Reggio Emelia vs. Montessori Preschools

nikkimom77

I am considering both Reggio Emelia inspired preschools and montessori schools. Does anyone have an opinion as to which is better? I know it depends on the child, but perhaps someone has heard of or experienced one or both of these?

 

 

futrkingsley

My research focused on Montessori schools because that is the style I was drawn to for myself and my kid.  When I glanced at a Reggio school (there is only one in our area) it was too fantasy based for me and for my kid.  I didn't enjoy fairies or stuff as a kid, and DS seems to enjoy much more reality based play so I ruled it out for us.  His Montessori school is very middle of the road in comparison to the schools I looked at around here.  The classrooms are mixed age (which is not the case with all our local schools), the classrooms are large and well organized with quality materials in child-sizes.  Kids are free to chose their own work during work times.  There is no fantasy element in the classroom -- no dress up, no dolls, no fantasy anything, no outside toys.  The kids make do.   When my boy was train obsessed he used blocks as trains which in more conservatively Montessori schools would be a no-no but his teachers allowed it to some degree.  They do music and art every day and he's learning a lot.

fromvatobk

my son attends a reggio preschool and he loves it.  It's been a great experience for him (his school uses a mixed age classroom approach as well) both in meeting new friends and in learning concepts.  I can't believe all the stuff he has learned and how much his creativity has been stoked by school.  We are really happy with the choice we made.

jlw2505

I can't speak for Montessori but I can tell you that I LOVE Reggio Emelia.  My older DD's PreK (younger going in the fall) follows the Reggio Emelia model and its amazing.  They really follow the kids lead in regard to the topics - they have changed the dramatic play area based on what the kids are interested in - a restuarant, a doctors office - right now its a jungle theme.  Last year they did a whole section on camping.  They have a general idea of what they want to teach to the kids each year but the method that they do it follows what the kids are interested in.  They have learned about wood, nature and a ton of different things.  They don't plan the field trips out before school starts, they plan the 1st one of 2 and then as they get to know the kids and what they are interested in, they plan them around those interestes.  When working on art projects, they do not hand the kid a picture of say a snowman and have them color it in - they say we are going to draw snowman - show them some pictures and then let the kids go.  There is not a right or wrong way to draw a snowman - the kids use their imagination.  The class has a focus and they have group time and circle time and different stations in the room that are open at different times.  They work on journals.  I have just been so impressed with the class and all that they have learned and how excited my child has come home from school - she has learned things I would have never thought to talk to her about.

jlw2505

futrkingsley:

My research focused on Montessori schools because that is the style I was drawn to for myself and my kid.  When I glanced at a Reggio school (there is only one in our area) it was too fantasy based for me and for my kid.  I didn't enjoy fairies or stuff as a kid, and DS seems to enjoy much more reality based play so I ruled it out for us.  His Montessori school is very middle of the road in comparison to the schools I looked at around here.  The classrooms are mixed age (which is not the case with all our local schools), the classrooms are large and well organized with quality materials in child-sizes.  Kids are free to chose their own work during work times.  There is no fantasy element in the classroom -- no dress up, no dolls, no fantasy anything, no outside toys.  The kids make do.   When my boy was train obsessed he used blocks as trains which in more conservatively Montessori schools would be a no-no but his teachers allowed it to some degree.  They do music and art every day and he's learning a lot.

Sorry, I just had to laugh at the comment about fantasy play and faries - sorry but a Reggio program does not have anything to do with fairies or fantasy play.  It has to do with being child led and includes a ton of creativity and dramatic play and fantasy in the sense of fairies and princesses.  It is big on letting the kids be kids in the sense of using their imagination and not follow set guidlines of how to do everything (no you have to color a rainbow exactly like this picture for example).

jlw2505

janineb:

why did I think waldorf was the fantasy play based style, not reggio emilia?

the reggio I looked act only focused on the child led teaching environment, not fantasy play.

to OP, we opted for montessori partly for the same reason fred did - it included before and after school care and that as huge for us.

We were also very drawn to the practical skills aspect of montessori. I remember the day DD came home and asked to help me fold towels and the laundry. I called my mom up and said "I love this school" ;p. 

I don't know anything about Waldorf but you are correct in your statement about reggio - it is not fantasy play based at all - it is very much child led teaching.

jlw2505

Reggio Emelia program based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment based on the interests of the children through a self-guided curriculum.

 The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:

• Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
• Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing;
• Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore and
• Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching young children puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the center of its philosophy. Early childhood programs that have successfully adapted to this educational philosophy share that they are attracted to Reggio because of the way it views and respects the child.

