Bringing Learning to Life: A Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education (Early Childhood Education, 86)

Louise Cadwell helps American educators understand what it means to use ideas from the Reggio Approach in their classrooms. In new and dynamic ways, Cadwell once again takes readers inside the day-to-day practice of a group of early childhood educators. This time she describes the growth and evolution of the work in the St. Louis Reggio Collaborative over the past 10 years. --from publisher description. Increasingly, the innovative teaching approach of the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, are being adapted to U.S. early childhood settings. This book describes the growth and evolution of the work in the St. Louis Reggio Collaborative over the past 10 years, addressing the fundamental principles of the Reggio approach as they are experienced in the daily life of three American schools that have attained a very high level of understanding and practice. Following a prologue presenting a history of Reggio Emilia and describing the ideas integral to the Reggio approach, the book is organized into six chapters. A journal-style format is used to convey real-life classrooms between January and June in 2000, including details on the flow of the day, parent participation, teacher collaboration, the importance of the environment, documenting students work, and assessment. Chapter 1 describes the phases of a day as seen from the perspective of the author as an "atelierista" or studio teacher. Chapter 2 focuses on partnerships with parents, including relationship-building with parents and forms and structures for parent participation. Chapter 3 concerns teacher collaboration and includes stories of challenges faced and discoveries made. Chapter 4 focuses on the transformation of the space in the "atelier" or studio. Chapter 5 illuminates the innate intelligence and creativity of young children through vignettes from student projects. Chapter 6 recounts the significant highlights of a week-long study tour in Reggio Emilia, illustrating connections with the work in St. Louis and the pull to construct stronger systems based on core values. The book's epilogue presents a dialogue among teachers revealing their current understanding of assessment and documentation as two different worldviews: analytical, reductionist, and decontextualized compared to holistic, dynamic, and relational. The book concludes by noting that in many ways, the St. Louis Reggio Collaborative, is trying to build bridges between these two ways of living life in school. (Contains 71 references.) (KB) Foreword......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Prologue......Page 14 A BRIEF HISTORY OF REGGIO EMILIA, ITALY......Page 15 IDEAS INTEGRAL TO THE REGGIO APPROACH......Page 17 THE CONTEXT FOR OUR WORK AND THIS BOOK......Page 19 THE FALL OF 2001: A TURNING POINT......Page 21 CHAPTER 1: January: The Arc of a Day......Page 24 THE START OF THE DAY......Page 25 BEGINNING WITH THE KINDERGARTEN......Page 36 MOVING TO THE NEWPORT ROOM......Page 44 MIDDAY......Page 52 THE AFTERNOON......Page 53 CHAPTER 2: February: The Power of Partnership with Parents......Page 55 BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS: THE PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL......Page 57 FORMS AND STRUCTURES FOR PARENT PARTICIPATION......Page 59 PARENTS SPEAK TO VISITING EDUCATORS......Page 72 REFLECTIONS ON OUR LIVES WITH PARENTS......Page 79 LEARNING TOGETHER AWAY FROM HOME......Page 80 LOOKING AT OURSELVES THROUGH AMELIA’S EYES......Page 92 ORGANIZING OUR WORK AND MAKING IT VISIBLE......Page 98 GROWING AND CHANGING OVER TIME......Page 110 CHAPTER 4: April: Living in a Place That Is Alive......Page 114 ROOTS: DEVELOPING A SENSE OF PLACE......Page 115 TRANSFORMING OUR SPACES: TRANSFORMING OURSELVES......Page 119 ATELIER ROOM PARENTS......Page 135 ATELIER METAPHORS......Page 143 CHAPTER 5: May: What Are the Children Learning?......Page 145 “THE PATTERN THAT CONNECTS”......Page 146 WORLD-MAKING......Page 148 THE SCENT PROJECT......Page 163 CHAPTER 6: June: Returning to Italy......Page 177 DAY 1: MEETING THE TOWN AND THE GROUP......Page 178 DAY 2: A NEW VIEW OF SCHOOL......Page 179 DAY 3: THEORY AND PRACTICE......Page 184 DAY 4: GOING DEEPER......Page 189 DAY 5: A DAY OF REST AND REFLECTION......Page 205 DAY 6: NOSTALGIA FOR THE FUTURE......Page 209 Epilogue......Page 212 References......Page 222 D......Page 225 M......Page 226 S......Page 227 Z......Page 228 About the Author......Page 229 Building on her enormously popular book, Bringing Reggio Emilia Home , Louise Cadwell helps American educators understand what it means to use ideas from the Reggio Approach in their classrooms. In new and dynamic ways, Cadwell once again takes readers inside the day-to-day practice of a group of early childhood educators. This time she describes the growth and evolution of the work in the St. Louis Reggio Collaborative over the past 10 years. Bringing Learning to Life : Louise Boyd Cadwell ; Foreword By Carlina Rinaldi. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 205-207) And Index.