Welcome to The Hundred Languages
Welcome to The Hundred Languages — First Presbyterian Day School's window into the many things happening around our school, seen through the lens of Reggio Emilia and emergent inquiry.
Our blog's name comes from the famous poem written by Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach. The poem speaks to the many ways children learn and express their understanding of the world — through words, yes, but also through movement, drawing, building, imagination, and play. It's a reminder that children have far more than one language for making sense of their world, and our job is to notice and nurture all of them.
100 languages
NO WAY. THE HUNDRED IS THERE
The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.
Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini)
Our Reggio Emilia-Inspired Approach
Our program has been inspired by the Italian Reggio Emilia practices since the late 1990s, and that inspiration shapes many of the specific ways we support how children learn.
A few Reggio terms you'll see often on this blog:
Pedagogy — the practice and study of teaching and learning.
Pedagogista — the Italian term for someone who leads the educational practices within a program.(Ms.Parks)
Atelier — our studio, a dedicated space for children, staff, and families to explore materials in extended, in-depth ways.
Atelierista — the studio teacher, or "art teacher," who leads work in the Atelier. Ours is Mrs. Lesance.
You'll get to read Mrs. Lesance's reflections on experiences in the Atelier, as well as the mini-studios found in each of our classrooms. I'll be sharing my own reflections as the Pedagogista on the emergent curriculum unfolding throughout the year.
What's Happening Now: Community as Curriculum
At the beginning of the school year, so much is happening in our classrooms. It's a season of transition — a time when we're supporting children who are new to the program, new to a classroom, or simply adjusting to new classmates joining their community.
Our curriculum right now is focused on Community and introducing children to each other, to their teachers, and to where things belong in their space. Teachers are guiding children through the everyday rhythms of the classroom — how to put on and take off shoes, how to go to the bathroom, how to wash hands, how to serve food onto a plate, and how to clean up after a snack or a meal. The list goes on.
We summarize all of this under one word: Community. Community is the curriculum at the start of a new program year.
You may notice requests coming home for family photos to display in the classroom, or prompts for more pictures of your child, who may soon have a book of their own. The purpose behind all of it is simple: to help each child feel that they belong — that their classroom is a community that is safe, reliable, and values them as a member. We are excited to welcome the children into our community and we also are excited to learn more about each other and who else is in our school community. I look forward to sharing more about our community in the near future! - Ashley Parks