Best dinner yet!

The entry way to the Caffe off the street!

Looking back to the street. It was beautiful!




Tonight we dined at the Caffe Arti & Mistieri, the Cafe of Art and Mystery. What a beautiful place!
It appeared to be a little alcove and was at the end of the path in a beautiful courtyard. Just when we thought we had said goodbye to all of our new friends, low and behold, several of them were there so it was hello and then goodbye again. No tears this time!
We toasted ourselves to having completed this tough course and to what the future will bring based on our experience.
Still sometimes need to pinch myself having had the opportunity to do such a great thing. Oh yes, and there was some conversation about when we will be coming back!
Sorry dear........
Alison, I hope you are watching, the food pictures are for you. Risotto, stuffed squash leaves and spring rolls! No room on the blog for the wine bottle shots!
These hard core shoppers have been talking about Max Mara all week so they want to get up and go at 8 AM! UGH! From there we are going to train to Milan for the afternoon and have already picked tomorrow's dining choice back here in Reggio. Our last night and yep you guessed it, Pizza!

We are done!

We got certificates!
We have finished!
Today was a mix of happiness and sadness. We made lots of friends so there were lots of hugs, goodbyes and wishes for safe travel. Many are going to other parts of Italy or elsewhere before heading home. I am glad we did this on the front end as I am ready for home.
I do feel this is only the beginning of our Reggio experience as we take it back to process and put into play as much as possible this year in HELPs. I hope we are able to present this so that it is grasped with enthusiasm.
As a team I am planning to arrange a trip to see the Reggio exhibit "The Wonders of Learning" currently visiting Chicago. I am hoping for some eye opening information for the team.
Today we experienced firsthand the newest project based on the Language of Food (great book by the way) and the Ateliers of food in Reggio. We learned about the premise for the project and everything from the architectural aspect to the provisions to contribute to the community. A beautiful lunch was prepared by the cooks or the Atelieristas of food from the schools. All locally grown, all fresh and nutritious!
We have the rest of today and tomorrow before a shuttle pick up at 5:45 AM on Sunday to head to Malpanese Airport in Milan. We decided we should travel somewhere tomorrow because we have another whole day! The research is currently underway!

Thursday, the beginning of the farewells!

Paola and her bambino!

Real Samba'ing!





Crazy International dancers!








Talking in front of the group, yikes!













Paola one of my favorite facilitators said tonight was farewell even though we have class tomorrow. She said the Italians like to do many farewells!
Today's topic was Intercultural experiences. Reggio Emilia is experiencing what we have worked with for many years, huge immigration. the countries from which people are coming to Reggio are listed in order from highest numbers to lowest. Albania, Morocco, China, Ghana, Ukraine and Romania. They have the second largest immigrant population in Italy, second only to Brescia. Not only is the immigration making an impact on just about everything, they are having increasing numbers of Italians moving to this area as well. The Municipality is forwarding money to local businesses to support the families of immigrants and have assumed responsibility for them. A little different attitude I would say! They encourage them to work together with cohesion and cooperation. The Italians use the term "accolienza" receiving and welcoming in their schools and the Municipality which they view as an "active dialogue and intelligency including active concepts of recognition and reciprocity not only declared, but acted." They feel schools are one of the best places to work toward cohesion because of the commom element it provides to build upon. Interesting.....
There were lots of statistics about schools, costs, numbers etc, way too much to blog. We all were a little surprised to learn that Reggio teachers make a pay rate somewhat comparable to ours, one of the main differences being there is little variation for increased education of years in.
A quote from a little guy in the school, " the world is round and sooner or later roads meet up and people change countries." Out of the mouths of babes!
Like I said, tons of data and stats on this as well as how they handle this is school. Very interesting. In some ways I think we have more experience in this regard but they are handling it with much more grace!
The afternoon was a time to divide into groups and we were given the chance to make three comments about the our experience and ask one question. Somehow, I think because I had paper to write, I ended up facilitating for our group. I told the group if I had to go up there, someone better take a picture......
The evening ended with an outdoor dinner at a social club in the city, live music, lots of Lambrusco (local) and dancing. Carly even broke her flip flop!!
Bill and Alison you would have been green with envy at the Brazilians dancing the Samba!!!
They have it down!
I sat watching, all of you know how I love to dance.......thinking, I am here in Reggio Emilia, Italy with 150 educators from all over the world. Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Iceland, China, Norway, Germany, Austria, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Korea, Greece, Italy, UK, Turkey, India and about 12 more. I got slightly choked up about what an experience this has been and the unification that presented itself over the past two weeks. How lucky am I?
Maybe Reggio and school (that dialogue due to the common element) and children is the place to begin to create world peace.........

