I had a chance to visit the Reggio Emilia Schools at an International Conference in Spring of 2008. I was very impressed with the structure of the schools and the creativity of the children. Their schools are set up like large, open museums for exploration and discovery. Children had free range of the facility inside and out, and could move freely as they wished throughout the day. Everything is at the children's height.

One of the projects I was really fascinated with is the kids were learning about light. They had overhead projectors set on the floor with baskets of transparent or interesting objects such as colored bottles, beads, and lace. The "teachers" treated the children like adults, and for the most part, the children played but still acted like mini adults. None of there artwork was adult based crafts. The skill of these kids was phenomenal! They worked with the same tools I'm using in my upper level art classes and even had their own kiln for firing clay. I didn't have a kiln in my classroom until middle school, yet one kid that was three made a life-size ceramic wolf and other 3 year old made a giant alligator. Their drawing skills surpass some kids artwork I've seen in middle school. These Italian children seem to be very advanced artistically compared to kids their age in the US who are just learning to draw bubble people with arms and legs sticking out the side of a circle.

Drawing is more than just art, however. The children use it as a tool for learning. For example, some kids were learning about shadows. One girl drew the shadow as a black form that was a twin to her drawing of a person. Her friend pointed out. No thats not how you do it. The shadow is attached to the feet. So the kids went outside and observed each others shadows. Then they siad "I think I get it" and ran back inside to make corrections. This time they drew the shadow attached to the feet. However, they noticed something still wasn't right, so they went outside again and noticed the person's body is in between the sun and the shadow. Then they learned things on their own through observation, evaluation, making corrections, and most importantly teamwork.

Finally, teachers document all stages of the learning process, not just the end result. For example, one of the children tried to reach a toy that was stuck behind some bars. He could fit his hand between the bars but couldn't get it back out while he was holding the toy. Later, he discovered his hands were too fat, so he got his friend with small hands to help. As trivial as that example seems, the teachers are recording the learning process. (a documentation board using pictures, notes, quotes, and writing) The basis isn't placed so much on the product as in the process. The process of learning is valued above anything else.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS ON REGGIO EMILIA SCHOOLS?

I know we haven't touched on this subject in class, but I feel every topic doesn't need to come word for word from what the professor suggests in class? Reggio Emilia schools were mentioned briefly in our reading due Sept. 11th. You can follow the links under Philosophies of education and learning theories. The information is quite interesting.

Wow, this really seems like a neat school. I think it sounds like a wonderful learning environment for students. It seems like in many of my elementary education classes we talk about using kinesthetics to enhance learning. Most kids, younger or older have an inclination to move. These interactive schools foster that environment. I had never heard of them until I read about them, and I really didn't understand what they were until I read your blog. It sounds like they use a lot of cross-curricular studies which I think is vital to promote higher level thinking skills and learning processes. I am glad that you mentioned this school, because it is definitely something I want to know more about.