What is Reggio Emilia?

(From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach):
The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching young children puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the center of its philosophy. Early childhood programs that have successfully adapted to this educational philosophy share that they are attracted to Reggio because of the way it views and respects the child. They believe that the central reason that a child must have control over his or her day-to-day activity is that learning must make sense from the child's point of view. To make it meaningful, it also must be of interest to the child. That is one way they have control over their learning.

(From Reggio Emilia: http://zerosei.comune.re.it)
...the physical environment and spaces are organized and designed from the architectural and functional point of view to support the interweaving of relationships and encounters between adults and children, among the children, and among the adults.
The environment is conceived and lived as an educational interlocutor, offering opportunities and structured spaces that provide each child and the group of children with stimuli for play, discovery, and research.

...spaces (are) designed to offer daily opportunities for each child and the group of children to encounter a wide variety of materials and expressive languages, and different points of view, where hands, mind, and emotions are all active contemporaneously, giving value to the expressiveness and creativity of each child.

...children (have an) infinite wealth of potential, their ability to wonder and investigate, their ability to co-construct their knowledge through active and original relational processes

...interrelation between theory and practice based on the image of a child and an adult who work together, as much as possible in an ongoing process and in the reciprocal exchange of resources, tools for learning, knowledge-building, creativity, and individual action. All this takes place within a network of multiple and different components linked together by social and cultural interactions.

...representations of projects carried out on a variety of themes, all entrusted to the actions, play, investigations, conjectures, theories, cooperation, and knowledge-building processes of the children, as well as their linguistic, logical, and imaginative discoveries.

...Children have a hundred languages, and they want to use them all. They learn very soon how difficult it is for this right to be recognized and above all respected. ...children ask us to be their allies in resisting hostile pressures and defending spaces for creative freedom which, in the end, are also spaces of joy, trust, and solidarity.

Play.   Explore.   Discover.

Bella Vita is happy to announce preschool class enrollment for the 2007-2008 school year. We are excited to continue implementing a Reggio-inspired early childhood education program -- one of only a few such innovative schools in the Bay Area.  We aspire to help you cultivate la bella vita, the beautiful life, of your child and family. Philosophy At Bella Vita, our philosophy is to offer an intimate preschool experience where each child's innate gifts are recognized and nurtured. Building relationships between teachers and children, amongst children, and within the school community is emphasized. In accordance with Reggio principles and child development theories, we believe strong relationships provide the stable foundation from which all learning can blossom, be it social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual or otherwise. Social interactions offer an invaluable opportunity to learn from others' perspectives. Children are inherently joyful and curious investigators of the world. Our job is to provide a rich and safe environment where they may freely and happily explore in their own unique ways. This means providing opportunities to experiment with diverse mediums and forms of self-expression. We value thoughtfully created indoor spaces offering varied natural, open-ended materials and activities. Outdoor exploration is also considered vital. We strive to honor the natural imaginative, inquisitive and developmental process of children. By maintaining an ongoing dialogue with parents, we hope to collaborate with families to best meet each child's and family's needs at school and at home.

Curriculum

Our program is play-based and developmentally oriented. Beyond self-directed play, children also participate in small-group activities and teacher-facilitated learning projects. Curriculum is designed throughout the school year in response to the particular group of children in each class. Teachers actively observe the children's play to discover what inspires and excites them. In-depth projects are developed around materials and themes for which children show great enthusiasm.  At the same time, projects intentionally but subtly incorporate a wide variety of learning areas, including language, math, science, art, music, movement, as well as social, emotional, moral and spiritual awareness. By creatively designing projects, teachers seamlessly infuse learning into the children's play. Teachers may for example incorporate teaching math, science, language, art etc. through play activities related to trains, dolls, cooking, gardening or worms, depending upon the expressed interest of a particular group of children.

Program Details

Our program is designed for children ages 2-6. Younger children may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. Classes are exceptionally small and personal, with a maximum of 8-10 students and 2 teachers per class. Students benefit from both mixed-age interactions, as well as age-specific small group activities.  We provide diapering for children who require it.  We also offer a snack. Though we are structured as a drop-off program, parents are welcome to stay during any and all classes.