virtual trip to reggio

(this post is dedicated to my friend Pam and colleagues from her school who are on the dream journey to visit the Reggio Schools right now - these exact days right now - amazing)

a boy in florence who dances amid the piazza puppets.

*note: most all of these photos are mine from a previous trip to Italy. a few are directly from Pam's RE trip and are credited as such in the caption.

Many early childhood educators have been inspired by the pedagogy of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The competent image of the child, the documentation of short-and long-term studies, the collaboration between teachers and families, the uplifting of rights of all who enter the schools - families, children and teachers.

lions are everywhere throughout italy, like this one Rome.

To learn about the schools - the ideas and ideals of the schools, the environment as beautiful and child accessible, the materials that provoke thinking and inventing - is to learn how to be a different kind of teacher.

simple things can be so beautiful.

To learn about the schools and embrace the message changes who YOU are in your own school. Take the journey, read, read, read, and visit schools (local and far).
Start making changes that make sense to you and your school to allow for beauty, time and natural materials to be gifts to the young children in your care. 
Check out:
North America Reggio Emilia Alliance
Reggio Children
Innovative Teacher Project

birdcage on the outside window sill...how lovely.

colors amid incredible architecture.

Some colleagues of mine are THERE RIGHT NOW. They are in Reggio, studying and exploring and discussing and - ok - probably sharing a few bottles of wine! (refer to NAREA link above for details of their specific trip with the Canadien Study Group).

lion in venice.

This is my virtual trip to Reggio as I am following my colleagues on their journey, following their posts on FB or Twitter or via email.

stunning lion in florence.

I am virtually there as I think of my past visit to Italy - not Reggio, but other cities north and south of Italy - and the incredible architecture, history and beauty of the cities.

details of this lion in venice are incredible.

I am virtually there as I reflect on my own practice with children, my role as facilitator, the materials I offer to children, the time I ensure that children have to explore daily.

photo from colleague Pam in Reggio Emila!

photo from Pam: cobbled street in Reggio... PEACE.

my colleague Pam and her new lion friend in Reggio.

what direction will you take as a teacher? how do YOU want to spend your days?

What a treasure to have colleagues on a remarkable journey that they will, in turn, share and inspire those of us (ME, ME, ME!) who couldn't make the trip. 

Two highly recommended books, yet there are so many fabulous ones:
1. The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach Advanced Reflections, 2nd Ed. 1998. (Edwards, Gandini, Forman).
2. Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners. 2001. (Project Zero, Reggio Children).

Take your OWN journey...
the children are worth it.