I'm a Reggio Teacher - Page 4

[GPTwins08]

anyone doing Reggio at home for preschool??

http://graham-and-parker.blogspot.com/

[elefante]

Hi all. Welcome, Holly, Blooming, and Luna!

Spreadin' the RE love, here!

I'm another RE teacher in the Bay Area. I lead the 4s class in a progressive, nature-based, vegetarian preschool for five years, then when I learned I was pregnant I started studying RE on my own and through a local NAREA organization, and I just opened our home-based, nature-inspired RE preschool this past September. We also incorporate many Waldorf principles [all natural play materials, weekly, daily, and seasonal rhythm, handwork], and the children have two organic snacks and one organic freshly-made lunch every day that they help prepare. We walk to the farmer's market together each week, talk to the farmers, and study in out outdoor garden classroom. 

We just opened 2 months ago and already I'm booked solid through the next two years and I haven't even advertised yet! 

For those looking for a RE school in your area, you can check out this NAREA map:

http://www.reggioalliance.org/reggio_related/schools_and_organizations.php

These schools are NAREA approved, but there might be schools who make the effort to emulate the RE way in your area, too!

Just search / ask around. Other words to look for a "Constructivist Education", "Sensory-Based", "Project Based Learning", etc.

Also, if there weren't a RE K-8 locally [which I am so fortunate that there is!], I'd consider homeschooling too, Molly!

[elefante]

Also, for those looking to learn more about teaching in the RE style, there are some really great books, and even some geared towards "unlearning" a conventional model of teaching. The best one for teachers is "Working in the Reggio Way" which can be used as a workbook. Reflective questions, and lists of questions you can evaluate your learning environment on, as well. 

I feel like RE is what I've always been looking for, yet never realized it had a name. I've always wanted to be a teacher, but to teach in creative ways to stimulate and inspire each child's unique way of learning.. so I didn't ever go into ECE. Instead I went to art school.  I wanted to learn how to effectively communicate through various artistic mediums, and on a personal level- I wanted to explore exploit natural materials to learn more about them. Art is a science after all, really. I have my BFA in  and my thesis was on forced collaborative through the medium of conceptual performance and installation. I am very much interested in creating spaces. I am now working on the socio-emotional part of my professional development through being trained as a Roots of Empathy teacher and taking online courses from Mindful Schools. 

I love my life.