Director’s Philosophy

The short time that a child spends in early childhood influences their trajectory for the rest of their life.  Thus, there is a special importance to the experiences provided by the child’s first teachers whose efforts are to create an environment where children thrive through rich experiences that occur in the daily routines of childcare center.  As noted from Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of Human Development, parents are the child’s first and foremost educator and the community provides support and diversity to the child’s family experiences (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). Thus, both environments working in harmony supports the child to promote optimal development when combined with strengths-based and play-based approaches to engaged learning (NAEYC, 2020).   

Piaget is well known for his constructivism theory of children’s learning stating that children naturally create knowledge when they have experiences interacting with their environment (Brau, 2020). All aspects of the environment from sensory input, activities, and people create the opportunities that turn into learning experiences.  In the Reggio approach, relationships are at the center of a child’s learning.  “Children can construct and acquire their own of learning and understanding as an active participant, so that learning becomes a satisfying experience with aspects of desire, drama, and conquest (Edwards et al, 2012).  Children communicate with a hundred languages (Edwards et at, 2012) and learn through the variety of multiple intelligences (Gartner, 1993) which provides unlimited potential to be unlocked from within every child.  Educators provide the windows and mirrors in which the child sees their self, family, community, and world as a web of connections that help them to construct their own identity and reach to influence others (Souto-Manning &Martell, 2016).  

Relationships and environment are the primary teachers for a child during the period from birth to age eight, also considered early childhood.  Parents, teachers, and learning environments serve a critical role in providing the needed constructs for a child to grow physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.  Optimal development across all these domains requires a wealth of knowledge, a variety of materials, and well educated and experienced teachers passionate about the education of our youngest learners. 

References

Brau, B. (2020). Constructivism - The Students’ Guide to Learning Design and Research. 

Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (2011). The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation

Gartner, Howard. (1993). Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. 

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2020). Developmentally Appropriate Practice. 

Rosa, E. M., and Tudge, J. (2013). Uri Brofenbrenner’s theory of human development: Its evolution 
     from ecology to bioecology. 

Souto-Manning, M., & Martell, J. (2016). Reading, writing, and talk: Inclusive teaching strategies for diverse learners