The Springfield News-Leader – Dana Carroll
“Many years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Reggio Emilia, a small city in Northern Italy, famous for two things: Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and an incredible approach to early education. The Reggio Emilia approach developed at the end of World War II. Preprimary schools with the Reggio philosophy are organized to support a collaborative, problem-solving approach to learning, with an intensely participatory relationship among parents, educators and children. Although I marvel at the incredible work of the pedagiosts who follow the Reggio philosophy, I am equally taken with the founder of their movement, Loris Malaguzzi. He wrote extensively about children and our approach to their learning. In his poem, “The Hundred Languages of Children,” he talks about all the ways children communicate their knowledge and understanding of the world. They speak through sculpture, dance and drawing. It involves singing, discussion and debate. It is joyful, pensive and a struggle. That is probably what makes Reggio Emilia preschools so effective — their ability to highlight and emphasize each of the ‘languages.'”(more)