Pre-School and Daycare
mamahawk12
member
Proud Mama to cleft cutie
XP: Reggio Emilia
mamahawk12
member
We're considering a preschool for our older son that enacts the Reggio Emilia Approach to learning. Besides the information the school provided and what I've researched on the web, I'm pretty unfamiliar. Wondering if anyone has any first hand experience in this type of school? Would you recommend it? How was your child's transition into a traditional learning environment?
(XP'd from school aged and parenting)
Proud Mama to cleft cutie
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Re: XP: Reggio Emilia
Our school is based on that, and DD1 is only 4, so she has 1 more year left of prek, but I absoultely love it. I love that it's all about what the kids are interested in and want to learn about and that she learns from her peers and older kids and teaches the younger kids.
It's kind of half way between montesorri and traditional educational philosophies, I think if anything it helps kids ease into the traditional learning/education methodologies.
We'd be coming from a very traditional preschool that has daily lesson plans, curriculum, etc. So I guess my concern is that it's too much "free time" - or is that not the case? I know each school is different and I'll have to investigate into ours. I wouldn't want him to miss out on fundamentals (letters, numbers, etc) because they're too busy "fostering creativity" - it should be a good split, imo.
Proud Mama to cleft cutie
No, it's not necessarily free time, but learning through play. So instead of just playing dress up, they set the area up like a restaurant, and kids can dress up but they learn there's a restaurant host/hostess, then the waiter/waitress, people order off a menu, they write down what they want to eat and it's cooked in the kitchen.
Our school has centers, and during center time they're encouraged to go to whatever center they want to, but they do have other times throughout the day where they do the more traditional academics (letters, numbers, etc.)
The fostering creativity piece comes into play if the kids are all excited about the different food in the restaurant scenario, they'll change the restaurant scenario to a supermarket, where they'll learn about the different departments, and paying for the food and take turns at a cash register, and stuff like that.
it's not really as loosey goosey as you'd think.
Wow, that sounds really great. And just the kind of examples I was looking for. We've never even considered any "alternative" schools before so I was really nervous and apprehensive but I'm excited for our tour next week to get a first hand glimpse. Thanks!!
Proud Mama to cleft cutie
My son is finishing his second year of pre-k in a Reggio-inspired program (his teacher totally runs her class that way, but they aren't allowed to officially call it Reggio).
It's fantastic, he knows how to use all kinds of crazy art materials, and they are currently learning about birds - they have some binoculars by the window, and the kids sit and watch the birds and take "notes". Just wonderful, child-centered learning. Another great aspect is that the teachers are supposed to document what the kids are learning/discovering, so we have all kinds of great photos and artwork with quotes of what he knows about things.
Like the PP said, kids learn through play. He will have plenty of time to worry about letters and numbers later on.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
LOVE!!! The PreK that we use (Older DD went 2 years since we held her back from kindy for a year) and younger DD is in the program now and its amazing. I can't say enough amazing things about it. I love how the class flows to topics that the kids are interested in. At the drop of a hat, the teachers will change the plans for the day due to something of interest coming up with the class. The teachers start the year with some basic goals and ideas but then really open up the topics to the class. They learn all the basics of letters, numbers, etc that you would find in any other prek but they do so much more and they are really able to focus things on where the kids are. My younger DD is pretty advanced so they are working on reading with her while other kids are still learning their letters (like my older DD when in the room). They have a dramatic play area in the classroom and they change it out everyone 4-6 weeks and the kids pick the theme - its a police station now but in the past it has been a campsite, a restuarant, a store, a rocket ship/space station, an ocean. You name it. They take the things that kids talk about and go from there. They do some amazing things.
My older DD had an easy time adjusting to kindergarten which is a traditional school program. The PreK is in the same building and they have 4th grade reading buddies, they spend time on the "big" playground and they interact with the current kindy students and teachers to help ease the transisition. For the kids that are part of the summer program, they eat in the cafe. The kids now their way around the school, they know the teachers/principal (who knows them all by name) and they know a ton of the kids. They know the school rules (Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Ready). They particpate in the school drills (fire, lockdown, tornado, etc). When they have special things at school - the kids are part of it - they did drumming, they saw the firetrucks and police cars when they come to school for safety drills.
I could go on for ever. One of the best parts is the year long "Second Step" lessons. These concentrate on the social side of things - everything from sharing, how to have a conversation, how to intruppt, what to do if someone is hurt, it even includes bulling.
This program has a wait list every single year. The class size is 20 kids with 2 full time teachers and an aide and they have a second class that is 14 kids this year with 1 FT teacher and an aide. The school recently bought a new building that will be connected to the new school and they are moving this program to the new building and they will then be able to add more space so more kids can be part of the program (classroom sizes right now are at max.
Each of the kids keeps a journal and they write and draw pictures, they journal daily. The teachers keep a notebook of pictures with notes plus we have a formal conference 2x a year with a very detailed report. At the end of the year, I have the option to get all the pictures that have been taken of my kids on a mem stick. I have made a Shutterfly book of all of these pictures and my kids love this. A great memory of the school year.
Our girls are in one, and we love it. Like pp, it's still very structured, but child lead learning.
Our daycare has little focus on numbers and letters, but I'm happy to fill that gap myself.
I think it's the kind of thing that could look very different from one centre to another, so it's a matter of you looking at the one near you, and seeing if it matches what you want from a kindy.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old