Reggio Study Tour presentation

During our November staff meeting, two staff members gave a presentation regarding a Reggio Aotearoa New Zealand study tour to Melbourne that they had recently returned from. I found the photos they showed and centres we were told about to be not only interesting, but also thought provoking. It got me thinking about not only my own practise, but also how my style of practise came to be - why I do what I do. I loved how the centres were based on exploration - children learning through exploring, doing, discovering, building relationships with others and things. This is an aspect I have always felt was important. I believe that children learn best when they are doing, and doing things that are meaningful to them. I went to an early years science course while in London, and something I remember from there was the analogy of a lemon. We could give children a real lemon to explore, or a plastic container that looked like a lemon, or else a photo of a lemon. But the only way they could truly understand was to be provided with a real lemon. The same applies to every aspect of early years learning. The best way to provide a quality learning environment is for the children and the adults to learn how to listen with all the senses. As a team in the nursery, the presentation has impacted on our planning. Not just what we will do, but also how we will display this. I have realised that during the past six months or so, most of my displays have been typed up on a computer. I do know that this makes for a tidy presentation, but I noticed one of the kindergartens shown used only hand written words. I won't go that far, but I was reminded of how it is important for a balance of text to be displayed, and for children to see writing happening. The headings for our planning wall are now hand written, and as they were being written the children showed a lot of interest. Ava sat and really focused on the letters and words being formed. I will try and ensure a lot more of this happens

Foot gloop

One thing I have noticed recently is that a lot of 'activities' provided have been paint based- one or two children seated at the table, paint provided, and told what they need to do with the resources provided. I would like to introduce more child interest based activities, which allows for more freedom to explore and enjoy different textures, feelings, being with others, sharing, cooperation, etc.

One activity I had provided recently was gloop, but instead of having it at a table, I provided it in bowls for the children to explore with their feet.

I felt that this activity really fitted in with the Exploration strand of Te Whariki -gaining confidence and control of their bodies, and learning strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning.

I would like to continue providing these sorts of activities, open-ended exploration with different parts of their bodies - good messy fun.