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Houston Babies
Reggio Emilia based preschools?
Sorry for the multiple posts, especially since you guys don't know me!
Just wondering if anyone can recommend a Reggio Emilia based preschool in the Houston Metro area? I just found a wonderful school for my daughter in Atlanta, and now we may move to Houston, so I want to know what (and where) my options for preschool are.
Thanks for any help/insight you can provide!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Reggio Emilia based preschools?
For what it's worth, I lived in Houston for 40 years and I'd never even heard of the Reggio Emilia approach until I read this post. I had to Google it. I have the feeling there isn't a very big selection of schools using this method. (I could be wrong, obviously--I don't claim to be a wealth of knowledge of Houston preschools.)
I'm curious now. Can you tell us a little more about the Reggio Emilia method? What is it you like about it? How does it differ from traditional methods?
I guess I should have said that I am really looking for a school that is play based, nature centric and has gentle discipline methods. It doesn't necessarily have to be Reggio Emilia.
It differs from traditional methods in that it is more about learning through exploration. Our current school really focuses on nature (they compost their snacks, and each class has its own garden) and on helping the kids to develop interpersonal and emotional skills, rather than on worksheets and letters and numbers and such.
Here's a little blurb to describe RE (copied from a school website):
"The Reggio Emilia approach focuses on a child?s natural development. It is child-centered and directed. A child?s point of view is completely respected and the student is encouraged to follow his/her own educational path. Teachers observe children, figure out their interests, put materials out that will help children to explore interests at deeper levels, and ask follow-up questions to better understand what children are thinking and how they are expressing their world-views."
Check out School of the Woods.
www.schoolofthewoods.org
It is a Montessori but it may have a bit more of what you are looking for.
Also Greenwood Christian Preschool
www.greenwoodchristiantx.com
I think they use the method you are asking for but I could be wrong.
j+k+m+e | running with needles
They don't call it that, but the philosophy at The Big Little School is very similar to what I know about RE-- Learning through play, sense of community and communal spaces, the children move up a class in groups with their classmates (instead of moving individuals up based on development or age the way most daycares do), emphasis on arts and nature.
Disclaimer: My Ed. Theory & Curriculum class was a looong time ago, so my memory may be off on the particulars of RE theory. In which case, just ignore me.
Suzi G, that sound right to me. I am not an expert in RE, I just know it when I see it (or something like it).
Thanks for all of the recommendations everyone!
Just jumping on this thread because I'd love to find a reggio inspired school in Houston. Did you have any luck finding one?
The closest thing I have found in Houston is the Bayou Village waldorf school:
https://www.bayouvillageschool.org/
I noticed that there is a Reggio school in the woodlands but thats too far for us.
this is a new play-based preschool that just opened up. i've met with the owner/director and she is very passionate about her work.
https://blossomheights.com/
My best friend sends her children to a RE school in LA and loves it. I looked for similar programs - and am sending my son to Becker Early Childhood Center. It is in Southampton - about a mile from the medical center - just across the street from Rice University. He is 20 months old and my objective of sending him to school was for him to have some social time with other children as he is an only child. I wanted that to be in a loving, play based environment. Their moto is "Learning through Play".
He has been there since Sept 1st and we absolutely love it there. It is a very loving and nurturing environment. He gets a nice balance between outside and inside play, music class, movement, art (I already have a wall full of creative art pieces he created!) and storytime. They have a music teacher that moves from class to class as well as an "arts alive" rotating program.
They also have a garden and cooking classes - which I think are focused on older children. The school goes from young toddlers through "bridge" - which is after pre-K 4 for those kids that are not ready for kindergartern. Late Summer birthdays.
We are not associated with the religious affiliation of the school and find that at least 50% of the kids are not. It is a nice mix of lovely families and children representative of central Houston. Highly recommended!
We have a school in the Sugar Land - Missouri City area that is Reggio Inspired. I am part owner, and we are family owned and operated.
We have a wonderful program and you can see more of our school our website. Each classroom has a blog to show posts of what we do inside the room.
Our teachers are being trained in the Reggio Approach and we have actually done most of our training in other states like California and Illinois since there are no schools in Houston with this philosophy.
Here is the website:
www.littlewondersschool.com