What is a Reggio Emilia Nursery School?
1) Loris Malaguzzi founded the Reggio Emilia approach at a city in Italy called Reggio Emilia. 2) Newsweek Magazine hailed them the best preschools in the world in 1991. 3) Their approach sees children as being competent, resourceful, curious, imaginative and inventive. 4) In a Reggio Emilia school, educators play close attention to the look and feel of the classroom, which is often referred to as the “third teacher.” The goal is to create a room that is beautiful, joyful, inviting and stimulating. 5) Children’s work is on display along with collections of leaves or rocks they have gathered from field trips. There is natural light, plants, mirrors, photographs and children’s work to capture the attention. 6) Different centers are located throughout the classroom. They are devoted to dramatic play, art, writing, sand/water, reading, math, manipulatives, blocks and science. Much thought goes in to the design of a Reggio Emilia classroom in order to support their multi-sensory approach to
