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Papa Tree and I have this running joke going. When Birch does something that WE think is a big deal, Papa Tree says, "He’s going to Harvard." My response is, "No, he’s going to RISD (Rhode Island School of Design)." I guess I want my son to be a starving artist like his mama. Well, hmmm…actually I wouldn’t really mind if he went to Harvard.

There is an interesting panel titled,  Playing Your Way To Harvard, a how to course for making the most of playtime with your children next week. Buckle My Shoe Nursery School in Tribeca is hosting the FREE parenting seminar on November 14th at  PS 234 from 6 to 7:30 pm.   The seminar will be lead by a pre-eminent expert in the education field, Dr. George Forman.  Dr. Forman has  worked for years as a research psychologist at Harvard’s Project Zero, has authored several books, is a prominent speaker and teacher of Reggio (see below for WHAT IS REGGIO?), has designed world famous children’s museum exhibits and more.
Location: PS 234    292 Greenwich Street  For FREE tickets: LEnsko@bucklemyshoe.org

The Reggio method of teaching seems to be in the news a lot lately. So, what is it exactly? The philosophy has inspired the 92nd St Y to host a similar session for $150 per person in November and begin training their pre-school teachers in this approach.   Additionally, Reggio was featured in a recent Sunday’s NY Times and popular "Mommy and Me" classes in the city are beginning to take on this philosophy in their classes as well (of note, Aha Learning Partners). So, curious myself, I had to look up Reggio.

This is from the New York Times article in the Sunday Magazine: By GRAHAM BOWLEY
[Madison Avenue Presbyterian] is inspired by an approach to teaching young children
that was developed in the municipal schools of a northern Italian town
called Reggio Emilia. This approach emphasizes the use of art in
children’s learning and encourages a luxurious beauty in both their
work and their surroundings. Classrooms are draped with cloth and
garlanded with lattices and vines. Most of the schools have their own
art rooms, called ateliers, which are staffed by full-time art
teachers, known as atelieristas. The approach is based on the
assumption that children learn best in groups and are resourceful
enough to come up with their own ideas for lessons. Under the Reggio
Emilia system, children investigate themes like angels or elevators; in
one famous example, they built water wheels and fountains for an
amusement park for birds. The method so engages and electrifies
children, its supporters contend, that they create work of unparalleled
beauty and complexity.The approach is not without critics…..Others warn that because the approach lets children choose their own
projects, it leaves them bereft of basic academic skills, a
disadvantage in New York’s often cutthroat testing culture, in which
the search for a place at a top-flight school can border on obsession.

And from Wikipedia: 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.

This from a Reggio preschool: We value children’s play as an important way of learning.  We are selective on the fantasy play materials offered to children.  Unlike Montessori, pretend and imaginative play is encouraged. Unlike Montessori, we fill our environment with a wealth of open-ended materials.  By open-ended we mean that materials have many correct ways to be used.  For example: we avoid giving children paper with a shape already drawn on it for the children to color in because such activities limit children’s creativity, sending them the message ‘you can’t draw on your own’. Instead, we provide plain paper which sends the message to children: "you are competent and your paper may be anything you want it to be". Unlike Montessori, we have an atelier (art studio with a teaching artist working with the children). 

Brooklyn schools that model themselves on the Reggio philosophy:

• Park Slope’s PS 321

• Williamsburg Northside Preschool:   http://www.willnorth.org

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