Reggio Philosophy
"…a hundred worlds to discover
a hundred worlds to invent
a hundred worlds to dream."
—Loris Malaguzzi, pioneer of the preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy
At Preschool of the Arts, we believe passionately that learning should be an adventure. Your child’s experience is bounded only by his or her imagination and dreams.
Our curriculum is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, which encourages young children and their teachers to explore, question, and discover in a stimulating environment. Children express interests and ideas, research for further information, reflect on the experience and form conclusions. Through this process, children develop confidence and independence with encouragement from parents, teachers and community members.
Children are Born Ready to Learn
At the heart of the Reggio philosophy lies the belief that children are strong, competent, and born ready to learn. They are full of emerging ideas and creativity; they are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge. For all children, especially the youngest ones, this process begins by developing trusting relationships. Teachers and children then begin to understand each others’ expressions of wonder, excitement, confusion and joy. Often, one child’s excitement is spread to others in the room.
Curriculum Emerges from the Children
Our Reggio-inspired curriculum is flexible and emerges from children’s ideas, thoughts and observations. Children identify what they want to learn more about: airplanes, worms, emotions, construction, reptiles, rainbows, or anything else that captures their interest and imagination.
Children Learn by Searching for Answers
Children form their own hypotheses and try to answer their own questions. Caring, respectful teachers help them learn to ask good questions and guide them toward answers, rather than answering their questions for them. Teachers also use the classroom and outdoor environments to provoke new experiences and inspire learning. Parents are encouraged to continue these conversations with their children at home, or to participate in the classroom as volunteers.
Children Learn by Exploring
Children learn more about the topics they have chosen by exploring the world. Sometimes this involves bringing the world into the classroom. Classes invite guests such as firefighters and scuba divers to talk with them. They create worm bins and animal habitats. Outdoors, children observe plants, animals, trees, the weather and hundreds of other things that capture their interests. Field trips to locations such as the Overture Center, farmers’ market, fire station, airport and zoo are planned to help the children pursue their ideas. They also explore their interests in the art and music studios. Teachers observe, participate in, and document children’s experiences in order to make thoughtful decisions about how to develop curriculum.
Children Collaborate and Build Relationships
As children engage in topics that interest them, they learn to work together collaboratively and respectfully. Education is based on relationships, exchange and communication. Preschool of the Arts offers many looping classrooms, where groups of children and teachers stay together for more than one year to build meaningful, deep relationships.
Children Express their Learning Through the Arts
Children express their thoughts and feelings about what they have learned through a variety of means such as art, music, language, dance and play. For example, a classroom studying birds made binoculars for "bird watching" in their classroom, built bird feeders, sang songs about birds, danced with cloth wings, and drew their ideas about how chicks grow inside their eggs. Another classroom observed road construction on Science Drive, and then built models of construction vehicles.
Children’s Learning is Documented
Teachers share the children’s learning and insights with parents and the Preschool of the Arts community through detailed documentation. As the school year progresses, the walls are covered not only with the children’s work, but their teachers’ documentation of the children’s thoughts, ideas and growth through their projects. Teachers provide parents with emailed or written documentation of daily life in the classroom.
For more information on the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, visit: