On January 31st, I had the privilege of attending a Reggio Fundamentals workshop held at Beverly Hills Church Preschool in Alexandria, VA. The morning began with an open tour of the preschool, which has been following the Reggio model for over 15 years. Reggio Emilia is a style of early childhood and preschool eductation developed in post-World War II Italy by Loris Malaguzzi. It focuses on the natural development of the child, with a style of learning that uses all the senses, endless opportunity for self expression, and an additional focus on building community and relationships with classmates and the world around them. Here, the environment becomes the
third teacher.
In my observations of the classrooms that morning, I noticed the amazing use of space, organization & labeling, and family focused environment the school had created. The halls and classroom wall were covered with artwork, process photos and artist statements, and pictures of the families who help create this Reggio community.
Our guest speaker was Ann Lewin-Benham, who started out with Montessori schools and moved on to founding and directing the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, DC. Reading from her 2008 book:
Powerful Children: Understanding How to Teach and Learn Using the Reggio Approach, Ann related stories of her own experiences running the Model Early Learning Center for Head Start-eligible 3-6 year olds in an area of DC she said had been deemed "the slums in the shadow of the Capital."
During the lecture she offered a hypothesis: that today, in many of our schools, we are doing mainly remedial work because in our preschools and elementary schools we are doing the wrong kind of work: teachers are forced to teach a certain curriculum which results in killing motivation, curiosity, and love of learning. Ann gave six points on what she felt early education should do:
- Foster kids' innate drive to learn.
- Nurture children's natural curiosity.
- Keep children's joy alive: the foundation for motivation.
- Build self-regulation: work won't happen if it's not based on interest. We move from interest to motivation to concentration. If you can't self-regulate you will learn little, this means an individual is watching and controlling how they think and behave. With empathy and structure this is possible at any age.
- Provide language-rich experiences: this is the primary tool for social exchange. So try turning off the media and engaging your child in a conversation.
- Provide BIG Challenges: we tend to infantilize too much but instead we should be preparing them to succeed for themselves, while making sure the environment is manageable. This can feel renewing for teachers and parents because you are also challenging yourself.
But parents and teachers don't feel overwhelmed! As Ann Lewin-Benham told the group that day, "your lack of knowledge as an adult is your own best gift," because you can step back and not always give the answer, "look it up together in a book!"
Listen to what your child/classroom is interested in and go from there.
For more on Ann's work, the Beverly Hills Church Preschool program, and an overview of the Reggio approach, check out these links:
http://annlewin-benham.com
http://www.bhcpnet.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach
This artist has chosen to bring in items from home to decorate in the class. 
She and her caretaker both work on the dinosaurs to carefully add color to the plain white plastic.
This artist has decided to bring out a collection of rocks from her pocket and find a way to incorporate these into her painting. She experimented with brushing on paint and stamping these rocks on to the paper. In the true spirit of group sharing, she then asked her classmates who else would like a rock to try and handed out the rest of her stash to fellow artists. What followed were more unique uses for the rocks - some became the center of flowers, others, active painting tools. Afterwards, the rocks were carefully collected back up, washed and returned to the pocket from whence they came. New contributions to the studio can come from anywhere, and when they do, allowing young artists to continue to think outside the box and create their own methods can result in exciting discoveries for the whole group. 
Big Sis works diligently on her collage, on which Mom has drawn the outline of a dress for her.
Meanwhile, younger sister works with another artist to create the clay family you see here. Great care is taken in adding the hair and sizing each family member satisfactorily. 
At the end of class, it was decided by the older sister that she wanted the figures to wear the paper dress. We then had the figure "try out" the outfit and rested it in front of the clay.
Here they are working together to make breathing holes and a window viewer, all the while, following the child-artist's freely flowing storyline and letting her take the lead.
Some of our artists simply stick these paper strips to the wet paint as finishing touches, while other artists choose to completely paint over the strips. The painting on the left is a finished piece: layers of pastel and cut paper are hidden away with a deliberately thick layer of paint. 
Her strips were carefully laid out and subsequently painted over completely, each in turn. Artwork becomes more than just a final product, it is a map of each child's process and discoveries, which may not be evident if we aren't paying attention. 
We find with our younger artists, there often tends to be a fascination with stick and clay sculptures. The designs vary, but there seems to be a consistent quest to see "what will happen if I add one more," and "I wonder how many I can fit?"