One more day of farewells!

Children's Work Visible Throughout Community

With such a high emphasis of the community and schools being intertwined here in Reggio Emilia, the traces of children and their work are seen everywhere. The schools here place such an importance of making the children's learning visible for the city to see since they are such an important part of the children's school experience. An example of this is shown all throughout the underground walkway passes to the bus/train station.

Below are pictures of a project the children in the preschools did to make their own visual representations - using any media outlet of their choice - of bicycles. Bicycles are the main form of transportation here in Reggio Emilia (seriously!) so they are important to the children in their everyday life. Take a look at the pictures! They are all HUGE - they blew up the children's artwork...and each picture is literally bigger than me! It's fun seeing the different abilities of children from different ages, and how each child had a different view/creation...

Looking down one wall of pictures...just enormous!

"Bici Farfalla" - "Butterfly Bicycle"

"Bici Che Fare"

Springs!!!!! Just for Daddy Burd ;)

I loved this picture the most because it reminded me of my own students and their artwork...it's so great I think!

More pictures down the wall.

I love seeing kids artwork show up in everyday unexpected places throughout the city. Makes me so happy! :)

Carly

Family Involvement in Reggio Emilia Schools

I'm just blown away after tonight's sessions! We learned in depth about the dialogue between families and schools in Reggio Emilia Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools - and the co-responsibility, participation and sharing that goes on. Each and every parent (literally) is involved in their child's school in some way, shape or form. Parents build a sense of community among themselves and most importantly with the city, that embraces and welcomes new families and cultures into the schools. By being so involved with their children's schooling, they gain a sense of being an active citizen in Reggio Emilia, and enjoy this stance.

Reggio has a standard that their schools must be places where their families can share the culture they come from freely, done in an ethical way. This builds a sense of community and allows for diversity that is accepted and celebrated in the schools...which also translates into everyday life within the town.

A "Parent Panel" came in to speak about their experiences with having children in the Reggio Emilia Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools, and it was so moving. Their appreciation and gratitude to the schools and teachers was unbelievable. From a mother from an Islamic heritage who left what she knew to come to Italy, and looked to the teachers as friends and for learning the Italian "Roman Catholic" culture, to a father with a child with Autism who moved to Reggio Emilia looking for a way to understand his son - the presentations were beautiful. The parents work together to welcome new families into the schools and help them feel the love and warmth they were received with.

From the presentations, I'm leaving with some great parent involvement ideas and new ways of thinking to bring back to school!

My favorite part of the entire presentation though was when the parents and teachers explained "Accoglienza". In Italian, this means more than just to welcome someone, but to embrace another person was you welcome them and credit that individual as important. This "accoglienza" is the process by which all children and families are greeted as they walk into school each day. Teachers, staff and other parents consider this the most important time of the day - to welcome each family that comes in and make them feel important.

I love this most because it is so drastically different from back home - where most of the kids come in on the bus early in the morning, where parents are honking at each other in the drop-off line, all in a rush to get the kids out of the car and move on with their day. It's a beautiful transition where trusting relationships with parents are built.

