We Hit the Ground Running!

Today was a full day with morning lectures about the cultural project that is the Loris Malaguzzi International Center, which is located in a former cheese warehouse. Carla Rinaldi spoke about the need for educators to have an international perspective, recognizing that the best pedagogy comes from the outside and that it is important to keep looking outward in a mode of “permanent research”. If you don’t research, you become stagnant and stuck in the status quo.

We also heard from the principal architect in charge of the building and renovation of the International Center as well as the graphic designer who led a team to create the logo for the center. Much of their presentations were unrelated to teaching, but their involvement highlighted how important it is for experts in these fields to understand the pedagogy of the schools.

The preschool and primary school attached to the International Center was designed by teams of pedagogistas, atelieristas, architects, and designers who took many things into consideration in its planning. We were not able to take pictures inside the school, but we have a few examples of the kinds of soft furniture designed for the schools. Here is what struck us about this unbelievable space:

• Huge open spaces, high ceilings, sky lights, large open windows, transparent walls and openings.
• The classrooms are situated around a large piazza that was large and open. In the piazza there was dress up, many places to pause/sit/explore, and resources for parents.
• There are spaces designed for small groups of children to do different activities.
• Every classroom had a mini-studio.
• There were 6 additional studios dedicated to light (huge screen), body/senses, movement & music, sound, painting (8’ X 4’ paper on the floor), and nature (stones, leaves, branches, projector and 3’ x 9’ light table).
• Each classroom was two levels, providing an opportunity for children to change their point of view. Second floor had sleeping cots and room for project work.
• The rear of the classroom was terraced with 12” risers. Creates smaller work spaces and endless possibilities for play.
• A paved courtyard with small stones.
• A dining area with a variety of table heights and chair/mat options.
• Bathrooms with 4 sinks of varying sizes and with different spigots to allow for water play.
• Tape measurers and lines representing the children’s heights in the bathroom with pictures of the children taped beside. In older classrooms a number recorded, too.
• Preschool classes had 24-26 children and two teachers. We have no idea how many studio teachers there were.
• Classroom walls were white with one accent wall of color. The rest of the center was light yellow, blue, green and orange.
• Very few blocks! Only 2 medium sized tubs and 1 tub of cardboard rolls for building. Perhaps to push children to look for alternatives?
• A light table embedded in a floor mat to enable children to crawl up to and/or lay down to explore or draw.
• At least three spaces for children’s belongings: mailboxes, cubby space, and portfolio collection boxes. Maybe lockers also—we didn’t open them, though.
• Did not see outdoor play space. Did have an amphitheater.

Happy 4th of July!

On Sunday, the 4th of July, we ventured to the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre to register and hear welcome remarks from Amelia Gambetti of Reggio Children. We boarded buses to the Tricolore Hall, where the Italian flag was born, to hear the mayor of Reggio Emilia welcome us. He was quite candid about the challenges of the town—a growing immigrant population, dwindling tax base, to name a few—but was proud to report that of children aged 0-3, 40% attend preschool in Reggio Emilia (compared to 10% nationwide). Our evening with Reggio Children concluded with a reception in the Piazza San Prospero—the Italians supplied the Americans with Independence Day accessories—and a walking tour of the city with Amelia’s husband, Sergio.

We Made It to Reggio Emilia!

After 2 planes, 2 trains and 2 taxis, we finally made it to Reggio Emilia after 17 hours of travel! We are having some technical difficulties, as we have to wait until Monday to register with the Municipality to obtain internet access in our hotel. Luckily we have met a fellow workshop attendee from India who offered her laptop and hotel internet connection.

When we explored our hotel's breakfast room, Susan peeked out the window into the piazza below and spotted THE stone lions outside of a church. We read about the lions that captivated the children and have been the inspiration of projects here. We knew we had arrived in Reggio!

Where is Reggio?

When I tell folks about where Kelley and I are going, I am often met with, "Where is Reggio Emilia, Italy?" Here is a map to show you. Use the the keys at the upper left side of the map to enlarge, shrink or manipulate the map. This region of Italy is called the Reggio Emilia Romagna region. Within this region, some of the cities you will find are Parma, Modena, Bologna, Ravenna and Reggio Emilia. Reggio Emilia is marked with the red "A" marker.


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The Hundred Languages of Children

A parent recently shared that she wanted to know more about the "Hundred Languages of children", a phrase coined by Loris Malaguzzi, founder of Reggio preschools, recognizing the infinite potential of children and the methods in which they express themselves. Here are his inspirational words:

The Hundred Languages

No way. The hundred is there.

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.

The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

-Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini)

Questions from the Community

Susan and I have been asking members of our school community what they would like to know from our Reggio visit. Here are a few questions:

*What is the length of day, week, year of school in Reggio? What is the flow of their day and maximum age of the children? What are class sizes and group sizes?

*What type of education system exists in Italy after preschool?

*How do teachers balance the goals of a child-centered project approach while making sure the children get the exposure they need to materials and other concepts so they are ready for kindergarten?

*How do teachers communicate their project decisions to the parents?

*What is the approach to dealing with sibling rivalry?

*How do you do project work with the youngest children? (How can we do project work with 2 and 1/2 year olds, 2 days a week?)

*In what ways do they involve, include and communicate with parents?

*What do the Italians value about school?

Grab a good book...

Kelley and I would like to invite you to read along with us. The school now owns all of the suggested reading material and it will be available to you in our BHCP library very soon.

The reading has been very inspiring and enlightening.

In Shoe and Meter the narrator expresses, "Children produce many theories and hypothesis for interpreting reality but often remain unexpressed because they aren't listened to." This book is about a small group of 5-year-olds who wish to have a new table made identical to the one in their studio. The students expressed their desire for the table and the teachers listened. A carpenter was invited to come. And the children took on the job of providing the carpenter with measurements. The book documents their journey of how they came to their results, ultimately a new table. The story is very interesting. One might ask, why didn't the teacher jump in and tell them what tool to use and how to use it. But, here the children are encouraged to be problem solvers, collaborators, thinkers, experimenters, theorizers and more. For the students and teachers, it is about the process of solving a problem. It is how they came to have the matching table not about the matching table.

The Little Ones of Silent Movies is very insightful. The children in this book are very young. They are not speaking yet. However, they, like all children are very expressive. The teachers study the children to understand their interests. The teachers collaborate to discuss their observations. They discover that there is a common interest among them. The teachers continue to plan to create situations involving fish. The teachers continue to study their expressions and reactions. These children and their relationships are the stars of the Silent Movies.

The Black Rubber Column offers a very interesting journey. In February the children recognize the columns in their school as needing identities and diversity. They spend time creating "clothes for columns". The children were very interested by some rubber and cutting shapes from the rubber. They worked and reworked ideas, learning with each success and mistake. The ideas they expressed and experimented with were documented and discussed. The columns were on display in May. While the result is beautiful, the really important part of this story is the process that the children experienced to arrive at the objective.