Contents
A Reggio inspired classroom is a nontraditional learning environment where there are no assigned seats. Children have easy access to supplies and learning material, and are consistently inspired and encouraged to direct their own learning.Oct 19, 2017
Primary Differences Between the Montessori Method and the Reggio Emilia Approach. Montessori uses very specific materials designed by Maria Montessori herself. … Reggio is a play-based philosophy, and children are free to explore and manipulate the materials based on their curiosity.
In sum, a useful lesson of the Reggio Emilia approach is that there is no rea- son to believe that teachers must choose between encouraging realistic or imag- inative visual expression as two mutually exclusive alternatives.
It might be through reading, writing, creating a sculpture, painting, or hiking. Having various ways to create and construct offers children multiple ways to learn. Tip: Ask the children what they like to do.
The Cons of Reggio Emilia
As learning is child-directed and project based, it is very difficult to show parents that their children are actually learning. There are no worksheets sent home, as an example, to show that their child has learnt their letters of the alphabet.
The philosophy simply guides the decisions of teachers in how they approach education. To understand it better, it’s important to know the three core principles of the Reggio Emilia philosophy: the child, the environment, and the teacher.
Play is driven by the children’s interests, questions, and the world that they live in. The materials available for play add to the children’s play in meaningful ways. The opportunity for children to create their own play and explorations helps to develop independence and creative thinking.
Teachers play a dual role in the Reggio Emilia classroom. Their primary role is to learn alongside children, becoming involved in group learning experiences as a guide and resource. A Reggio Emilia teacher must always carefully observe and track the growth of children and the classroom community.
Reggio Emilia teachers will typically provide authentic art materials such as watercolors, clay, chalk, and charcoal for children to experiment with in the classroom. They also offer all kinds of art instruments or vehicles for pigment including brushes, cotton balls, sponges, q-tips, sticks, and pinecones.
The Reggio Emilia classroom is very welcoming and aesthetically pleasing. Teachers draw inspiration from the community, their students’ cultures, nature, and fill the room with natural, colorful, and useful materials – from musical instruments to seashells.
Named after the city in northern Italy in which it emerged after World War II, Reggio Emilia is an educational philosophy that prioritizes play-based, hands-on learning over a prescribed curriculum.
The Reggio Emilia approach values the belief that children are strong, competent and capable citizens who are full of wonder and curiosity to learn. It believes that children have a natural drive that makes them want to understand and know about the world around them and how this world relates to them.
A Reggio inspired classroom is a nontraditional learning environment where there are no assigned seats. Children have easy access to supplies and learning material, and are consistently inspired and encouraged to direct their own learning.
Today the Reggio Emilia Approach is used by them and over 5,000 other schools worldwide. The following video, “The Hundred Languages Of Children,” shows a wonderful view of the Reggio Emilia philosophy in a modern classroom environment.
The third teacher is the environment—a setting designed to be not only functional but also beautiful and reflective of the child’s learning. It is the child’s relationship with parent, teacher, and environment that ignites learning.
Unlike traditional elementary schools where the curriculum is extremely structured, a Reggio Emilia curriculum is flexible, hands-on, and largely interest-based. This approach allows children to guide their own learning experiences, based on their passions, interests, thoughts, and observations.
The role of the adult is to listen, observe, engage when invited, document and encourage children in whatever it is they are interested in doing. Teachers and parents also work together to define some broad themes and areas of study for the children.
The Reggio Approach influences the school in many ways, most fundamentally in the school’s values of working together with families as colleagues, of celebrating the phenomenal potential of children and adults as learners, and developing creativity among the whole school community.
Reggio Children is founded to promote the vision of the late Loris Malaguzzi, and to support the infant-toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia.
Art in a Reggio environment should be an interpretation of an experience, not a copy of other’s ideas or suggestions. Art should be treated as an expression of the child’s current understandings, rather than a representation of an object. This perspective makes art a tool for making meaning.
Loose parts encourage open-ended learning
Open ended materials, environments, and experiences encourage problem solving and are child centered. … When children are encouraged to integrate play materials and areas in their own creative ways, they are experiencing open ended learning.
The Reggio Emilia method is a lesser-known approach to early childhood education in the United States. It applies to infant-toddler and preschool age groups, although there are some Reggio Emilia schools that go up to middle school.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is considered an ‘alternative’ educational approach to early childhood learning, but it delivers very mainstream outcomes. … They are recognised as active participants in constructing their own knowledge and they have substantial control over the direction that their learning takes.