Such happy thoughts - such positive energy - exactly the type of session I needed to hear after all of these long hard days of class! I said this afternoon to Sue and Liz that I am SO HAPPY that I've sat through all of these presentations, even ones where I was exhausted and felt like the topics didn't apply to me and I just wanted to go back and sleep in my tiny hotel room....Why? Because I've had an epiphany, realization, great idea, etc. from every single lesson taught. It's all coming together and I'm growing as a person and as a teacher. Can't wait to get back into my classroom!

Another last happy thought for today...we walked past a peach tree on the way home! Made me think of Papa's peach tree in the backyard in River Grove!

Hard to see - but tiny little peaches are starting to grow! :)

Time is winding down over here - only 2 more days of class left! Tomorrow I'm taking myself to an EARLY 7:30am Mass in the Piazza San Prospero at the town's patron saint's basilica. Can't wait to blog about how Mass in Italian is! ;)

Buona Notte!

Carly

This evening

Carly presented this morning so well I will not play a double feature but this evening was also incredible. The focus was on participation and after a presentation from Daniela, the pedagogista at the Iotti school, the one I was fortunate enough to have visited, they had invited a panel of parents to talk about their experiences. I was definitely watering up hearing them speak about the personal growth and the opportunity to be a bigger part of not only their children's school, but their lives. They were a diverse group with many stories to tell about school. The all felt the welcoming process was priceless to their involvement and involvement in the school had taken them to a higher plane within the community as well.
Class meetings are the first step and parents can work with the whole staff (even cooks and cleaning people) to discuss projects and outings and even discuss opinions.
From these, parents can move to the Early Childhood Council, a group of parents selected by parents in which each school is represented. This group meets about 6 times per year. They meet with other city wide parent groups, community members, politicians and even interview candidates running for political offices to share their educational views.
They feel first the are the parent of the child, then they are a parent of the school and become a parent of the community.
A quote by Carla Rinaldi,
"The aspect of participation is an educational strategy that characterizes our way of being school and doing school. The participation of children, families and of the teachers, not only "taking part" in something but "being part" of something is the essence, the substance of a common identity a "we" which comes alive through participation."
So much more but such a late night.......
Spent much of our time working on Blog security when we got back......had a breech!
Ciao for now!

Indications of Preschools & Infant-Toddler Centres of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia

This morning's session was really really wonderful! We went over the document that is basically the schools' "commitment" to the way they work and their values. It is made up of three parts:

1. Identity and Aims of the Infant-Toddler Centres and Preschools
2. Principles of the Educational Project
3. Essential Elements for the Operation of the Infant-Toddler Centres and Preschools

I learned so much through this presentation about the workings of the schools and their values. Their viewpoint that "Education is the right of all, of all children, and such is a responsibility of the community." So much is said in this opening statement - the value of Early Childhood Education is just incredible.

I wanted to list the "principles" of the Reggio Schools - which they refer to as their "Educational Project" - not a "type" of teaching:

• Children are active protagonists in their growth and development process
• The hundred languages (all of the different forms of learning children possess)
• Participation (value & strategy of being together with others)
• Listening
• Learning as a PROCESS of individual and group construction (this allows for challenges, play, fun, humor, discovery, relationships and quality research!)
• Educational research
• Educational documentation (allows adults to be a participator in the children's actions - a form of professional development by learning the children better and learning about yourself as an educator)
• Progettazione (designing and unraveling work with children)
• Organization (working strategy, quality of schools and how they are run)
• Environment, spaces, and relations
• Professional development
• Assessment

These values are so crucial to how Reggio runs - and I think they are so valuable to all educators. I love the co-responsibility between families and the school, between auxiliary staff and teachers, etc. to run and manage the schools. This co-responsibility is present in every level of the school's functioning...just amazing.

After working through "Indications" - Liz, Sue and I went to the Gelato Shop and had gelato for lunch! I got a "gelato sandwich" - literally 3 huge scoops of gelato crammed into a sweet roll! Yummm :)

With my nutritious delicious lunch!

