An Introduction to the Reggio Approach by Gardner

Howard Gardner eloquently explains

*How the approach was created
*The striking contrasts between the traditional American philosophy of teaching young children (Head Start) Vs. allowing children to test their theories freely
*How the Municipality of Reggio honors Early Childhood Education

After reading, think about how ECE Teachers and the American government can fight for our young children to learn in a similar environment to the children in the municipality of Reggio Emilia in Reggio Ramagna Italy.

Why Children need to get outside!

This article eloquently explains the need of children to have free time to be in nature.  Great read.

How Can Children Have an Attachment to Nature if They Aren't Exposed to It?

playagainfilm.com

The Importance of Outdoor Play

The Benefits of Children Playing Outside

 During my childhood my mom's answer for everything was "get out of the house!  Go play outside!" At the time I would suspect she just wanted us out of her hair, but she really did us a favor.  My brother and I would play for hours outside.  The memories of climbing trees, getting lost in our grandparents forest, looking for crabs at the beach all inspire me to make sure the next generation of children are able to have those memories.

In an article entitled, "Young Kids and the Popularity of Portability" by Lisa Guernsey, says that from BIRTH to AGE 5 80% of children are watching TV, and more then 20% are using the internet.  I'm not arguing that children should not be allowed to have any access to media, but they spend so much time around media, when do they have the time to go outside?

I attribute my mom's push for us to be outside all the time, the reason for my passion for children to be playing in nature.  When children are outside  they have a natural curiosity that can evolve into many discoveries.  There needs to be a healthy balance between exposure to technology and playing in the natural world.

I worked at a school where children were dropped off outside, we would spend a chunk of our morning education outside, followed by meeting time then free play inside.  Because the children were outside first, they came inside focused and ready to learn.  This is just one of the many benefits for children to be playing in the natural world.

Whether you are a parent, teacher or are simply interested in the subject, please read this article.  It gives great ideas to incorporate nature into a child's life.

"What's Growing?"

 Since there has been interest in gardening the teachers set up an area in the classroom dedicated to plants.  Even though I'm not there the children are able to continue their conversations, experimentation and observation of "What's Growing?" What's not growing and why?  As a teacher it's important to use every opportunity to be a teachable moment.  Don't be discouraged if things aren't growing properly.  Bring the issue to the children and see if you can problem solve with them.

One difficult aspect of starting seeds in a classroom is that there needs to be at least 6-8 hours of sunlight shining on the soil and seed as well as lots of sun!  The more then sunshine, the more thirsty the little seedlings get, which is another topic children are observing about planting.

Teacher's observation:
"My Frequent Followers"

Now that I have been coming consistently to the classroom, I have had certain children who regularly come and join my inquiry group.  For those children that come to gardening, some are naturally focused children.  Other children who have a difficult time concentrating around their peers, it helps them to feel a sense of importance and responsibility towards the work that they do.

Direct Instruction Vs. Scaffolding

A new study suggests that direct instruction among preschoolers does not allow children to think creatively. A teacher can help extend their learning by helping them build upon their own ideas, or theories, otherwise known as scaffolding. The language the teacher uses with the child, along with acting as a learner next to the child allows children to extend their projects and ideas.

I invite you to read:

http://www.slate.com/id/2288402/
"Why Preschool Shouldn't Be Like School" by Alison Gopnik

fresh herbs vs. dried herbs

The previous week it looked as if the kids were interested in creating a pizzeria in their classroom, however when the teachers looked into going to visit "Figs", the pizza restaurant, it wasn't open during the time the class wanted to go see it.  Instead they went over to a local coffee shop.  When the children entered they were extremely interested in the local artwork up on the walls.  So, as you can see a combination of children's interests and circumstances can quickly change the plans of a project.  As a teacher it is important to recognize how important it is to be flexible and approach teaching as a way to learn from the children.

It seems as thought the children are still interested in making some sort of restaurant because they have the corner still set up for that use, so the teachers and I decided to continue on loosely folding gardening in with the restaurant idea.

I have been working closely with the teachers and communicated to them that I would like to pursue the restaurant and gardening idea so I brought in fresh herbs and dried herbs.  I brought in parsley, (fresh and dried), oregano (fresh and dried) and basil (fresh and dried).  I had a small group with me during inquiry time.

When presenting the herbs for the activity,  I had each fresh herb sitting in a cup of water with a label underneath it.   I had the children smell the fresh herb interchanging it with the dried version.  I asked questions such as, " which herb smells stronger to you?"  "does the fresh herb smell the same or different as the dried herb?"  After examining the herbs and facilitating a little conversation about all three the children got a piece of paper and crayons and drew a picture of the plants.  Some children chose to draw a picture of all the fresh herbs, and some drew pictures of the tiny pieces of dried herbs.