Hi! I’m Victoria Hilton, I’m a virtual trainer and mentor for early childhood teachers who want more play, more fun, and more joy in their work.
I was once exactly where you are…
Way back in the Year 2000 (Yes, I am THAT old), I started my journey as an early years teacher. My teaching looked different, then. It involved a lot of letter-of-the-week activities, monthly themes, circle time, and curriculum planning.
It didn’t take me long to see that this forced academic teaching was making both me and my class miserable.
And then I found out about child-focused classrooms… and I fell in love. As soon as I discovered child-led, play-based learning, everything changed. I loved my job and looked forward to going to work every day.
Fast forward several years, and I had moved from England to the USA and was now teaching in a private school with a very academic approach. This did not suit my teaching style but I felt trapped. Eventually, I had a wakeup call. I realized that if I wanted to provide young children with the best possible start in life, I needed to do it on my own. When I was 7 months pregnant with my first child, I quit my job and decided now was the time to set out on my own.
A year later, I started Stepping Stones Nursery School in my home. I now found myself not just being the teacher but also the manager! This meant learning how to train and guide other teachers on the play-based approach that I loved so much. Stepping Stones now has three early childcare centers in Chicago and over 50 employees! Being the founder of Stepping Stones completely changed my life. And now I get to help more and more teachers bring the same child-led, play-based philosophy into their teaching practice.
I believe in…
