Bilingual Kids International Preschool-Reggio Emilia-Features of The Reggio Emilia Approach

Features of the Reggio Emilia Approach

to co-explore the learning experience with the children
to provoke ideas, problem solving, and conflict
to take ideas from the children and return them for further exploration
to organize the classroom and materials to be aesthetically pleasing
to organize materials to help children make thoughtful decisions about the media
to document children's progress: visual, videotape, tape recording, portfolios
to help children see the connections in learning and experiences
to help children express their knowledge through representational work
to form a "collective" among other teachers and parents
to have a dialogue about the projects with parents and other teachers
to foster the connection between home, school and community

can emerge from children's ideas and / or interests
can be provoked by teachers
can be introduced by teachers knowing what is of interest to children: shadows, puddles, tall buildings, construction sites, nature, etc.
should be long enough to develop over time, to discuss new ideas, to negotiate over, to induce conflicts, to revisit, to see progress, to see movement of ideas
should be concrete, personal from real experiences, important to children, should be "large" enough for diversity of ideas and rich in interpretive / representational expression

explore first: "What is this material?" "What does it do?" Finally "what can I do with the material?"
should have variation in colour, texture, pattern: help children "see" the colours, tones, hues; help children "feel" the texture, the similarities and differences
should be presented in an artistic manner: it should be aesthetically pleasing to look at; it should invite you to touch and admire; it should inspire
should be revisited throughout many projects to help children see the possibilities