“One of the most important tenets, Follow The Child, is at the core of our curriculum.”
The Montessori Post had the privilege to hear from Felicity Curin, Founder, President and COO of Little Kitchen Academy (LKA), a Montessori-inspired cooking class model that began in 2018. From its website, LKA aims to become the global leader in teaching practical life skills and food literacy to children in order to promote a more educated, independent, and healthier society.
Felicity was named as an Emerging Leader in Franchising by Global Franchise and as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Women of Impact. Prior to LKA, Felicity, based in Vancouver, franchised restaurants in the US and the Caribbean before discovering Montessori through her children and then achieving an AMI certification.
How did you come to marry Montessori principles with cooking? We understand that the evergreen Montessori principles can invite curious, passionate learning about, well, ANYTHING! Recognizing the importance of practical life skills and learning how to contribute to our communities is a paramount foundation in both Montessori and LKA environments. Teaching children practical life skills, food literacy, and building confidence through the art of cooking is a beautiful, joyful experience using the Montessori Method. When we present a soup recipe, for example, our students not only learn the step-by-step process of making the soup, they also learn to build patterns, develop concentration, refinement of the olfactory, gustatory, visual, auditory and tactile senses! (I can almost hear the Montessorians listing so much more as they read this, too.) They learn to ask where an ingredient comes from, what happens to it when we manipulate it with science, what can it do for our bodies- the learning opportunities are endless….
What Montessori principles are most visible/ important at LKA? We are so proud that our curriculum is heavily influenced by the Montessori Method and have seen incredible success with our students and instructors. Two of our favourite principles are Follow The Child and Freedom within limits. Follow The Child allows us to master our observation skills to really see what our students need. Understanding that many of our students are still learning not only what they are feeling, but also increasing their vocabulary to articulate their feelings- we are able to give them the support or challenge that they need (in Montessori terms we will add or remove an element of difficulty- perhaps in ‘leveling up the knife, or invite them to close their eyes to identify the spice). In a class of 3-5 year olds, it is entirely possible we have a few ‘masters’ in the kitchen working alongside children experiencing LKA for the first time. Following the Child helps us find creative ways to present our work.
Freedom within Limits applies to our students, our franchise partners, and all of our leadership team! Providing a happy, supportive space for everyone at LKA allows for taking risks and trying new things. Freedom within limits brings agency and confidence to our students when they have been shown how to safely use a piece of kitchen equipment- a great example is our knife work. We have thoughtfully designed a proprietary progressive knife set and our students love being shown professional, culinary technique. Once muscle memory has formed and our students have rote safety, they are welcome to chop, slice and dice on their own!
Freedom Within Limits applies to all aspects of our business- our franchisees have the freedom to present any recipe they would like, the limit being it has to be one from our database of over 1,000! Our instructors present recipes and are encouraged to add personal stories and connections- a great example is one of our favorite instructors who was from Scotland introduced a red pepper and shared that in Scotland peppers are called capsicums! The new word invited many giggles and lots of knowledge to share with caregivers at the end of class.
Is LKA a franchise model, and how did your team come to decide on multiple locations? LKA is both franchised and corporately owned. Our mission is bringing some incredible humans into our world wanting to join us in Changing Lives from Scratch! In the markets we really want to be in, we do our best to either open an LKA ourselves, or we find great people to partner with. And the decision to open multiple locations came to us from our students! We kept hearing from our families wanting locations closer to them! What a super opportunity for us.
What is your team learning the most right now? We are learning to have some fun! Starting a brand that is fueled by passion creates so many opportunities for us and we have to take a minute or two every day to remember the impact we are making.
What have been some surprises along the way? Falling in love with the Montessori Method myself- this shouldn’t really be a surprise to me, but we have had many instructors go back to school to study the Montessori Pedagogy. WOW! Also, we have a practicum program with The University of British Columbia (one of the top 40 Universities in the world) and so many of our students leave with keen interest in learning more about Montessori. I love that.
Another awesome surprise is how many people want to work for a mission-based company. The generation entering the workforce right now is amazing. They are hardworking, thoughtful and passionate. I am extremely proud to work with and learn from them.
What is next for LKA? We have recently partnered with Russell Westbrook’s Why Not? Foundation with our Changing Lives from Scratch Fund so we can bring youth from underserved communities into our environments. Similar to Montessori, LKA is for EVERY child- now, we can make that happen!
What do you hope children and their families gain from LKA? I hope the confidence and agency our students develop during their work with us leads to making responsible, healthy decisions in their day-to-day. I look forward to celebrating powerful humans that know what is good for their body, they know how and where to get it, and how to make it delicious! I can imagine that years from now families will be sitting at their dinner tables together, sharing meals and stories of fond memories of their work at LKA.
How can readers learn more? Readers can visit our website, LittleKitchenAcademy.com, and we have a fantastic podcast called Meet Me in the Kitchen.
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