Miss you all back home a lot!

xo-Carly

Market Day!

Every Tuesday and Friday morning, the streets and piazzas in Reggio Emilia transform into a giant market selling everything from purses to candy to underwear to produce...and EVERYONE from town is there dressed in their best! It's a huge town gathering where everyone is eating, drinking, shopping, talking - so neat to be a part of that culture for a day!

Buying veggies at the market from local farmers.

Look at the cool tomatoes!

What did I buy? One guess.......CANDY! All of the candy here is so different, so I got a big bag with a little of every kind the woman had. I'm excited to bring it home and sit around the table trying them all and guessing what they are!

Baci! xx

Carly

Italian School System

Tuesday morning was held at the Aula Magna University of Modena and Reggio Emilia - the University in Reggio Emilia. Professor Sergio Govi from the University spoke to us about the structure of the Italian School System - which was very interesting to learn about especially when learning the logistics of how the Reggio Emilia Early Childhood programs run.

In the Italian school system, there are various phases - and this is the best way I can map it out for you through all that I learned:

Early Childhood

• 0-2 year-olds - Early Childhood services provided upon request (In American "terms" - this is Infant/Toddler daycare that is paid for by the municipality because it is a right to have it here in Italy with a sliding-scale system for parents to pay part of the cost from 80-500 Euros a month.)
• 2-3 year-olds - "Primavera" Groups (This is an experimental group right now that they are still defining and working though...seems like a transition period into preschool.)
• 3-5 year-olds - Preschool (The Municipalities have 15% of their budget going directly towards Early Childhood Education because Preschool is a RIGHT for all families and children. Because of this, the sliding scale payment for families is between 70-200 Euros a month.)

1st Educational Phase (I want to add too that this is all under reform currently)

• 6-10 year-olds - Primary Schools
• 11-13 year-olds - Secondary School 1st Level ("Middle School" to us Americans)
• After completion of Secondary School 1st Level, a State Exam is taken by all students. If they pass the exam, then they can attend Secondary School 2nd Level. However, to even get to take the test, the students must pass all subjects/disciplines with a 6/10 mark, including an evaluation of their behavior expressed in a grade as well.)

2nd Educational Phase

Here, students ranging from 14-18 years-old can choose one of the following two routes:

1. Professional Education (Students will graduate with a professional qualification, this is an apprenticeship program basically. It is broken down into two fields: Economic (2 specialized paths offered) and Technological (9 specialized paths offered). Students choose the path they want to take.)
2. Secondary School (technical institutions, professional institutions, leads on to further education leading up to college)

If they choose to go to Secondary School, when they are 18-years-old they take another State Exam. If they pass this exam, they are allowed to go onto College Education.

College Education has two different types:

1. Laurea Breve (Associates Degree) - 3 years of work
2. Laurea Specialista (Bachelors degree) - 2 more years of work after finishing Laurea Breve

In Italy, is is compulsory to attend 10 years of schooling, starting from the time they are 6-years-old - so basically they must attend the 1st Educational Phase and 2 years of Secondary School.

When it comes down to managing the competencies in the Italian Educational System - it is broken down into the fact that State Schools contain 87% of the students, Public and Private officially recognized schools contain 11% of the students, and Private Schools without recognition from the government (they do not receive funds from the government) house 2% of students.

*Hopefully* I got this all right from the extensive notes I took! Don't quote me directly - send questions to Professor Govi! haha!

So interesting to learn about other school systems and where different cultures place their emphasis on importance. My favorite part of this all - that Early Childhood/Preschool services are a RIGHT for ALL children and families, and 75% of the cost per child is covered by the municipality! :)

Big red "X" over the Sala Tricolore - Reggio Emila's council chamber as a sign of protest by the people of Reggio Emilia against the budget cuts that could affect their schools. So interesting that this part of Reggio Emila's history is going on right NOW while we are here!

Ciao for now!

