OUR PHILOSOPHY
Discovery is a child-centered environment using the Reggio Emilia philosophy to inspire learning. A Reggio Emilia method is an innovative approach to early childhood education which values the child as strong and capable; rich with wonder and knowledge. Every child brings with them deep curiosity and potential and this innate curiosity drives their interest to understand their world and their place within it. Students’ input, intelligence, and curiosities are honored everyday. We believe students learn through hands-on activities, exploration and natural wonderment. Play is the greatest avenue for learning in early education. Our credentialed staff creates curriculum to provide readiness for Kindergarten through teaching early literacy, number readiness, and social-emotional support. As students graduate our preschool program our goal is for them to leave with a love for learning, skills for inquiring about their curiosities, and social skills, manners, and friendships that will bring confidence to their future.
More about Reggio Emilia:
Reggio Emilia is a small town of about 130,000 people in Northern Italy. In 1991, Newsweek magazine noted that the system of 33 infant/toddler schools and preschools in Reggio Emilia were among the ten best school systems in the world. The Reggio Emilia philosophy is an approach to teaching, learning and advocacy for children. In its most basic form, it is a way of observing what children know, are curious about and what challenges them. Teachers record these observations to reflect on developmentally appropriate ways to help children expand their academic and social potentials. Long term projects connect core academic areas in and out of the classroom.
Fundamental Principals:
Children are capable of constructing their own learning
They are driven by their interests to understand and know more.
Children form an understanding of themselves and their place in the world through their interactions with others
Children inquire their curiosities through their own investigations. Investigations small and large, the adult is not the giver of knowledge. Children are encouraged to be active participants in their learning, focusing on social collaboration and cooperation.
Children are communicators
Children are encouraged to use language to investigate and explore, to reflect on their experiences. They are listened to with respect, believing that their questions and observations are an opportunity to learn and search together. It is a process; a continual process. A collaborative process. Rather than the child asking a question and the adult offering the answers, the search is undertaken together.
The environment is the third teacher (Atelier)
The Atelier provides potential to inspire children. An environment filled with natural light, order and beauty. Open spaces free from clutter, where every material is considered for its purpose, every space is ever-evolving to encourage children to delve deeper and deeper into their interests.
The Atelier encourages collaboration, communication and exploration. The space respects children as capable by providing them with authentic materials & tools. The space is cared for by the children and the adults.
The adult is a mentor and guide (Atelierista)
Our role as Atelierista is to observe children, listen to their questions and their stories, find what interests them and then provide them with opportunities to explore these interests further.
Documenting children's thinking
Reggio-inspired settings have an emphasis on purposefully displaying and documenting children’s thoughts and progression of thinking; through the use of: photographs, transcripts of children’s explanations, visual representations (drawings, sculptures etc.), all created to show the child’s learning process.
The Hundred Languages of Children
This is the belief that children use many, many different ways to show their understanding and express their thoughts and creativity.
A hundred different ways of thinking, of discovering, of learning. Through drawing and sculpting, through dance and movement, through painting and pretend play, through modeling and music, and that each one of these Hundred Languages must be valued and nurtured.
These languages, or ways of learning, are all a part of the child. Learning and play are not separated.
The Reggio Emilia Approach emphasises hands-on discovery that allows the child to use all their senses and all their languages to learn.
Instilling a love for the process of learning, teachers guide students through many of the following activities:
- Creative expression; art, carpentry, painting, music, and movement
- Social relationships: small and large group activities and dramatic play
- Communication skills: sign language, manners, group cooperation
- Early literacy and math: sorting and matching, letter and number recognition, writing, literacy and language experience
- Math readiness and conceptual skills; cooking, block building, sorting and matching activities
- Gardening, life lab and nutrition