Shadow Stories

Going into the presentation I didn’t know what to expect…Where they going to show us their use of shadows in the classroom- what were we going to see or do? We approached the room, it smelled like the drier room for the cheese and it was dark- at least not hot…the last time they apologized for not having turned on the AC – it didn’t feel good.
Did I mention the Loris Malaguzzi International Center was an old cheese factory repurposed as an Infant-Toddler Center for the Municipality of Reggio Emilia? It’s enormous and absolutely gorgeous, but because of Privacy Rules we cannot take pictures of the facility or any other facility.
Back to the story, we learned the importance of documentation as a vital part of the process guiding the direction of the children’s interests and investigations. The best part captured by the pedagogistas was when the children solved their problem on their own. They had scanned, yes scanned into a Power Point, their representation of a bird in flight. The children were learning how to animate the drawing during the presentation, but something was not right. The pedagogista helped the children some in reading the selections the children had as part of the animation. As they selected and changed their minds (as a group) they decided to select the inverted animation of the bird- so it looked like it was flying backward. Through the use of multiple re-drawings to make the bird look like it was flying the correct way, the pedagogista helped them prop the picture up with a mirror. Without saying anything she let the children work on their own problem solving skills. One astute child realized what was happening via the mirror. They finally understood what inverted meant and were elated they had solved their mysterious backward flying bird- it had been inverted in the animation ☺ These children were four years old!

Sensitive paths...

Our workshop on sensitive paths was exploring the spaces around us, in particular the outdoor spaces children have available at one of their schools. We were greeted by sticks on the ground pointing to our path. It was interesting and totally fitting to step on our directions- great idea! So as we walked our eyes were welcomed by a long corridor and then huge wisteria bushes and two individuals- Stephano and another pedagogista. Our mission was simple, go and look, research what you find and come back in 80 minutes- oh and there's a treasure chest too! Carly and I went out and followed our directions to the treasure first. A little box with sand, shells and little clay balls. A good early childhood teacher needs to feel these things, and under them too...We found a little pamphlet and left the rest be, it seemed like there were too many for one person- or two :) Then we found the coolest part of the park- under the bamboo bushes was the coolest space ever!! The bushes went up at least 12 feet and underneath was a cool empty space full of bamboo shoots- it was beautiful. After meandering around some more, I realized Carly and I had not been alone in our endeavor, no about 20 of my closest mosquito friends decided to take my blood...No fun, the best was when Stephano squinted and looked at me wondering what was wrong as I frantically itched basically my entire body. I showed him the swelling, and he did this, bzzzzz with his two fingers and landed on his own skin... It was hysterically funny, and then he walked us over to the bug spray, thanks!

Enchanting Glances...

On our first day we experienced first hand what it was like to participate like the Reggio children do in school with an exercise in photography. We had some specific parameters to guide us, but then we were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted on the stuff they displayed for us. Really interesting activity and engaging! It was a lot of fun trying to capture images from different angles...We did this for 80 minutes! Awesome :) These were some of my favorite pics!

First Day at Reggio Emilia

Our first night around Reggio Emilia was a walking tour of the town. The city center was beautiful! I loved walking around and listening to our tour guide explain the significance of the the buildings and giving us heads up and places to revisit again as a cultural experience. It is the kind of welcoming invitation Reggio Children is known for! The main square or piaza was full of people on a gorgeous and hot summer afternoon :) Loved it!

Switzerland!

Cable car ride- going up!

We found a snail on our path! It felt so cool and disgusting!

All the cows have bells around their necks! I tried looking for a big one in town...

I think they used this to yodel at one point... Carly and I might just try! jk :)

Our experience in Switzerland was wonderful! We met Heidi and her family- they were amazing! They showed us around their home town of Kussnacht, Switzerland and other places I can't even pretend to spell :) We traveled up Mt. Rigi via cable car and hiking, it was a wonderful experience- I would do it again in a heart beat! We got a perfect tan and met really nice people from their town. The scene up there was breath taking! Awesome experience :)

Later on we had reckelette, personal cheese entres prepared in front of you, by you :) A one of a kind experience!

Switzerland Schools

We visited the school where Heidi's children attend and it was different to say the least. It was housed in an obvious school building from the 1800's (way cool!), and there were visible traces of child's work around the building. There were these really neat foot prints traveling along pathways children had deemed valuable in some respect. When we walked inside expecting the office and sign in- we got nothing. I was shocked! (and slightly offended) No welcoming bergaid? No questions? Who are you? State your purpose and relation to the child? What a culture shock. Most of the children walk to school, except for those that just live too far. By that I mean children whom take a cable car and then walk and then whatever else they do... Five-year-old's have special vests they wear to identify them when they cross the street with a couple of their awesome classmates down busy streets... Really interesting to experience, very responsible young children.