-Carly

The Italian Educational System

I had been looking forward to a better understanding if the educational system here in Italy and today was the day. Professor Sergio Govi held a session this morning at the Modena-Reggio Emilia University explaining the laws and workings of their system.

Some highlights:
*At the preschool level, 99.9% of teachers are women, at the primary level, 96% women, middle 70% and secondary less than 50%.
*Private institutions have to right to create schools. They receive state $ but must follow state rules and will be treated equally.
*80% of all preschools are state schools.
*Children attend school from 27-40 hours per week, the highest being an extended type of day based on the family needs. Boy wouldn't that open a can of worms!
*School is open and free to everyone for 10 years.
*Different regions have different norms but reform is in the works for consistency throughout the country.
There are however strong regional variations regarding preschool. The European Union is working toward a goal system for children 0-6.
*North Italy has very high rates of children in preschool, more than 20 %, with Reggio Emilia having the highest in Italy at 40%. Yay Reggio!
**Double star this point....Staff for preschool aged children is doubled!!!
*The upper levels are comparable to what we learned in Switzerland where after the first 10 years you move to a technical field, professional field (apprenticeships etc) or continue to the University level.
*Teaching of two foreign languages is mandated. One typically being English and one has to be a language of the European Union.
*State exams are required to move to the next level. Region by region varies but there is a move to have consistency in the requirements.
*Schools are committed to teaching religion.
*For students with, as they say here, "special rights", they have to right to full inclusion and admittance. Classroom numbers are kept at 20 with an additional teacher and assistants some on an as needed basis. Some special classes are offered but it is a rarity.
*New laws for special rights students are in the approval phase, by which students will be allowed to have accommodations, such as extended time on state exams. They refer to them as compensatory materials and dispensing measures". This will be available to students with "certified" disabilities.
*No more than 30% of students in one class can be "foreign". Reggio has some schools with 50% foreign students.
*Getting hired is quite a process and would seem dismal.......the degree for teaching is 4 years with an educational internship and a "norm" passing.
*Hiring is done through public competition. Hiring is done gradually through the public competition list. The list is currently, get this, 240,000 teachers and they hire about 20,000 per year......that is tough!
*Teachers must retire at 65!

This is actually only a brief overview of my notes!

I have also attached some photos from the market today. A little shopping before class!

Internationality

Today held the best sessions yet for me. The focus on Internationality was very thought provoking and reassuring to see that all over the world people are moving toward creating a world wide society focused on thinking, communicating and creativity. Hopefully the world will become a more peaceful place because of the endeavors of so many dedicated people starting with the very young. Even though it is hard, stuck in our own little HELPs world, we really need to think globally. From using recycled art materials to working much harder to focus on children learning to think and solve problems using their own intelligence, we can make change.
Another great quote from today, "we see children as people capable, full of potential and knowledge and rich in ideas and theories." So frequently we think we know everything and it is our responsibility to provide children with what we know rather than using what they know to guide us in how to guide them.
I thoroughly enjoyed one of the keynotes this morning. Anshul Arora moved from Singapore to India (he said his family said he was crazy!) to be a part of what has in the past two years become a revolution in the Indian schools. He referred to it as a "fundamental shift" in Indian education. Preschool is not currently common in India and the outlook is promising.

This is what I have loved here:
I had a great discussion with a professor from the University of Greece over lunch.
I then had an enlightening conversation with a Pre-school teacher from Brazil.
Chatted with my new friend Young Ah from Korea, currently working at the lab school at Ohio State where they have a Reggio inspired High School!
She invited our whole HELPs team to her house for the Wonders of Learning next May in Newark, OH!
Look out Young Ah, (great name, right?) we may just take you up on that!

Now for dinner......what pasta shoudl we have tonight????

I doesn't get better!

