Curriculum Inspired by the Reggio Emilia Philosophy

The staff of Little Angels is committed to providing a high-quality program for children and their families. We recognize each child as a whole person entering our programs from a variety of backgrounds and at many different stages of development. Our program is designed to enhance the cognitive, physical, social, and creative skills of each child. We strive to provide a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment where children can satisfy their own natural curiosity and discover joy and wonder through exploration.

We strongly believe that children learn best through experiences and a balanced program that includes a negotiated curriculum of both teacher-directed and child-initiated activities. Our teachers are co-collaborators with children. They act as guides, mentors, and models, as we observe reflect, and hypothesize.

Our commitment is to foster an open and cooperative relationship between home, school, and community. Little Angels seeks to be responsive to families’ needs. It is our desire to have parents, teachers, and staff work together to build a foundation for a lifelong love of learning.

History of Reggio Emilia Immediately after World War II, a town in Northern Italy called Reggio Emilia decided to bring hope to their families. Out of the ruins, they constructed quality preschools for their children. In present times, Reggio Emilia has been broadly recognized for having some of the best infant/toddler and preschool programs in the world. The Reggio Emilia approach to education is committed to the creation of a learning environment that will enhance and facilitate children’s construction of his/her own powers of thinking through the combination of all the expressive communicative and cognitive languages. The Reggio Emilia approach is based upon the following principles:

Emergent Curriculum An emergent curriculum is one that builds upon the interests of children. Topics for study are captured from the talk of children, through community or family events, as well as the known interests of children (puddles, shadows, dinosaurs, etc.).

Representational Development The Reggio Emilia approach calls for integration of the graphic arts as tools for cognitive, linguistic, and social development. Presentation of concepts and hypotheses in multiple forms of representation – print, art, clay, construction, drama, music – are viewed as essential to children’s understanding of experiences.

Collaboration Collaborative group work, both large and small, is considered valuable and necessary to advance cognitive development. Children are encouraged to talk about, compare, negotiate, hypothesize, and problem solve through group work. Within the Reggio approach, multiple perspectives promote both a sense of group membership and the uniqueness of the child as an individual.

Documentation Documentation of children’s work in progress is viewed as an important tool in the learning process for children, teachers, and parents. Pictures of children engaged in experiences, their words as they discuss what they are doing, feeling and thinking, and children’s interpretation of experiences through the visual media are displayed as a graphic presentation of the dynamics of learning.

The Role of Three Teachers Reggio Emilia schools believe that there are three primary teachers for our children. The first teacher is that of the parent, the second is the actual teacher, and the third teacher is the environment.

The Role of the Parent The active participation of parents in the life of the school is an essential component of the educational experience. Families are encouraged to be actively involved in meetings, conferences, celebrations, and events. Partnering with families is essential for consistent, positive experiences both at home and at school. Parents are aware of what is happening in the classroom through posting of daily activities and class newsletter.

The Role of the Teacher Our expectations are high and we demand nothing less than the following from our teaching teams:

o   To help children see the connections in learning and experiences.

o   To co-explore the learning experiences with the children

o   To provoke ideas, problem solve, and conflict resolution

o   To take ideas from the children and return them for further exploration

o   To organize the classroom and materials to be aesthetically pleasing

o   To organize materials to help children make thoughtful decisions about the media

o   To help children express their knowledge through representational work

o   To document children’s progress: assessments, checklists, journals, photographs, portfolios, etc.

o   To foster the connection between home, school, and the community

The Role of the Environment The environment is designed to provide a variety of sensory experiences in an aesthetically pleasing manner, using both indoors and outdoors as learning spaces. Items found in nature are incorporated into the classroom materials and considered an important part of developing an appreciation for the world around us. Teachers carefully arrange the room and display all materials so that children can make thoughtful decisions when working and exploring. Documentation of children’s works, plans, and collections that children have made from outings are displayed at both the children’s and adult eye level. The classrooms provide an enriched environment that nourishes each child’s development.