The Beautiful Colors of Autumn

It seems that summer just began and yet here we are welcoming Autumn, the season of beautiful colors.

It is always an exciting time at Reggio Kids as we clear the garden beds, pick the final vegetables and herbs, and watch as our pumpkins plump themselves up for carving.

The light table provides a perfect canvas to create the setting from a favorite Autumn Tale.

The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead

As Reggio Kids approaches its 14th birthday, I can't help but reflect on our remarkable journey.

We have seen hundreds of children grow through our schools, shared extraordinary learning stories, forged authentic relationships and embedded ourselves in the community.

We have helped to raise future generations.

What will their calling be; lawyer, doctor, scientist, business owner, engineer, artist, dancer...

 We know we have contributed in some small measure to their life journey.

Our commitment was not to fill their cups with facts but to support habits of mind that would remain with them forever.

We thank them all and bless them on their paths.

We will continue our work seeking to better our understanding of the world of childhood, remaining the place where they can tinker, discover, marvel and wonder!

What will the future bring Reggio Kids?

It is in the unknown that new discoveries are made!

We are currently in the process of designing a place where children can tinker, negotiate and invent with a vast collection of loose parts from all over the world!

Thank you to the educators who shared and continue to share our vision and in particular a heartfelt thank you to the three women who have been with us since the beginning, Rosa, Sabrina, and Mary-the best tinkerers of all!

Your contributions to our schools have been and continue to be immeasurable!

Each day brings new possibles, discoveries, discourse, and collaboration.

No Toys!

Several months ago I challenged the teachers to remove conventional toys from their classrooms in order to move the children to new levels of thinking and working with loose parts.

There are not many toys in our classrooms to begin with and the ones that we do select are as open ended as possible. In any case I thought it would be a worthy exploration.

It's important to note that this was not a new challenge just one that was revisited.

Friends for Life

Children have a great capacity to form meaningful relationships. 

What draws certain children together, some from the moment they meet?

It can begin with a physical attraction and a sense of familiarity. 

Over time the act of sharing common experience on a daily basis solidifies the bond.

Although the memory of these friends fades with time, the lessons they learned continues:

To trust in others.

To be kind.

To share.

To be joyful.

To be mindful.

To do good for the betterment of everyone in the group.

This year we bid farewell to many of our students and they bid farewell to many of the friends who shared their five year journey.

This young girl left a tribute to two of her dearest friends.

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

And rains fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Irish Proverb

The Wedding Cake

Children have ears on everything so be mindful of what you say when you are in a classroom.

Although sometimes wonderful things may happen.

Several weeks ago this group of girls waited for me to arrive at school to share this surprise with me.

My cell phone rang, 

"Come downstairs, the children have something to show you," the teacher said.

These types of calls are frequent and never ignored or put on hold until later.

"I'm on way!"

Four little girls waited anxiously at the foot of the staircase for me.

They pulled me into the room.

"Look what we made. It's a wedding cake for Matthew and Mia!"

Matthew is my son who is getting married next September.

"How did you know he was getting married," 

I asked certain that I had not yet shared the news with the children.

"I heard you talking about it when we were having lunch last time," replied Olivia.

Needless to say I was moved by their thoughtfulness.

The photos below speak to the amount of attention given to detail, the patience in execution and the intentional patterns used.