Rimini

Sunday night and tomorrow is back to the grind. I think we were all expressing a bit of homesick-ed-ness this evening on the train back to Reggio.
We went to Rimini, on the eastern most coast of Italy, on the Adriatic Sea. It is HUGE resort area and was the packed umbrellas for what appeared to be miles. There seems to be some Greek influence and because it was touristy, unlike Reggio, more people spoke English which was nice tit hear.
The architecture of the homes in the area was beautiful. We had lunch, hung at the beach under our paid for umbrella and chairs and pretty much headed right back to the train.
Tomorrow is back to class in the AM for a pretty full day.
We are half done!

Friday night!

Friday at last. A shorter day of classes but it is 11:00 PM and we just got back from dinner.
Today was about photographic documentation for the most part and Carly ended up in the presentation!
I missed her moment of glory but needless to say, she was excited!
Our group has also become quite famous in the town of Reggio Emilia as there are three articles in the local paper.
Carly and Liz managed to find the local shopping mall and no, for once the stores are not the same as at home. Our noses led us to a restaurant in the mall called the Old Wild West so we had to grab onto some American fare!
Tomorrow the youthful group is heading to Florence while I intend to rest up and get some reading done. Sunday we are all heading to the resort town of Rimini. There is a train strike so we hope all goes well!

Food!

Food is not easy to come by within the time frames our bodies are used to but we have found a couple of good choices.
These are pictures from last night's dinner at Il Pozzo!
Yummy!
We are excited to be done today at 4:30 rather than the usual 8 PM. I plan to buy a CD with pictures of Reggio schools and a video that can be used for Professional Development for our team to "HELPs" us get them on board with aspects of the "Reggio" way.
Off to class!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Today is going to be hot, hot, hot! (do-do-do-dooooo....the song is stuck in my head already! haha!) It's 7:30am right now, and it's already over 70 degrees. Supposed to get up to 92-93 degrees, and my American body enjoys air conditioning....however, AC is not a necessity here in Italy - more of a luxury. If it gets too hot, I might just be joining in with these kids in the fountains - haha!

Today's lineup of classes include:

• Observation, Documentationa nd Interpretation by Simona Bonilauri & Laura Rubizzi
• Breakout sessions - I'm choosing "Shadow Stories: Poetics of an Encounter" by Paola Barchi (Just bought a book about shadow play yesterday - excited for this one!)
• A pizza lunch buffet - yum!
• Presentation of the Photography Research Project "Enchanted Words" by Mirella Ruozzi and Mara Davoli

We are done EARLY today at only 4:30pm! People are traveling and taking off today, so we have time to ourselves. I'm hoping to find a pool to swim, walk around the park and of course plan out our weekend!

Yesterday I bought 70 Euros worth of Reggio Books and today I'm buying one more. They are just so inspiring and really give me some great ideas for teaching methods that I could even incorporate for my little guys with special rights. (love it)

Happy HOT Day!

Car

Thursday!

These are some shots while walking from our hotel to the Loris Malaguzzi International Center.
Today was the day to visit schools. The schools chosen for the visits were all provided "summer services" so there were children in them.
We were divided among five schools and everyone was impressed. Again, no photos. The girls said they sell a CD with photos in the bookstore so I may purchase one tomorrow to assist in sharing the images of Reggio schools with our powers that be.
We went back into town and had a lovely Italian dinner at Il Pozzo.
One more day and then a break for the weekend!
Yay!

Choreia

Today was a wonderful day at the Panta Rei school, Choreia. It was wonderful going through their halls! There were many children there in their extended day summer school program all waiting to get picked up. All the rooms were like what I had imagined them to be and more. The children in the school were told of our tour and were highly anticipating our visit. They were, at least in our case, very well behaved. A little child woke up during my perusing of her room and she quickly clung to her teacher immediately. It was so cute ☺ I didn’t mean to startle her! The other children in the toddler room were playing a singing game in a circle with their friends- adorable. Finally, the preschool children downstairs were independently playing downstairs in their groups, enjoying the liberty they had with fewer children in the room. I loved the whole experience so much I think I may purchase more books than the ones I already have!

