Burlington Children's Space, Inc.

In the town of Reggio Emilia, Italy, educators, parents and citizens have worked together for over 34 years to create a system for preschool education. The founding teacher was visionary scholar Loris Malaguzzi. He combined the theories and practices of Bruno Ciari, Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget, Howard Gardner and others including practices of the Progressive Education Movement from the United States. Malaguzzi developed an extraordinary way for children to reach unexpected levels of learning and cooperation with others. People from all over the world have traveled to Reggio Emilia to discover how they might adapt this wonderful system to their own early education environments. Following World War II, the town of Reggio Emilia was virtually destroyed. There were no physical facilities for the care and education of young children. Because increasing numbers of mothers entered the work force at this time, the community developed a program for infants through preschool. The town began rebuilding and parents constructed a school for their children. Parents naturally became active in developing the education program, having built it from the ground up. The resulting program was supported by the city in several schools and infant care centers, and emphasized the strength of communication and interaction between parents, teachers and children. Key Elements of the Approach The child is strong, rich and powerful. The child is social and able to express interests and ideas, research for further information, reflect on the experience and form conclusions. Learning is an adventure. The curriculum is negotiated between teachers, students and parents. Education is based on relationships, exchange and communication. Environments teach beauty and richness. The adult (teacher or parent/guardian) is a guide, provocateur, researcher, facilitator and memory. Emergent curriculum is an in-depth way to study a particular topic of interest. This thread or interest area can provide experiences in math, art, science, language, social students and music based on the developmental needs and abilities of the children, as teachers and children reflect together as co collaborators. Documentation is a way to display children's thoughts, ideas, reflections or actual growth as they construct knowledge or study a thread over time. Through participation in NAEYC accreditation, as well as our study of the schools in Reggio Emilia, we have established guidelines for classroom set up and use of the environments. Each classroom will have differences based on the styles and interest of the teachers, the age of the children, and the needs of the group. However, all teachers should think of the environments as a powerful teaching tool and set it up as such. Each classroom considers the following elements: area for wet and messy sensory activities opportunity to explore and represent with art media including paint, pencil, markers, clay and collage quiet areas when children feel the need to get away from the group spaces that encourage gathering together as a community space to use small manipulatives at tables or on the floor dramatic play props and mirrors, with clip boards to document the story that is being told science and math inquiry activities to provoke exploration, observation, measuring and predicting writing areas that are specific to the age group to explore or represent space inside and outside of the room for each child's own belongings spaces for parent and teacher communication--linking home to school space for teachers for documentation, which is an essential part of our daily reflection, planning and collaboration.

Additional Information: Initial License Date: 12/01/2005; Area Description: Fenced Yard, Smoke Free; Program Meals: Allergy Awareness, Special Diets; 5 Star Center Based Child Care and Preschool Program - Licensed Provider;