Anonymous wrote:Curriculum doesn’t really matter that much, don’t drink the preschool koolaid. Watch the teacher. Do the kids adore her? Are they engaged? Are the grounds safe? Do they get enough outdoor time? That’s all that matters.

+100

My kid went to a Reggio inspired preschool for pk4. I wasn't really impressed to be honest. The group projects and such were cool I guess but I found there were practically NO academics. For example, the kids would write their names on the projects but there was no stroke instruction so several of us had kids writing letters improperly. (This was discussed at a playdate with several mom's from the class and we all shared the same frustration and we all ended up supplementing basic academics at home).

I much preferred our pk3 class that incorporated academics in a fun way. Like a weekly letter with different crafts, games and such surrounding that theme.

From what I know, creative curriculum has students work on a theme assigned by the curriculum (such as textiles) and then the teachers set up projects based on that theme (such has dress up with different texture clothes, washing baby clothes in soapy water, etc). Reggio is more interest-based. So if the class starts talking about spiders then the teachers start teaching them all about spiders. Reggio has a more nature-based approach. Also, there’s a lot of recording of information in Reggio—they take photos to document the process, and the strict Reggio teachers spend time each evening to record student observations and progress.

Ultimately I agree with finding a school that fits your needs—proximity to your house, fits your budget, and has teachers you feel comfortable leaving your child with. They will be prepared for kindergarten if they know how to sit and interact during circle time, if they know how to toilet properly on their own, if they can follow multi step directions. The actual curriculum isn’t as relevant.

Definitely Reggio. We have been so happy with our experiences in two different schools that were Reggio, and we intentionally chose it because it was not so academic and was much more holistic, focused on nature, and seemed very gentle. It seemed to focus on teaching kids while doing things they loved.

I've done a lot of research on different curriculums and have not heard much about creative curriculum as being touted by schools. Frankly, if I were to hear that, I would think it sounded like something I wasn't super interested in.

What I would love to see is elementary curriculum that is Reggio!

Anonymous wrote:Curriculum doesn’t really matter that much, don’t drink the preschool koolaid. Watch the teacher. Do the kids adore her? Are they engaged? Are the grounds safe? Do they get enough outdoor time? That’s all that matters.

My kid finally has a GREAT preschool teaching team this year and now I totally get this.

But, there is some luck involved in this. We were in daycare and PK programs before this where the teacher was perfectly adequate but not this amazing. And in those settings, the curriculum really does matter. Because an adequate-but-not-amazing teacher can still work great for your child if they are working with a system/schedule/curriculum that works for your child. I will say that I prefer Reggio to Montessori in this instance because it's more play-focused and I find that Montessori instructors can be a little charmless if they aren't "naturals" with the kids.

So it's a combo. Teacher matters a lot, but don't go hunting for a unicorn. You can compare curriculum and get a sense for what will work best for your specific child just by touring facilities and talking to teachers and program directors.

Anonymous wrote:Since Reggio is an approach as opposed to a curriculum, it can co-exist (if necessary) with different curricula. The Reggio inspired approach is HOW education is done. Creative or other curricula is WHAT children are taught. A few schools in DCPS are Reggio inspired but they use the Creative Curriculum. If you choose to be truly Reggio inspired then you would adopt and EMERGENT curriculum where the children and their interests drive the curriculum. Hope this helps.

+1

Our PK is Reggio inspired and the teacher is very committed to the approach in a wonderful, supportive way. But like all DCPS schools, their benchmarks are based on Creative Curriculum and that's how they track how children are doing. I think it's a nice balance, particularly for PK where you want the kid's in a play-based environment (NO drilling) but also need to get kids with all kinds of different ability and interests ready for Kindergarten.

I don't understand the anti-Reggio comments for toddlers because I can't imagine Creative Curriculum would be useful at all for children before PK. But a loose Reggio approach makes a ton of sense for very young kids because it is so pressure-free and allows for exploration and independence. Our kid was in Montessori before PK, which I liked, but I think I prefer R-E in general.