reggio-inspired
The Reggio Emilia Approach was developed by Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, Italy after the end of World War II. The impetus behind the first school was a community shared drive for change. The people of Reggio Emilia saw that in order to have a better future they needed to invest their resources into early childhood education. Since its beginnings, the Reggio Approach has continued to spread and inspire education worldwide.
At Raintree, there are many values we share with the Reggio Approach, such as child-centered projects and the 100 languages of children. We value the importance of community and the relationship between the teacher, the child, and the family, which is why our teachers loop with our children, moving and growing together during their time at our school. However, Raintree’s main thread of inspiration from the Reggio Approach most shines through in our image of the child and our use of environment.
We view children as capable - as protagonists in their own educations - and we strive to have an environment that reflects this. At Raintree, both our indoor and outdoor spaces are full of natural, open-ended materials that are always available for the child to explore. We believe that children’s hard work and passions should be honored and celebrated, and we portray this in the way we beautifully arrange and display the child’s materials, creations, and documentation.
Next time you walk through the halls and classrooms of Raintree, just glance at the student work you see around you: the art on the walls, the sculptures on the shelves, the colorfully tangled contraptions hanging from the ceilings. If you look closely, you'll see the intention, the capability, the love, and the creative mind of the child within each piece.
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