Some people and places...just for Rick!

Our group!

A concert in the Piazza.
The Theater of Reggio Emilia

Ok, Rick wants people and places......
In this group sitting around the square there are people from Columbia, China, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and the good old US of A.
The building is the Theater of Reggio Emilia and there were dancers in the street. It was "Pink" night...(Carrie, where are you?) the night for women.

Ohhhh boy.

Okay - so here I am working so hard on my blogs, thinking I'm creative and that my user name is "Carface in Italy"...and whoops they are going to another thing. Oh well...they are still able to read! haha!

The posts I've been making since the first day of the trip are all at:

Carface in Italy

Hopefully merging my posts with this blog later tonight so it's less confusing! :)

Ahhhh...technology!

-Car

Minor blogging technical difficulty. Carly's posts up until now are under her name. Hers will be showing up on the main site after today!!!
I guess we are learning about blogging here too......overload!

Pictures of the Park

Love it in Reggio! :)

No pictures are allowed in the schools/buildings as a way to keep their privacy here, which I completely respect. HOWEVER! We went to a workshop focusing on their park and outdoor space, and we were welcome to take pictures of these areas. Liz and I

Hooky!

Ok, so we admit it, we are playing afternoon hooky from Reggio boot camp!
Please don't anyone tell Amelia, the leader of the group. She is an awesome, dynamic Italian lady and I don't think I want to be in trouble with her. Anyway, our brains are exploding with ideas and dreams. Some we decided could never come true because of $ and the constraints of our system and some we will be ready to give the old Reggio try to initiate.
Today I decided we are definitely bringing at least three terms back, atelier, polysensory and of course, bambino!!
Actually Liz needs to do homework and Carly is our weekend planner. We are heading to Florence Saturday on the train and on Sunday to Rimini a coastal "beach and bar" town according to our front desk buddy here at the hotel.
Check our Carly's Italian M & M find and the "study group" in their "dorm room."
Just so you know we do plan to go back for the 6 PM session so in case anyone asks.......

Wednesday morning

Wednesday morning!
Today's schedule looks a bit more humane. We actually get a break in the middle of the day. I plan to nap! Amelia, in charge of this program asked us yesterday if we thought they were trying to kill us with the intensity of this program.
Yesterday we divided into groups for afternoon (which turned into evening) trips to various facilities they used for schooling. Liz and Carly went to the Allende school to see their park and I went to Castello Bianello, about a 45 minute bus ride from Reggio, where they take the children for days trips and activities. They use the castle to it's fullest extent creating experiences for the children to learn about Medieval Times. It looked like a wonderful play/work/learning situation. The countryside was beautiful and more what I imagined Italy to be.
We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant right across from our hotel. We declared we were finally in Italy at an Italian restaurant and the first real "meal" we have had in awhile. I think it may be our new hang out!
More later!
PS-Thank goodness for google walking maps! Also, I managed to sneak in a few pictures ( I posted on here) of the Atelier of light at the International Center. Shhhhh....nothing like keeping a secret on the web!

Buona Sera!

Buona Sera!

Second day over, and we’re are exhausted! People are really nice and I’ve enjoyed listening to all their perspectives on the languages of children. It only reaffirms what I love to do with my school children. Listening to the presenters inspires me to push myself into a slightly new approach meanwhile keeping in mind the children I teach. The new facility is currently an ongoing process of construction, but the purposed plans look amazing! Today, I was fortunate enough to see their ray of light exhibit/ studio for children and it was incredible! I want it all ☺

