Looking at West Chiltington Montessori and the Reggio Approach for the Autumn Term

1. Looking at West Chiltington Montessori and the Reggio Approach for the Autumn Term By Julia, Yvonne & Antonia

2. Montessori • Child focused • Specially designed resources • Careful preparation of the layout of the room • Home from home environment • Children to know where they can find things for themselves • Easy access to resources • Everything having it’s own place • Practical life activities • Doing up buttons and zips • Cutting and threading

3. Montessori • Sensory experiences • Children to express themselves freely • Children to be involved in real cooking and cleaning activities • Being involved in the community • Montessori is easily linked to the EYFS

4. The Reggio Approach • Reggio Emilia is a small city in the region of northern Italy • Founded after World War II • Loris Malaguzzi inspired the education experience • Children at the centre of the Reggio Pedagogy • 100 languages of expression is a poem by Malaguzzi

5. Atelier • Is the heart of the school • It is described as ‘the place of what is possible’ • Has a wide range of resources available to the children • Atelierista to help with research and continue ongoing projects • A place for children to be creative

6. Environment • The environment is considered as the third teacher • Welcoming and beautiful to all • Natural plants • Open spaced • Open ended Resources available for the children to access independently • Inviting activities/compositions/provocations

7. Environment

8. The great outdoors

9. Environment

10. Environment

11. Documentation & Reflection • Is a process for documenting children's learning • It is not an end product, it is ongoing • Tools for documentation include photos, videos, drawings, written notes • For the children it helps them to reflect on their learning • For the practitioner it provides evidence to discover how the children are learning • For the parents it shows them what their child is doing to learn

12. Documentation & Reflection

13. EYFS linked to the Montessori and Reggio Approach • A Unique Child • A powerful individual who is strong, confident and competent • Positive relationships • Children, Teachers and Parents are equally important • Enabling environments • Importance of the environment to support children’s development, play and learning • Learning an development • Understand how children learn through long term projects, as individuals, as part of a group and through reflective practice • Key Person • Having a shared image of the child, having a two way relationships between the teachers, parents and children • Parent partnership is essential!

14. Working in Partnership with parents and families • Sharing Information • Parents Evening (wine and cheese night) • Next Steps • Daily Diaries • Respect • Listen to the parents decisions about their children • Trust • Confidentiality • Creating positive relationships

15. Parents as Partners continued • Communication • Posters Displayed • E-mail • Over the phone • Face to face • Social Media? (Confidential private group no information or photos of children.) • Diversity • Show interest in the children's home life • Involve parents as much as possible • In the future a possible PTFA (Parent, Teacher, Friends Association) • Be involved in the community • Summer Fairs

16. Summary • The Reggio and Montessori Approach are a good way to look at children’s enquiries into the way they think and play • Makes the children use their imagination • The EYFS is used as a reference system, not a target/tick box system to move children on through their development • Reggio and Montessori both share similar visions when looking at the environment and how things are set up • Both use natural materials, Montessori does have it’s own resources which are specifically designed for the approach • Important to work with parents as partners we both want what's best for the child. • September sees the start of further developing our approach – we value your support!