Reggio Emilia Approach
why reggio emilia?
The school is inspired by an approach to teaching young children that was developed in the municipal schools of a northern Italian town called Reggio Emilia. This approach emphasizes the use of art in children’s learning and encourages a simple beauty in both their work and their surroundings.
Reggio Emilia is based on the assumption that children learn best in groups and are resourceful enough to come up with their own ideas for lessons. The way we work focuses on the total development of the child including cognitive, communication, language, social, emotional, and physical skills. In planning the program, the following four assumptions are used as guidelines:
The child learns best through direct interaction with the environment. Learning comes through playing, and activities in the classroom have an essential experiential basis.
The child's total development follows a hierarchy of stages and sequences. The program changes appropriately as the child grows and moves through stages of development. Activities are planned that address the current interests and skill levels of the children in any given group.
The young child's confidence, knowledge of self, and willingness to risk grow through positive and successful experiences. Small class size enables the teachers to know and plan for an individual child's skill level and to provide assistance so as to minimize confusing, overly frustrating, or meaningless experiences. The classroom environment is designed to maximize a child's independence and to present challenges, which contribute to personal growth.
The child’s experiences, home life, and a world away from GPCP are essential to learning. Activities are planned to fully integrate home life and school life. These activities will stem from events in the child’s life, in consultation with parents, including but not limited to new additions to a family, illness, holidays, moving, and other important life events.
