Roots and Wings

Roots and Wings

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Playful Encounters with the Reggio Emilia Approach

     


I recently went to Rochester, NY to attend a conference at the Strong National Museum of Play entitled, Playful Encounters with the Reggio Emilia Approach.  

 
 
 
Keynote speakers included Lella Gandini (United States Liaison for the Dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education and coauthor of Hundred Languages of Children) and Ben Mardell (Project Director of the Pedagogy of Play, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education).  Both speakers provided insightful and inspiring stories, challenges, and food for thought.  

 

Woodbury School    

The museum itself offered a wonderful backdrop for this professional development and is home to the Woodbury School, a Reggio-inspired preschool and early kindergarten program. As part of a break-out session, I was able to visit the classrooms and snap a few photos.

 
indoor garden space

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
Debbie McCoy, assistant vice president for education at Strong, shared, on a previous visit, Lella had suggested to the staff that they might consider scaling back a bit on the materials offered in the classroom by placing some in storage and rotating them out.  

They took her up on her suggestion and the classrooms felt orderly, inviting, and despite their small size, not at all overcrowded.  I realize that I too have some work to do in this area and that some serious weeding out is in order!

 

Butterfly Garden and Lab

On another breakout session, entitled Playful Inquiry, I visited the museum’s Butterfly Garden and Lab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science Talk

The big take-away from this session was the modeling of a process called Science Talk inspired by the book, Talking Their Way Into Science by Karen Gallas.

 
 
I was able to connect my own experiences with children’s questions to this process and am hoping the book will take me further in the coming school year. 


While most (if not all) of us aren’t lucky enough to have our classrooms located within a children’s museum, there are elements of their classrooms that could certainly be replicated within our own spaces.  

What inspires you most as you end one school year and look ahead to another?  

 Thanks for stopping by!

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