|
Early Childhood Education
Reggio Emilia is a town in northern Italy in which a very
progressive approach to preschool education was developed and has been
practiced for many years. Among the concepts emphasized in the Reggio
approach to teaching are the image of the child as competent, powerful,
and full of potential; the importance of the physical environment of
classrooms and schools; the importance of photographs, children's work
samples, and teachers', children's and parents' words to document,
communicate and enhance the process of learning; and the importance of
teacher-teacher and parent-teacher collaboration (Edwards, Gandini &
Forman) The Hundred Languages of Children.
A letter from Becky
Candra,
LJUMCNS Director:
As we near the end of this school year I would like to take some
time to reflect with you about the changes we have been instituting this
year in the nursery school. In January 1999, several of our staff took a
class at Grossmont College to learn more about the world renowned
early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy. At that time, we began
to discuss how we might implement aspects of the approach at LJUMCNS. We
began to look at our environment, our daily schedules, the purpose of our
small group time, and the role of the teachers in our program. Many of us
were excited about the prospect of change and many of us were hesitant to
change an already good program. During the spring and summer, we met to
discuss what we were learning, visited other programs in California
implementing Reggio, and offered times for parents to come together with
us to learn more about Reggio.
During last year's summer program the teachers began to slow down and
really pay attention to what the children were interested in doing. We
introduced real clay and found that the children spent several days at a
time working on their creations. We brought in flowers and snails so the
children could observe closely and begin to represent their observations
in watercolors and clay. Some of the children spent several days taking
apart old appliances and then creating collages with the parts. Teachers
took time to write down children's conversations and to document through
photos what the children were doing. The children still played in the
mud, had water day, built with blocks and dressed up. It was our most
successful summer program.
As fall approached, the teachers began to look earnestly at what
changes we wanted to make for the new school year. As most schools do, we
started with he concrete - our environment. The schools in Reggio believe
that the environment is the third teacher in their programs. What
messages were the children and parents getting from our environment? What
could we do to make our school even more inviting? The two big changes we
made this year were the softening of our entrance area by the French
doors and the creation of an Art Studio where Room X used to be. We
continue to work to declutter our spaces and to add plants and other
elements to soften our classrooms.
The other changes we looked at involved our image of the child and the
role of the teacher. How do we act if we believe the child is a competent
and capable person who can show us what he or she wants and needs to know
in order to continue to grow and develop? What elements of our program do
we keep and which elements are we willing to change for the good of the
child? What do we do with our new knowledge of child development and this
Reggio approach? The first things we realized was that continuing
projects from day to day was going to be especially difficult since most
of our staff and children change from day to day. Is this our image of
the child getting in the way or is it real? We changed to a buffet snack
time in order for the children to be more in charge of their activity
time. We kept the small group time to help the teachers and children
connect with one another. We became more sensitive to what the children
needed to extend their activities. We continue to reflect with the
children on their choices and their projects.
In playgroup the teachers are also making subtle changes. They are
taking more and more cues from the children. If the children are engaged
in an activity or want to do it again, the teachers will help the
children by not hurrying them into a new transition. They will repeat a
very popular activity, allowing the children to revisit the experience
again and again. Less teacher-directed activities and more
child-initiated art activities are being presented. Teachers have been
documenting the growth and development of the children through photos and
the recording of children's words. This allows parents, children and
teachers to revisit activities.
Our biggest challenge this year has been to convince parents that the
children do not benefit as much from teacher made projects and alphabet
activities as they do from the writing and drawing that comes from their
own experiences. We have seen a large increase in the writing by our four
and five year olds. The teachers have written children's stories and
helped them write their own words whenever the children request it. We
have noticed a big increase in the interest in words. We added writing
centers on the playground and tape to hang up the signs. Several classes
have made books that the children have illustrated. The afternoon class
presented a play that they wrote themselves - Three Billy Goats Gruff.
The morning five day class does readers' theater almost every day. We are
very happy with the results of this change that we have made.
As we look toward next year, the staff and I are continuing to be
committed to incorporating the Reggio Emilia approach to our program.
Reggio melds into our developmental, play-based early childhood program
to enhance what the children and staff are doing. When we see children
playing, we will continue to ask, "What are they doing?",
"Why are they doing it?", and now, "What should we do
next?".
|
