How do we address literacy?

Literacy is incorporated all throughout the day. Some examples of this are:

• Name recognition

  • hanging up name tags

  • labeled cubby bins

  • word wall

• Going over the daily schedule

• Reading morning message, sound out words and guessing missing letters

• Reading books independently/being read to

• Once children show signs of readiness, teachers help them to write their name independently

• Children that show an interest in writing will be encouraged to write on their own and with assistance

 

How do we address math?

• Counting how many friends are at school each day

• Counting songs (5 Little Monkeys, 5 green and speckled frogs, 5 little pumpkins)

• Daily calendar counting

• Discussing addition and subtraction

• Estimation jar

• Exposure to 1 to 1 correspondence

• Exposure to patterns

• Exposure to manipulatives and counting materials

• Measuring and pouring in baking

• Sorting materials

• Use of counting manipulatives

 

How do we address social studies?

• Conversations

• Discussions about family, family tree

• Exposure to community

• Community helpers and what they do, how they help

• Talking about the classroom community

• Respecting each other and people in general

• Discussions about different family and societal cultures

 

How do we address science?

• Discussion about the composition of things (liquid/solids)

• Discussion about properties of materials (playdough, wood, pinecones)

• Temperature and weather

• Life cycle of plants and animals 

• Measuring and mixing in recipes

• Making hypotheses

• Floating vs sinking in sensory table

• Discussion about weather and seasons

• Making observations and conclusions

• Sorting

• Access to materials such as scales, magnets and life science 

 

Will my child learn to write his/her name?

It is our goal to help your child learn to write his/her name. We closely monitor a child’s development and readiness in regards to pre-writing and writing. Activities such as cutting play dough with scissors strengthen fine motor skills and help a child prepare to hold a crayon. Once we feel that a child is capable of doing so, we encourage him/her to write name on all work. If we feel a child is not ready yet, instead of pushing to the point of discouragement, we work to improve the fine motor skills in order to give them the tools needed to write.

 

Will my child learn letters?

We embed the teaching of literacy throughout our program. We will talk about letters all day and everyday! At meeting, outside, during projects. You will not see us have a “letter of the day,” but rather you will see us organically teach literacy as a whole in many different ways.

 

Will my child learn to read?

In the Reggio approach, constant observation and reflection allow us to determine when a child is ready to begin reading. When this happens, we encourage children to practice as much as they choose to. We feel that if a child is pushed to read and he/she is not ready, it will deter the child from wanting to read! Our goal is for all our children to love books and reading.

 

Will my child learn numbers?

As with literacy, we embed math throughout the curriculum. If we see a child lining up some tiny bears, we will point out patterns and sizes and ask questions like, “how many red ones do you have?” “Can you make a pattern with the blue and red ones?” We expose children to kindergarten readiness topics such as counting, patterns, sorting and measuring.

 

How do children that attend a Reggio inspired school do in the public schools?

I asked this question myself many years ago of parents whose children attended a Reggio inspired Kindergarten and went on to first grade. Their responses were that their children were more creative and able to work in a group than children who did not attend Reggio schools. In Reggio classrooms, instead of following a writing prompt, children are asked to dictate the corresponding picture and their story that goes with it. This allows the child to express so much more than he/she is able to write at the time. Children in a Reggio-inspired classroom are invested in learning because the curriculum is based solely on their interests. The emerge with a passion for investigating that sets them up to be life-long learners.