reggio

The night before the conference I spent a couple of hours reviewing descriptions of the NAREA lunchtime presentations. There were nine topics to choose from and I painstakingly narrowed my selection down to five. As groups were assembling for the lunchtime presentations, I found myself forced to make a decision.
The session I chose was about using rich video clips as documentation to better understand teaching and learning. As practiced in Reggio Emilia, and eloquently described by Project Zero, “documentation makes the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’ of learning visible.”

Dr. Saab, from West Virginia University (WVU), didn’t waste any time initiating the session – which is good because she had a lot of information to share! The graduate program in Early Childhood Education at WVU includes study of international early childhood education programs from Reggio Emilia Preschools [Italy], Montessori Schools [Italy], Forest Kindergartens [Germany & Austria], Head Start Programs [USA], and a wide variety of program models used across the United States and the world.

Italy
•1980 Exhibit “The Hundred Languages of Children”
•1994 Reggio Children and Friends