Monday, September 19, 2016

A little Background information about The Montessori Approach

The Montessori approach is more familiar to many than the Reggio Emilia Approach.  It is based on the work of Maria Montessori an Italian Physician and Teacher.  The philosophy of Montessori teaching is based on children interacting with materials to construct their own learning (constructivist teaching).  It focuses on children learning independence which is believed to bring about development in a natural way.  Although children are given great freedom to move between activities the teacher creates a prepared environment in which the children use materials in specific ways to accomplish learning goals and develop skills.

The materials in a Montessori classroom are typically in natural and muted colors rather than bright colors.  In many ways nature is brought inside.  There is great emphasis on order and items have a specific place to be used and to be placed once work is complete.  Trays or baskets are often used to hold prepared "work" to be completed.  An example of prepared work for children in a Montessori classroom would be a tray with two bowls of water, one of which would have beads with the water and the other would not.  The children would be expected to remove the beads from one bowl with a spoon and place them in another.  To aid in development of independence the children are encouraged to complete self care skills for themselves such as independently preparing their snack and cleaning up once it is eaten.  This is just a brief post about The Montessori Approach.  If you have other thoughts or knowledge about the approach please post your ideas below!

Other Montessori resources:

https://amshq.org/Montessori-Education -general description and information about Montessori

http://amshq.org/Montessori%20Education/Introduction%20to%20Montessori/Montessori%20Classrooms - a look inside of a Montessori classroom

http://montessoriconnections.com/about-montessori-education/the-montessori-classroom/ - links to Montessori organizations and provides Montessori information

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

A little background information about The Reggio Emilia Approach

The Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education is based on the teachings of Loris Malaguzzi, an early childhood teacher from the Reggio Emilia region of Italy during the time period following World War II.  This approach focuses on following the lead of the child to direct learning and allowing them to interact with the environment for hands-on experiences.  Documentation of children's learning is an important element of this approach.  Children often create portfolios of their work (with the assistance of their teacher) and include photographs, drawing, language samples and other evidence of new concepts they have learned.  Art is an important way that children are encouraged to express their ideas in The Reggio Emilia Approach.

Classrooms that utilize this approach are rich in natural materials and display fewer pre-made classroom decorations.  Since art is viewed as a critical part of learning, the children's art takes place of other décor.  The art is individualized and does not follow a sample from a teacher.  Many materials are available for children to play with on open-ended ways such as blocks or colorful fabric rather than in fewer pre-determined ways (such as a race track that encouraged a less varied idea of how it would be used).  For additional information about the Reggio Emilia Approach see the sites listed below and list your ideas about the approach in the comments below!

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Reggio_Emilia/

http://reggioalliance.org/

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/reggio-emilia-approach

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Back to school and getting started

Hello Early Childhood Land,

It's back to school time and that re-ignites a certain spark in all of us.  This year I decided that I'd like to start a blog to keep myself accountable for trying some new things in my classroom.  To let you know a little about me my name is Kara Steffen and I've been an Early Childhood Teacher (teaching both general and special education) for 13 years.  I currently teach in a full-day preschool program serving three, four, and five year-olds that operates four days each week.  I love teaching in this setting especially since I'm encouraged to continue growing and to keep adding to my teacher tool kit.  What I'm most interested in learning about this year are ideas from the Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches.  I have very little knowledge about both but did student teach in a school that utilized ideas from Reggio Emilia and my children attended a Montessori Preschool as three year-olds.  I hope to learn from anyone who comes across this blog and has new ideas and knowledge to share!