Why I do this
My name is Radostina Dancheva.
Over the years, I have been Miss Dancheva, Mrs Dancheva, Miss Tina, and lately — Miss Radi.
My first seven years as a teacher were spent in my hometown, Shumen, across different public schools.
So many substitute positions that sometimes it felt like only the school bell knew where I was that day.
My first “real” place came later, in a small town school.
That is where the reality of teaching hit me head-on — from festive days with flowers and chocolates, to paperwork, regulations, and those moments when you wonder whether to laugh or cry… and end up laughing, because otherwise you wouldn’t survive.
And even though I was still a young teacher, not entirely sure what I wanted yet, I knew one thing for certain:
I wanted to teach differently.
More human. More meaningful. With more space for children — and for myself.
Sofia. A different world.
Life eventually took me to Sofia and to a private British school.
A completely different world.
Everything was colourful, lively, and noisy in the best possible way.
Children called me by my first name, and that was when I realised something important:
respect has very little to do with formal titles.
It lives in laughter in the corridors, drawings on the walls, walks outside, and in that gentle classroom buzz of children learning while doing — not while watching the clock.
That was where I understood that joy and happiness in school are not empty words from posters.
They are everyday moments:
a child lighting up because something finally worked;
finding a new way to explain an idea;
teaching starting to feel like an adventure instead of survival.
Learning while teaching
After the first two years, something shifted.
Teodora Nenova — the owner of the school — saw something in me that I could not yet see myself.
I started learning again.
And I will always be grateful to her, because without her, I would not be the teacher — or the person — I am today. Truly.
One door opened after another:
thinking-based learning, conceptual learning, project work, learning through questions, active students, noisy classrooms, learning outdoors, in the schoolyard, at the zoo — everywhere.
I discovered a world where children are not passive listeners, but explorers.
A world where good questions are more powerful than “right” answers.
It was an intense, inspiring time — the kind where you come home tired, but happy.
The kind of tiredness that is worth it.
The team makes everything possible
That was when I truly grew — through learning, and through trust.
I was part of a team — not by title, but by feeling.
If there was an idea, we turned it into reality: projects, books, competitions, films, exhibitions. Nothing felt impossible.
All the new approaches and ideas became real because of the people I worked alongside.
Theory turned into practice, and practice into joy.
This is the moment for a genuine thank you —
to the colleagues with whom we learned, created, and dreamed together.
Without you, none of this would have been the same.
A pause
For personal reasons, I had to slow down.
To focus on my family. To put myself back in order.
It was not easy.
But sometimes life presses pause so that you can later press “play” more consciously.
A new beginning
After that pause, a new school appeared — one that combines the Bulgarian and Canadian systems.
Two parts of my professional life suddenly came together.
Today, my work is to support teachers in bringing meaning, curiosity, and real learning into the classroom —
while still holding high academic expectations.
With new colleagues, we created new topics, a science festival, sparked curiosity in children…
and even reached space. Literally and metaphorically.
And here, too, gratitude matters —
to the people who continue to give me the freedom to rethink, reshape, and breathe new life into learning programmes.
Why Idea Box exists
Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with exceptional teachers, leaders, children, and families.
Yet one challenge has always remained the same: time.
Not motivation.
Not ideas.
But time.
When do you prepare meaningful materials?
When do you choose the right resources so children can understand and do —
instead of memorising and repeating?
That is why I created Idea Box.
So that the curriculum and experiential, meaningful learning do not live in separate worlds.
So that combining them does not feel difficult.
So that teaching can be a little lighter, more organised, and much more alive.
And if, in any way, this helps — then everything has been worth it.