Reggio Emilia staff believes in starting with all children where they are developmentally, physically, emotionally, and at their ability level. This strategy requires knowing the child well and having good communication with the child's family about the child's interests. Finding out what motivates a child is worth more than hundreds of meaningless exercises. Observation is used extensively for children with special rights, as with all children, in order to gain insight into the child's thinking process and understanding of self. The Reggio Emilia philosophy, in which each child is accepted for his or her unique learning style, facilitates acceptance of all children. The continuum for acceptable behavior is quite broad. A child who is very active is not seen as a problem but as a child who needs to move around during the day, and adaptations are made for that child. Drugs are not given to children for behavior problems. Adaptations are made in the environment through thoughtful observation of the child. Children are valued because of their differences and are not medicated or expected to change. This assumption fosters a flexible and adaptive attitude that children and families find very supportive. This attitude also supports the process of assisting the children in developing self-knowledge and insight about their own learning style, interests, and …show more content…
This means that planning of materials is directly linked to the behavior pf the children served.
Can the curriculum be implemented in typical SDC preschool classrooms and under the direction of typical Early Childhood Special Educators? (Or, are special materials or special training needed?) Absolutely, no special training required nor materials needed. Teaching is based on observation. Materials are natural items, found items, and repurposed materials. Reggio bases on intent and exploration.
Does the curriculum include strategies to foster functional skills and does it facilitate transfer of skills to other people, places or materials? The skills focused on are that of typical life and naturally transfer from school to home. The abilities developed can also transfer to different people and materials. For example, the ability to tie shoes comes from the task of making knots, then attempting to tie shoes in the environment, tying their own shoes, then them tying that of a peer, finally teaching a peer to tie as well.
Is the curriculum suitable for children who are English Language