Reggio Emilia and Reading More Stories

The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education is recognized as one of the highest quality, deepest and most beautiful ways to teach young children. It comes from a small region in Italy, Reggio Emilia, and so at regional and national conferences, there is always a buzz when "the Italians are coming!" This morning we got to see a presentation by Lella Gandini about ways to link documentation and assessment. Documentation is at the core of Reggio Emilia and is one of the places that we at AFS are incorporating the Reggio Emilia approach, both through the blog, through the classroom displays, and through the individual child portfolios (which are almost ready to be launched!) The wonderful thing about Lella is the poetic yet no-nonsense way she gets to the heart of an issue. While assessment is often thought of completing a list of standards, Lella described assessment as the tracking of children's learning and questions. Such an inspiring perspective!

Our next session was with Isabel Baker of the Book Vine. The Book Vine is my favorite place to find books for young children, so I was excited for Isabel's session on best new books for preschoolers. Just like the Owls, I love being read to, and so this session was a treat! There was even a special surprise at the end with James Dean, the illustrator of Pete the Cat, doing a live painting!

She read us many many books. Here were my favorites:

“Green” by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, a great book about moving beyond a simplistic primary colors into many beautiful shades of green.

Anti-bias book featuring men and women in non-traditional jobs: “Clothesline Clues”

Imagination and dramatic play: “What are Little Boys Made Of”

“And Then Its Spring”

“There Was A Tree” by Rachel Isadora, based on the classic song

“Bea at Ballet” by Rachel Isadora

“Bal Yoga for Kids” by Glenda Kacev and Sylvia Roth (with CD and DVD)

“The Day Louis Got Eaten”

“Z is for Moose” by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky

“Alphabet Everywhere” by Elliot Kaufman (architectural alphabet) story extension with parents: use magazines to cut out pictures to make new alphabet for classroom

“A good alphabet book is a piece of art. It has something to say. We look for alphabet books that are fun, that are works of art.” –Isabel Baker