exist in the moment and focus on what they find before them. Children encounter numerous marvels on the way to the car or to the sto
such an important thing to realize. in general, children get rushed along and told to hurry up. we're always trying to get somewhere and do something as adults. children are amazed by the little things that are along the way. we need to respect them and allow them time to explore what's interesting to them.
dren to exercise autonomy when they are mastering such
as a teacher, i feel that this is easier to achieve. There are times built into our day that are all about the children doing what they want to do and allowing them to practice autonomy. As a parent, I can see how this would be ideal in theory, but hard to practice. The busy schedule of adult life gets in the way of being patient enough to allow children to do things themselves.
smallness that children often experience in the world of adults.
this is somewhat changing throughout society i think. i like when i see spaces where children have been thought of and given the chance to be active participants. places like Trader Joe's have child sized shopping carts so the children can participate in this adult-centered activity.
The chil-dren did not want the teacher to lift them up to reach it, resulting in a long-term in-vestigation exploring how children could mail a letter independently.
I love how this isn't simply "and then the teacher got them a step stool". it turned into a long investigation, really demanding that the children solve their own problem. This is one of the things that I love about BJS.
If children do indeed speak using 100 languages, then in order to understand what children are saying, adults must lis-ten with all of their creativity.
i feel like I didn't realize all of the rights that children should have and I don't think I was listening to all of the different ways that they were communicating. It's so important to notice and watch out for the nonverbal ways children are communicating.
A right is like you know in your heart it's okay to do it ... you can do it if you want and that's it." Another child added, "But only if it's okay, like you won't hurt somebody and it's not safe . . . because the other person has a right to not be hurt too, right?·
it amazes me that children can think this complexly sometimes!
to understand more; she can immediately imagine a context with materials and tools to offer the children, who are sure to fmd further combinatorial possi-bilities in their own research, adding ideas to ideas. These visual contexts can be supported and enriched by other languages, such as soun
This is the goal! Sometimes I feel lost, but I hope to look at an experience and become more curious and immediately think of ways to enhance it and make connections with other materials/spaces/etc.
The ateliers are contexts for the experiences on various topicsinvolving creativity and learning, where different languages interweave.
I haven't had a chance to take the children to the studio at BJS yet, but I look forward to seeing how we can support their interests and interweave it with different languages
Diego waited untilthe next morning, then photographed theassembly, choosing the point of view that would best help him resolve the problem that arose [image 4].
How complex! I think the examples of work that we see in our readings about Reggio schools are so amazing. I hope that I will be able to have and encourage these experiences with children one day.
This is a process that takes place in all situations in which we are working using different languages.
I think this relates to the social identities reading for the PRL class. At different times and in different contexts, we are projecting certain aspects of our social identities. Children are constantly figuring out what is appropriate, which language to use, in certain contexts and how the people around them will support or not support them.
In manyeducational philosophies andpractices, we often see a gap between theory and practice, andthis is one of the most problematicelements of a widespread wayof teaching that seems to be frozen in time.
Sometimes this does feel true. I feel like we learn so much about theory and then do not have the opportunity to put those theories in practice. One thing that I appreciate about the BJS TEP is that we get to see the theory in action and get to practice it regularly.
t is a natural strategy of thinking, supported by the underlying hypothesis that the combinatorialand creative possibilities of multiple languages enrich children's perception andintensify theirrelationship withboth reality and imagination.
By allowing children to be logical and imaginative, scientific and creative, and playful and serious, we help them to create connections among "languages". Children will be able to see reality in new ways and construct their imagination in new ways as well.
freedom is only achieved when rights are respected and that denying human beings the possibility to express themselves in many different ways means depriving them of a fundamental right.
Again, do we really allow children to express themselves in our society? How can children truly be free, in the same sense as adults, if we don't recognize that they too have rights? Being at a Reggio-inspired school has allowed me to broaden my scope on children and what it means for them to have rights and be active participants in the community.
I cannot offer anyreflections onthe hundred languages of children without keeping in mind the extremely painful image of the thousands of children, women,and men who havebeen denied any possibilityof self-expression and, too often, of life, solely because they were bornin inhospitable places of the world
To me, this shows that the noticing the hundred languages of children, although important, is an ideal. In some places, it is not possible to recognize the hundred languages of children because there is too much going on in the social/political/cultural context. Even in the US, we want to notice children as being independent people, but sometimes don't give them the right to contribute or make decisions regarding themselves.
Children have a right to a good school — a goodbuilding, good teachers, right time, good activities.This is the right of ALL children
This is so true, but frighteningly uncommon in the US unless you are able to pay for high-end programs.
We have to understand that they are movingand working with many ideas, but their most impor-tant task is to build relationships with friends. Theyare trying to understand what friendship is.
We need to remember that in every interaction that the children have with each other they are working out what makes their friends happy, what makes them sad, and what it means to be a friend. Through play, children find out about each others desires, ideas, and feelings.
Itrequires a shift in the role of the teacher from anemphasis of teaching to an emphasis on learning,teachers learning about themselves as teachers aswell as teachers learning about children.
