Ignited!

Last week our team attended various sessions of a conference hosted by the Vancouver Reggio Association , presented by Tizania Filipino. Wow! Tizania as been working in Reggio Emilia for over 30 years, mostly as a pedagogista. This role is multi layered and complex, acting as a mentor to educators to develop deep curriculum as well as uniting educational practice between children, families and educators. A pedagogista supports educators to do research, document and make learning visible. As well, creating relationships and bridges between school and municipality, is also an integral component of this role.

Tizania’s knowledge, insights and clarification of key concepts provoked thinking for all of us. Personally, I have been revitalized this week, looking at the children’s work with fresh eyes. Creative juices are flowing and I am excited to dive into some good work! I am pretty sure much for our team feels the same! The work is often subtle and is the foundation of our curriculum; however, it may not be blatant or apparent. We can continue to dialogue more about this philosophical approach as the days unfold.

Enjoy these photos which showcase some of our experiences this week.

Planes are a big part of TNNS; often requiring us to stop speaking and wait until the plane has passed.

I had just purchased a book titled “The Lost Words” which examines some words that are no longer in the Webster’s Children’s Dictionary, particularly in the area of the natural world. This book invited me to thank about language so Monday morning’s circle was focused on thinking about ways to describe something- using adjectives as a beginning. This concept is challenging so we will continue to explore these ideas for some time.

Kate, scaffolding on this idea, concealed this brussels sprout plant underneath a blanket and asked the children to follow her works to draw a picture. For example ” Draw a long straight line”, then ” Add a bunch of squiggles on one end.” etc. After she delivered her instructions, she revealed the plant. These are some examples of what the children drew according to he instructions.