I just received a postcard from a Reggio Emilia approach daycare facility and did some preliminary research. The approach and facility pics reminded me a bit of montessori. Does anyone have any insight to this approach?
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reggio emelia! not a huge fan of montessori (gasp! the horror! i know... stone me later). LOs are encouraged to spend time interacting with their environment and one another & allowed to follow that wherever it takes them. the environment is one that reflects the world outside the classroom- it's not a sterile, over plasticized, wasteland of commercialized characters & toys (not that montesorri is, that is just a general statement about common childhood environments), it more resembles home & nature. there is no one expected or required direction or outcome for things, the process & experience are the focus. it is a far more social setting than a montesorri classroom.
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I did some basic research (like...wikipedia and a few articles that the day care linked me to), because one of the best daycare centers in our area follows this approach. At my old job one of my clients sent her twins to it. From that small amount of research and singular anecdotal experience...I like it. I think they did a great job with this clients' children (who'd had unimaginably rough lives), and helped them to develop individual interests. Like they figured out that the little boy (3 year old) loved cooking, and they really encouraged him to engage with that interest. I think its a nice medium between child-directed, and more traditional education. In early childhood they seem pretty focused on play, imagination, and self direction which is really important to me. I think we'll end up using this childcare until she's ready for preschool, and then do Waldorf preschool, and then regular public education (barring any individual issues that pop up that might make that plan not work for her).
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@Silva: @mrs. bird: the pics online looked like so much fun. There were a lot of experiments occurring. My only concern was the idea of starting something without the expectation of a correct end result. That's so different from me and my "is-it-right?" mentality.
I am really happy that I now have 5 great options for child care close by when the time comes.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: have you looked at Waldorf at all? I know its not for everyone, but they really stress not having right answers (which, personally, I like for early childhood but not after that). An example from a chapter I was reading last night, was a little boy asking the teacher if pumpkins grow on the moon. Her response was "pumpkins and the moon are both round!" which allowed him to continue with his imaginative glee, without restricting the world for him.
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@mrs. bird: another reggio lover, montessori meh over here!
@mrs. lemon-lime: To me, reggio is like the gold standard of early childhood (speaking as a former preschool teacher on my way to become a therapist for kids/families). I love that it's open-ended, child-centered and play-focused, but, when done right, really focused on building skills/confidence with tools. Don't know if that addresses your concern at all, but in a real reggio school, both the process AND the children's work can be really incredible.
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@mjane: the daycare is franchised with it's flagship in my state. I am always concerned best practices are not followed at franchise facilities. How would I be able to judge that both the process and children's work are implemented correctly?
Here's a link to the school. http://www.klaschools.com/
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I am also wary of franchise schools, for a bunch of reasons, and I haven't heard of this one, butttt I'd say it's worth a visit for sure. I think you would want to look at the children's work and also ask how much time they were given to work with materials on a self-directed project--in a day, and over the course of a few weeks. You'd want to hear that they were given a lot of time--essentially unlimited--if they wanted it. It might also be worth asking the director how the school overlaps and differs from the Reggio approach (since it says it's "inspired" by it)--because regardless of his/her answer, it will give you how much of a sense s/he actually knows about the philosophy. S/he should be able to talk at length in response to this question, and have some [hopefully] interesting things to say.
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I have heard AMAZING things about RE schools and if I had the option, I would send my kids to one in a heartbeat. I have heard great things from the educators in my life.
reggio emelia! not a huge fan of montessori (gasp! the horror! i know... stone me later). LOs are encouraged to spend time interacting with their environment and one another & allowed to follow that wherever it takes them. the environment is one that reflects the world outside the classroom- it's not a sterile, over plasticized, wasteland of commercialized characters & toys (not that montesorri is, that is just a general statement about common childhood environments), it more resembles home & nature. there is no one expected or required direction or outcome for things, the process & experience are the focus. it is a far more social setting than a montesorri classroom.
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