Parents are a vital component to the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Parents are viewed as partners, collaborators and advocates for their children. Teachers respect parents as each child’s first teacher and involve parents in every aspect of the curriculum. It is not uncommon to see parents volunteering within Reggio Emilia classrooms throughout the school. This philosophy does not end when the child leaves the classroom. Most parents who choose to send their children to a Reggio Emilia program incorporate many of the principles within their parenting and home life. Even with this bridge between school and home, many people wonder what happens to Reggio children when they make the transition from this style of education to an American grade school. The answer is that there is some adjustment that must take place. In most school environments, intellectual curiosity is rewarded, so students continue to reap the benefits of Reggio after they’ve left the program.

Kindergarten (German, literally means “children’s garden”) is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the pre-school system. In parts of the United States, Canada and some parts of Australia kindergarten is the word used to describe the first year of compulsory education. In British English, nursery or playgroup is the usual term for pre-school education, and “kindergarten” is rarely used. Children usually attend kindergarten any time between the ages of three and seven depending on the local custom.

Much of what occurs in the class reflects a constructivist approach to early education. Reggio Emilia’s approach does challenge some conceptions of teacher competence and developmentally appropriate practice. For example, teachers in Reggio Emilia assert the importance of being confused as a contributor to learning; thus a major teaching strategy is purposely to allow mistakes to happen, or to begin a project with no clear sense of where it might end. Another characteristic that is counter to the beliefs of many Western educators is the importance of the child’s ability to negotiate in the peer group.

One of the most challenging aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach is the solicitation of multiple points of view regarding children’s needs, interests, and abilities, and the concurrent faith in parents, teachers, and children to contribute in meaningful ways to the determination of school experiences. Teachers trust themselves to respond appropriately to children’s ideas and interests, they trust children to be interested in things worth knowing about, and they trust parents to be informed and productive members of a cooperative educational team. The result is an atmosphere of community and collaboration that is developmentally appropriate for adults and children alike.

Base on these passages, the Reggio approach is definitely alternative learning and creates thinking “outside the box” if you will. Whether it will prepare for “normal” Kindergarten is debateable, but certainly the experience learned is worth the child’s time and effort.

Presidio Child Development Center is a part of the San Francisco Unified School District Child Development Program which was established in 1943. The Presidio CDC provides a nurturing and educational program inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. We serve infants, toddlers, preschool children ages 3 to 5 and an educational afterschool and summer program for children in kindergarten through fourth grade.

Have you checked Reggio Emelia Alliance of North America on the web? Also, ask the local school district’s elementary coordinator what the kindergarten teachers’ expectations are for entering kindergartners. I’m not impressed with the pre-schools that present a school curriculum. Their kids may have more recognized letters and recognize more words than just their name but those skills are only temporary advantages and not required to meet the real purpose of kindergarten.