten teacher. Thanh established a school in the Southern Highlands. She now works as an Early Childhood Teacher Trainer in Asia and Australia. Thanh is a mother and grandmother of one child.
The Project
The Spirit of Childhood training programs are early intervention programs that have been successfully piloted in communities in NSW in 2007 as well as a remote Indigenous community in Borroloola, Northern Territory.
The aim of the programs are to strengthen early parent child bonds, build parenting skills and promote an understanding of the transitional stages of early childhood. The programs includes the use of innovative arts, crafts, songs, games and stories to engage and share parenting skills.
The project promotes positive early childhood experiences for children through capacity building the strength and resilience of parents, carers and the wider community.
The project has been developed from over three years international research into best practice parent education and latest research into child development.
The project utilises a sensory integration approach to working with parents and children to ensure best physical, emotional, social and academic outcomes.