Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/hellos-and-goodbyes/5022919/
When we talk about being a ‘Reggio Inspired’ school, educators think of phrases like “the image of the child,” “the environment as the third teacher,” and “the hundred languages of children.” Reggio conjures up images of art studios, long-term investigative projects with children, and beautiful, captivating environments.
For the last four years I’ve been a part of the dynamic community of Epiphany Early Learning Preschool (EELP) in Seattle, Washington, where we’ve learned that to create a truly sustainable system that addresses what children, families, and teachers deserve, we need to dig deeper in our interpretation of what it means to be ‘Reggio-inspired.’ Here I offer some principles that have guided our rethinking of everyday practices, and in particular, how we transformed transition times for children and families.
Principle 1: Define your values
When a program begins a journey of transformation, the essential first step is to define the values you hold for your program or school community. These values must be held up as a guide, not only when developing curriculum, but throughout your program. For our program, many of our values have been influenced by and adapted from our study of the Reggio approach:
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