Noroton Presbyterian Nursery School has embraced the highly acclaimed Reggio Emilio approach to pre-school education, which studies have proven to be a highly effective approach to early childhood teaching and learning.
The Reggio Emilia Teaching Philosophy is based on the beliefs that…
Young children are competent and capable.
Nursery school is one of the principle arenas where young children are first immersed socially, culturally, physically and emotionally in teaching and learning.
Teachers can effectively support and nurture a child’s natural curiosity, enthusiasm and creativity, and provide an open a loving environment for children to explore open-ended materials and their environment.
Children express themselves in many ways, including dramatic play, collage, sculpture, words, song, movement, painting drawing, building, music, and many, many more…
Teachers work with children and parents to help create an environment that encourages children to communicate effectively, investigate problems and challenges, research topics of interest, and develop a love of learning.
The interests and work of the children should drive the curriculum, which in turn will foster more peer collaboration, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and deeper mastery of basic skills and independent thought and action.
The emphasis is placed on the process of learning rather than only the end product.
Basic skills such as literacy are best explored by young children through a context that is meaningful to them.
So here’s the question: This all sounds well and good, but what about the pre-reading, math, and science skills that are so highly regarded in this community? How will a child who has achieved a greater sense of self, a sense of community, and a sense of social responsibility fare in such an academically driven community?
Children exposed to this teaching philosophy, provided with inquisitive environments and encouraged to collaborate with peers, enter kindergarten with highly developed pre-reading, math and science skills. In addition to these basic skills, our students will also have a stronger sense of self and will be able to think, create, solve problems, and truly value the learning process. Seeing children engaged, taking ownership, supporting each other and sharing their curiosity is the joy each of our teachers witness and what makes us believe this philosophy has merits far beyond kindergarten, and into our students' lives forever.