I am excited to become a teacher that focuses more on learning with the children and from the children.
What is important to the child isthat the teacher sees the child while the child isworking, while the child is putting out the effort toaccomplish the task — the processes are important,
We talk about how the process is so important for us to capture during documentation and how the process is more important than the product. It would make sense that the children would want us to be deeply engaged in the process with them. They want us to see their efforts, to recognize them, learn with them, and value them.
When the child sees that theadult is there, totally involved with the child, thechild doesn’t forget.
One of the most important things in ECE is the relationship built between teachers and students. In a lecture, I heard someone call relationships the "active ingredient" - without them nothing else really matters. I think that the Reggio approach is really going to help me develop even stronger relationships with the children. It is so easy sometimes to not be completely present with the children, but when we are actively present, we won't miss out on the little moments. Children will see that we are engaged and value them.
We need to know how to recognize a new presence,how to wait for the child.
I think a lot of time when we're exploring something with the children, it can be hard to wait for them to come to conclusions naturally, whether that be due to impatience, the schedule of the day, or other constraints. Sometimes there isn't time to wait for the child. If we can create the flow of the day to be more about the child, then we can learn to wait as long as the child needs. Simply spouting answers at children doesn't allow them to enjoy the discovery.
It’s okay toimprovise sometimes but we need to plan the project.
I love the idea of improvisation. It's awesome to have a great idea that you think the children will love, but it's important to be open to the children not engaging with it at all or even moving it in a new direction. Children are not passive beings that just absorbs what we say and do. Like it is mentioned earlier, they bring their own sets of skills and knowledge into the classroom each day. In order to truly value and appreciate the child, we need to be able to improvise. I think it is also important that the teacher has a plan, though.
Each one of us needs to have curiosity, and we needto be able to try something new based on the ideasthat we collect from the children as they go along.Life has to be somewhat agitated and upset, a bitrestless, somewhat unknown.
It's important for all of us to work on seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. If we want the kids to be curious about something, even though they naturally are, we must also be actively engaged and curious too. We can't be afraid of being "wrong" - if we are, then we are doing a disservice to the children.
Sothe meetings that we have are always contaminatedwith the experiences that we bring with us
I agree that it's important to remember that all of our meetings with children include our own pieces of our life and especially pieces of theirs. We don't always know the whole context of the child and it is important to actively remember this. I am guilty of just viewing the child in the context of school and I want to work on actively getting out of doing this.
There’s a difference between the environmentthat you are able to build based on a preconceivedimage of the child and the environment that you canbuild that is based on the child you see in front of you
Even if we see the child as capable of performing complicated tasks, how do we offer complex materials during the "dump & run" phase? I feel the children in my class are capable of exploring these materials, but also deal with the frustration of continually having to clean them up because their main interests lie in dumping them all out.
Projectsmaystarteitherfromachanceevent,anideaoraproblemposedbyoneormorechildren,oranexperienceinitiateddirectlybyteachers
the ability to practice emergent curriculum and not be forced to teach to standards really allows for flexibility and for the students to become deeply engaged. how is this reflected in their behavior?
Thisteacher,whoworksinaspecialworkshoporstudioknownasan"atelier",iscalledan"atelierista".
This is my first experience with a specific "studio teacher" and I'm excited to see how this experience can enhance learning
theymakechildrenawarethattheireffortisvalued
Children are so excited to see themselves in action and displayed around the classroom. Documentation of experiences can help promote the community aspect of the classroom, showing that everyone has value and should be celebrated.
Theyseelearningnotasalinearprocessbutasaspiralprogressionandconsiderthemselvestobepartnersinthisprocessoflearning.
Children are constantly learning and building on their previous knowledge and connecting concepts/ideas across broad categories. I have learned and am still learning to be a partner in the process of learning instead of feeding children answers. What's the point of learning if we take away the process and excitement of discovery?
ay-outofphysicalspacefostersencounters,communication,andrelationship
I'm excited to learn more about using the environment as a third teacher!
Eachschoolisviewedasasysteminwhichalltheserelationships,whichareallinterconnectedandreciprocal,areactivatedandsupported
it seems as if there isn't a lot of parent involvement at BJS. why is that?
thetraditionofcooperativeworkisfirmlyrootedintheEmiliaRomagnaregionandisbasedonasenseofcommunityandofsolidarity.
We, as a society, talk about how it takes a village to raise children, but are so reluctant to reach out to others for help because we are fiercely independent and it is seen as "weak" to ask for help. How would our children benefit from seeing us ask for help and from being with others in the community?
Infant-toddlerprogramshavedevelopedmuchlessinquantitybutthequality
seems to be the opposite of the US. Too much focus on quantity here... in terms of how many options are available and length of programs. Reminds me of something I read in a book called The Importance of Being Little - "virtually every child policy in American history was motivated by adults need to put distance between themselves and their children" (pg 268)
in1968andinfant-toddlercentersin1971.
wow! that's so recent in our history. How did it take so long for public preschools to be established? Who were the driving forces behind it? It makes me wonder why children weren't recognized as needing early education before then and if we've really come that far now.