I copied this from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach

 

 

jlw2505

fredalina:

When I say that Reggio incorporates fantasy play, I don't mean fairies and gnomes like in Waldorf. I mean the dramatic play that jlw mentioned. There are no play houses or dress up clothes or "endless ways to express themselves" in Montessori. Montessori is "hold the spoon like this, scoop the peas with the wooden spoon one at a time, then put the pea in the bowl, lather, rinse, repeat". In Reggio, kids would be free to trade the peas like money or glue them to paper to make art or line them up and pretend they're little soldiers (when not in an active lesson).  That's what I mean when I say "fantasy play" and compare it with Montessori having none.

  Great way of explaining the 2 - love it. 

futrkingsley

jlw2505:

futrkingsley:

My research focused on Montessori schools because that is the style I was drawn to for myself and my kid.  When I glanced at a Reggio school (there is only one in our area) it was too fantasy based for me and for my kid.  I didn't enjoy fairies or stuff as a kid, and DS seems to enjoy much more reality based play so I ruled it out for us.  His Montessori school is very middle of the road in comparison to the schools I looked at around here.  The classrooms are mixed age (which is not the case with all our local schools), the classrooms are large and well organized with quality materials in child-sizes.  Kids are free to chose their own work during work times.  There is no fantasy element in the classroom -- no dress up, no dolls, no fantasy anything, no outside toys.  The kids make do.   When my boy was train obsessed he used blocks as trains which in more conservatively Montessori schools would be a no-no but his teachers allowed it to some degree.  They do music and art every day and he's learning a lot.

Sorry, I just had to laugh at the comment about fantasy play and faries - sorry but a Reggio program does not have anything to do with fairies or fantasy play.  It has to do with being child led and includes a ton of creativity and dramatic play and fantasy in the sense of fairies and princesses.  It is big on letting the kids be kids in the sense of using their imagination and not follow set guidlines of how to do everything (no you have to color a rainbow exactly like this picture for example).

If the kids in the class said they wanted to learn about fairies, how would the teacher in that school not focus on it?  The website for the school nearest us featured photos of their classroom and it was certainly a focus for a while in their school.

jlw2505

futrkingsley:

jlw2505:

futrkingsley:

My research focused on Montessori schools because that is the style I was drawn to for myself and my kid.  When I glanced at a Reggio school (there is only one in our area) it was too fantasy based for me and for my kid.  I didn't enjoy fairies or stuff as a kid, and DS seems to enjoy much more reality based play so I ruled it out for us.  His Montessori school is very middle of the road in comparison to the schools I looked at around here.  The classrooms are mixed age (which is not the case with all our local schools), the classrooms are large and well organized with quality materials in child-sizes.  Kids are free to chose their own work during work times.  There is no fantasy element in the classroom -- no dress up, no dolls, no fantasy anything, no outside toys.  The kids make do.   When my boy was train obsessed he used blocks as trains which in more conservatively Montessori schools would be a no-no but his teachers allowed it to some degree.  They do music and art every day and he's learning a lot.

Sorry, I just had to laugh at the comment about fantasy play and faries - sorry but a Reggio program does not have anything to do with fairies or fantasy play.  It has to do with being child led and includes a ton of creativity and dramatic play and fantasy in the sense of fairies and princesses.  It is big on letting the kids be kids in the sense of using their imagination and not follow set guidlines of how to do everything (no you have to color a rainbow exactly like this picture for example).

If the kids in the class said they wanted to learn about fairies, how would the teacher in that school not focus on it?  The website for the school nearest us featured photos of their classroom and it was certainly a focus for a while in their school.

If the kids wanted to focus on fairies, then yes, they would do the dramatic play area on fairies.  The way I read the PP, it made it sound like that was all they did.  The dramatic play area in my DD's classroom changes about once a month so they do cover a ton of different themes - just not one thing for the whole year.  The comments about not enjoying fairies and stuff as a child is what led to my comments.  My DD's class has never focused on fairies - they have done things such as wood/trees, bones and the human body, the jungle, water creatures and topics that are more about real life things than focusing on fairies (not to say that it might not be a topic that is discussed at some point.  I guess it was just the way it was described - I didn't feel like it explained what Reggio is about correctly is all - or at least in my experience with it as my DD is currently in the program.

nikkimom77

Thanks everyone! My DS is currently in a montessori school. I am not really sure it is for him. I am leaning toward trying Reggio for a year. If that doesn't work, we will be back in montessori at age 4. I feel like I have one more year to play with since he is only 2 right now.