Reply to I don't get this Reggio thing...

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My dd goes to an independent preschool-8th whose early childhood program is Reggio Emilia inspired. She only did one year in early childhood and this was 5 years ago. Things I noticed:

1. The classrooms are gorgeous and have a calming effect. Natural light, earth tones, soft colors. Basically the opposite of a traditional preschool with primary colors and busy walls.

2. The materials are beautiful and for the most part, natural.

3. The teachers bring nature inside the classroom, and the teachers bring the kids outside for lessons and play.

4. The art was amazing. The early childhood had their own art studio called an atelier. And their own art teacher called an atelierista. (I’m not looking up how to spell those right) she took about 4 kids at a time and they did all kinds of art, again mostly with natural materials. Paint, weaving, clay...

5. There is a strong philosophy of recording and reflection. Art was labeled with the child’s picture. The teachers recorded the child’s feelings about what they created. We received daily reports. The teachers recorded exactly what the kids said. Lots of quotes.

6. The teachers follow the children’s lead. One year they were interested in robots, and devoted much of their learning to that. Read about robots, art about robots, they designed robots, had a robot play. One year they opened a camera repair shop and people brought in broken cameras. This year it’s maps. In kindergarten my dd’s Class was interested in song. They studied songs, wrote songs, recorded a CD. They did a rock theme one year.

It’s a great educational philosophy when done right. But I would not say it’s the best. It is not just free play either, but I don’t see anything wrong with letting kids just play in a well thought out learning environment guided by educators. It is very light on actual academics which was why we chose it. But if your child needs direct instruction to learn how to read they won’t learn how to read in preschool. Most of the families who choose this school are well educated and the kids had every advantage in education at home. [/quote]

My child's preschool has a curriculum that says it is partially Reggio-inspired, and incorporates some of the above items (like there is an atelier , they display the artwork and explanations about it throughout the school, and they spend a lot of time outside doing things like tending to their garden, talking about the plants and bugs, going on walks, etc.).[/quote]

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