Benefits of Employing the Reggio Emilia Approach in Preschools at Williamsburg Northside

The Reggio Emilia approach to preschool education first began in the northern parts of Italy after the end of the Second World War. It was the creation of a teacher named Loris Malaguzzi who lived in the area of Reggio Emilia in Italy. With the passage of time, this alternative approach became highly popular and eventually towards the last quarter of the century, it attracted worldwide attention.

So what are the benefits of the Reggio Emilia approach that it is implemented by the preschools at Williamsburg Northside and other areas around the world?

This blog deals with all that and much more. Read on to find out -  

One of the key principles of the Reggio Emilia approach is that it encourages children to take part in activities, explore and question what they see happening around them. These are what every preschool in Williamsburg Northside actively promotes.

Some of the other practices involved in Reggio Emilia approach are as follows –

Expressive Arts

The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the premise that children use a number of ways to express their creativity, thoughts, and understanding. These various methods of exploring, learning and thinking are expressed through dance, drama, drawing, painting, pretend-play and sculpturing.

Long-Term Projects

The learning projects in the Reggio Emilia approach provide ample scope for research opportunities for young learners. These include real-life problem-solving among peers, opportunities to think creatively and explore. Children are made to take part in small groups and begin with teachers questioning children about their topic of interest.

After this, materials and opportunities in their area of interest are introduced by the teachers. The curriculum is designed in a manner to strike a balance between the instructions of the teacher and the activities which are of interest to the children.

Tracking Individual Journeys

Another key element in the Reggio Emilio approach happens to be documentation. It serves a plethora of purposes but is primarily used for analyzing the learning patterns in children. The focus area of documentation happens to be the experiences the children are involved in and the skills which they acquire. It also helps teachers in assessing the understanding of the children and develop the curriculum accordingly.

Why I’d Recommend This Williamsburg Northside Preschool My Child Attended

When Joshua turned one and a half, I realized it was about time for me to start looking for a preschool for him.

As I had the time to take care of him when he was younger, I was exempted from the otherwise compulsory duty of finding a daycare for him.

I had to start from scratch while looking for a Williamsburg Northside preschool for him to attend as applications were due in the fall before enrollment.

I was sure about one thing- I did not want a preschool that focused too much on structure as I felt that overly-structured preschool programs do more harm than good.

There should be plenty of room for free play and child-mediated exploration, both of which give wings to a child’s imagination and tug on his/her impressionable, yet intelligent mind and nurture a child’s intrinsic abilities.

I felt that the Reggio Emilia approach was a good place to start- hence, I started looking for preschools in the Williamsburg Northside preschool which followed this preschool philosophy.

I filtered out the viable options from the lot and delved in deeper for more details about the preschools.

One particular Williamsburg Northside preschool caught my eye for 3 reasons:

1. It followed the Reggio Emilia approach,
2. It had a lower school too that was run by the same parent institution, located not far. (The lower school also followed the Reggio Emilia approach) and lastly,
3. It was a minute away from us.

Now, coming back to the more important factors that led me to choose this preschool, now Joshua that has graduated from the same and is attending lower school:

• The preschool had a balanced curriculum that included subjects like community service, music and art, apart from the conventional ones like math and science,
• It focused on all the core developmental areas which included complex and analytical thinking,
• The programs were targeted to encourage the children to be independent-thinking, creative and contributing individuals, capable of logical reasoning.

These points more or less sum up the school philosophy, which, for me, was all that I wanted from a preschool for Joshua.