Well they are certainly keeping us busy here! The days at the Loris Malaguzzi International Center are full, from 8 to 6 with events planned in the evenings. Carly and Liz headed to the Recycling center at 9 this evening. The recycling center is where the families of Reggio work to sort recyclable items for the use of the children in the classrooms. I blew it off....way too tired to head back out. I hope they get some pictures.
Today they served a boxed lunch, pasta of course at the school in the International center. We were not allowed to take photos even with no children in the classrooms. It was a little disappointing as a picture is worth a thousand words in seeing how the school and classrooms are set up. It was truly beautiful and we could just picture our little guys in the multi-level, very open, wood floors, beamed ceilings full of natural light areas. Material wise, nature abounded. There were tree branches, a beautiful rock garden (I mean a room!) where the kids could work with rocks as well as sticks hanging for the kids to make music! Each area had an outdoor component with places to dig, work and explore. This particular facility has two primary classrooms in an effort to make the move to primary work more smoothly. The older kids had a garden outdoors with help from Reggio parents. The other 3 classrooms were set up for a section each for the threes, fours and fives. There are 100 students in this school. Compared to our traditional classrooms, they would appear to be stark. The contemporary look of the furnishings an design are very calm to the eye. Reggio is big on displaying their work so each classroom also had two "studio" areas to display the process of projects rather than projects themselves. One whole room of area on the upper level was part of a whole school painting project. Light tables were big here so I am sure there will be some pressure on me to add that to the list of things to make upon our return. They are really very cool and used in a multitude of ways and could probably be made rather simply. I can hear it now.....could Mr. B make these? In one room they had used vellum paper on the light table in layers so the kids could add the original art. It was very cool.
We did find out a little mystery of Reggio today in that the Commissioner of Education spoke to our group welcoming us touting the Reggio schools, but they are not recognized by the state......hum....I guess even in Reggio they have issues with being developmental.
Tomorrow is a new day with the forecast even hotter, great, I could use a 75 degree day about now.
Buona Sera!
PS-They want a logo too. Have we created a monster?

You have reached your final destination!

si


Packed it up and moved from beautiful Switzerland to our goal, Reggio Emilia but not without some minor glitches!
We headed out at 6 AM in the rain but the expression no rain no rainbows was fitting as we saw both ends of this beautiful rainbow with one side ending in the lake. We can use these pictures with our kids at school....see we are always workin' it!
We chose the scenic route over the Gotthard pass which Rick and I had done last summer and I knew I wanted to do again. Snow in the mountains and scenery beyond description everywhere you looked.
From there to Bellinzona where we took a quick tour of Castelgrande and tried to get lunch but everything is closed on Sunday. Food was going to come from an Autohof....not necessarily a bad thing as they have near gourmet food. Carly got her pizza so she was happy!
On to Lugano where we decided to just have Limone gelato instead of real food.....ahhh to travel with the youthful!
From there we headed on to Reggio with minimal turn arounds. We have constantly been challenged with directions in foreign languages. Our little car, a Lancia Musa (her mother was a minivan) was stressed out, flashing Italian words at us, engine light on and some little measly warning triangle. Being the preschool teachers we are, no one knows better than we how to completely ignore annoying whiny messages, especially in Italian! We rubber her dashboard, told her it only felt like 36C outside and just to stick with us for a bit.
She brought us all the way, she will be rewarded in Musa heaven!
To shorten the long story of our arrival, the hotel was pretty seedy so that was a no go. We had arrived late so Carly and Liz dash over to the Loris Malaguzzi center to get us registered and let them know we were really here. It was a long walk and hot, hot, hot. I began to call other hotels, dealt with the bitchy lady, unhappy that we were leaving and moved my stuff.
We had to skip the talk with the mayor of Reggio to move the rest of our things but did make it back to the Piazza Prampolini Sala Tricolore in time for snacks and the walking tour of Reggio.
At 9 PM when the walking tour ended, the taxi driver that had taken us at 7 magically showed up where we were to bring us back to our air conditioned rooms! Yippee....snacking and going to bed. We have our first day of seminars tomorrow. It looks like they have many fun and interesting things planned and that we will be busy. We are looking at train schedules to see where else in Italia we can hang this weekend.
Phew, I am going to need to sleep for a week when I get home!
Ciao for now!