Our Approach to Early Learning

We draw inspirations from  both the Reggio Emilia and Montessori methods of early childhood development. Reggio is principle-based in that it works from the basis that children can construct their own learning. According to the Reggio Emilia approach, children have infinite ways of expressing themselves in order to learn about the world.  We believe in providing creativity filled, peaceful environment to enrich the minds and bodies of children. With teachers as co-learners, we can best evaluate how to encourage children to grow in their engagement in activities and interaction with their peers. 

Our first and primary approach will be to respond individually to the behavior of each student with sympathy, empathy, and sensitivity to meet their unique needs. Children require love and compassion to develop and thrive. We believe that the enrichment of children in their development in all domains is predicated on the inclusion of arts in all teaching. To this end, art, music, and drama time will be deliberately scheduled so our students can creatively explore a variety of artistic media. We expect this approach to allow our students the social-emotional, cognitive, language, and motor skills they’ll require to succeed in their lives following their experiences at Squiggle Room.

Montessori, on the other hand, is an education philosophy and practice that fosters rigorous, self-motivated growth for children and adolescents in all areas of their development, with a goal of nurturing each child’s natural desire for knowledge, understanding and respect. Montessori schools and Reggio Emilia Schools share a lot of similarities, but there are three main differences between them.
 

• Age span within classrooms: Reggio Emilia is focused on kids in preschool and early elementary school. Montessori approach stretches from preschool into middle school.

• The arts versus academics: Since Reggio Emilia schools are geared more toward preschool-aged kids, they give a lot of attention to the arts. Montessori schools generally focus more on academics and emphasize work over play. Reggio schools love to find long-term, open-ended projects for their students, while Montessori projects tend to be more structured.

• Technology: While Reggio schools actively promote children stepping away from a screen to engage with the world around them, teachers and parents use lots of different kinds of technologies to observe and document the learning process. Montessori schools typically shy away from technology, even in the documentation process.

Reggio Emilia and Montessori philosophies can be viewed as being compatible. Both methodologies give students lots of agency and freedom, have their own special curriculum and encourage a lot of interaction between students, parents, and teachers. However, the key differences regarding the age span of students within the classrooms, the focus of the lessons, and how a student’s progress is documented can tip the scales for some parents in either direction.