Principles for Successful Learning
The principles of Reggio Emilia that we believe are vital for successful learning in our preschool landscape are:
v Each child is a unique, naturally curious and capable learner.
v The program needs to be meaningful and responsive to the community in which the children live. It needs to be relevant to them, to their age and their culture.
v Children’s ideas and responses are valued and spontaneously used to fuel our learning experiences.
v An emphasis on positive relationships, collaborative discussion, thinking and learning.
v Children are regularly invited to experiment with a variety of media to communicate their ideas and feelings and are constantly challenged to refine their skills, and thus enhance their communication processes.
v Documentation is used to reflect on learning, to trigger children’s thinking and to demonstrate understandings.
v The aesthetics of the learning environment are carefully considered.
Through open-ended curriculum planning, children, teachers and families can take active roles in guiding the processes of discovery, pursuit, self-awareness, personal communication, social interaction, perception, analysis and reflection.
