What is Reggio Emilia?

While I was hopping on one of my favorite YouTube channels, I came across a teacher giving a Ted Talk on Reggio Emilia. I had never heard of the term before and thought, "What was this style of teaching that helps children as young as preschool become active citizens?"

The Reggio Emilia approch to learning is focused on preschool and primary age students.  The pedagogy is described as student directed, experiential learning in relationship driven environments. Students learn through exploration and discover rather than having content drilled into them. It was stated that the approach was based on children at the early age are endowed with a hundred languages and have their own personalities and ways to express their ideas. I also found it quite interesting that allowing students to play in a hole dug in the ground would cover so many of the learning standards as presented in her graphics towards the end of the video.  This teacher is passionate about teaching young ones to be active citizens. I think sometimes we forget that the best way to learn is through experimentation.

I also found this video that easily explains the whole process of the Reggio Emilia philosophy that I though you may find interesting to check out. I believe every child learns differently and they need to be given the chance to explore and find their own voice. 

Tips on organizing your brain

I posted earlier this week that I like to watch TED videos. If you have not gotten a chance to check them out yet, here is your first chance. 

The one I am sharing today is from their Ted-Ed Student Talks series. Students share information and experiences they have had so it is easy for students to relate to them. Trishna Bindu explains how she learned a memory technique called Method of Loci to help organize her scatterbrain. Hope it helps you and your children re-organize those scatterbrain moments! 

TED videos are a great resource-check them out

I want to share one of my favorite websites and YouTube channels with you. TED is a nonprofit organization that is devoted to sharing ideas. They have short videos from presenters that are usually very short, less than 20 minutes long. From technology to handling stress, I have found them to be very informative and enjoy watching them. Face it, they do not take up much of your time to watch, however many have a great impact. Once I attended a workshop on living with people with mental disabilities. I found the speaker had spoken at a TED Talk so I looked for her video. It was great to hear her back story and how she lived with Autism and has learned to manage it. Even though this was not part of the discussion for the workshop I attended, hearing her story put an entirely different perspective on meeting her and listening to her ideas.

When I first came to know TED Talks, they were geared mainly towards technology. Over time they have evolved into a wealth of information across a variety of topics. They have Ted-X conferences, Ted-Ed lessons, Ted-Student Talks just to name a few. I will share them with you from time to time but you may want to check out their website and YouTube channel. There are so many interesting videos of real life experiences and educational tips you are bound to find something that you can't wait to watch. You may even find some to share with your children to overcome something they are struggling with in school. Their slogan is true, "Ideas worth spreading." Hope you enjoy checking them out!

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

https://www.ted.com/