As parents, we know that it’s becoming increasingly important that we set our children up with the tools to succeed. For some, the choice of childcare education determines how successful their child will be. At Child’s Play ELC, we want every child to succeed in life and one of the ways we try to achieve this is by utilising the Reggio Emilia approach within our curriculum. The Reggio Emilia approach is a popular approach that has had success around the world. It is a blend of theory and practice designed to help your child become a confident learner through real world experiences.
What is Reggio Emilia?
Reggio Emilia is an approach developed by Loris Malaguzzi after World War II in Italy. This curriculum considers childcare education as an investment into who they become in the future and is an alternative to other rigid forms of education. With Reggio Emilia, there are three key approaches to learning and development:
- Teachers are co-learners and collaborators
- Your child is the protagonist of their own learning
- The environment is the third teacher
Specifically, it encourages community involvement and provides opportunity for problem-solving and creative expression which stimulates your child to become a lifelong learner.
How will it help my child succeed?
Experimentation
Our children are genuinely curious about the world around them. Often we get questions about everyday life, like “Why do I need to eat my vegetables?” With the Reggio Emilia approach, we harness that curiosity and build their knowledge. Some of the ways we do this are by having animals in our facilities like Diamond, our rabbit at our Tarneit centre, and by encouraging projects like marble runs.
Co-construction
Being successful and a lifelong learner is not something a child can achieve on their own. The Reggio Emilia approach encourages children to collaborate and share their ideas with others around them including their teachers. For us, as educators, it is about driving that interest-based learning and ensuring your child enjoys their time at Child’s Play. Through this practice, children are able to enhance their understanding of the community and begin to interpret complexities in the world around them.
Participation
Children learn through participating and exploring and it helps build their character but more importantly, participation makes them feel like they belong. At childcare, your child is in an environment where they have opportunities to participate in a range of activities and find out what interests them. Participating in things that interest them builds that foundation for becoming a lifelong learner and helps them decide on career paths in the future.
Active listening and learning
Part of our curriculum includes reflection, expression of self and relationships. Often their learning is guided by the relationships they have such as with their parents, with their friends and with us (their teachers). So we want to provide our children with a space where they can express themselves, reflect and question their experiences and continue to build those relationships.
Improved Communication
The Reggio Emilia curriculum considers children to have a hundred languages. It’s a metaphor that expresses how many different ways children can communicate. In our community, our children come from a number of different backgrounds where English may not be their first language and we encourage them to communicate however they feel comfortable. This not only improves how they communicate but also improves everyone’s understanding of language.
Enrol at Child’s Play
The Reggio Emilia approach allows us to provide a curriculum that enhances a child’s understanding of the world and gives them tools for greater success. We believe that providing them with creative outlets and a space to question and create new things is the foundation to them being lifelong learners. Child’s Play ELC is rated as an exceeding childcare provider by the National Quality Framework. If you would like to learn more about Reggio Emilia, get in touch with our educators. If you would like to enrol fill out our expression of interest form.
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