With all the schools of thought around children and how to raise them, it can be difficult to sort through what works and what does not. Furthermore, what works for one family, or even one child within the same family, may not work for another. As you already know, Childhood&Home does not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to learning and therefore does not follow just one educational philosophy or process. Below, we will explain our favorite early childhood education pedagogies along with our own personal philosophy for the development of your young ones.
Reggio Emilia Inspired Approach
Reggio Emilia is actually a city in Italy. It is where Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Pedagogical preschools in Reggio Emilia worked and lived. The city has become well known all over the world for its childhood practices and schools. The number one belief that resonates throughout this approach is that children are active citizens and worthy participants within their societies, cultures and lives. The focus is child-led and play-based learning with the environment being the third teacher, where the children decide what they will do and with what mediums and tools. At Childhood&Home we are active advocates for these same childhood education techniques and integrate Reggio-inspired methods into everything we do.
Montessori Method
The Montessori Method was introduced by Dr. Maria Montessori after extensive scientific research and observation of children throughout many of the world’s countries. In this method it is believed that children instinctively develop in all domains through a meticulously planned environment, and that given the right environment and instruction, they will effortlessly absorb their culture, language, literacy and general place in society. The concepts we carry from the Montessori Method in our work are the emphasis of practical life skills, trust in a child’s instincts, allowance for independence and the preparation of an environment that allows the child to choose his/her work.
HighScope
The HighScope Method has been used in classrooms for over forty years. It’s emphasis is on child-centered interests and hands-on, interactive and purposeful play. This curriculum focuses on having children make a plan of what they will do, executing it, and then reflecting on what they have done and how it compared and/or contrasted to their original plan. Similar to the HighScope Method, we provide intentional environmental structure, encourage different types of play, and care for the children’s lives and families in our work.
Constructivism
Constructivism is a theory that proposes that people construct understanding and knowledge through their own experiences. It emphasizes scripted but open-ended language that prompts children through directly asked questions or carefully planned materials and mediums within the children’s environments. It focuses on investigation, experimentation and process over result. At Childhood&Home we follow the Constructivist Theory and encourage curiosity and collaboration through all childhood developmental domains.
Our Personal Philosophy
We create an overlap from these philosophies and blend them into our own unique and inclusive approach specifically tailored to your school or family. We believe attentive relationships, environment, nutrition, community life and the individuality of the family are the foundation of child development and society in general. Our focus is on creating purposeful, well-prepared environments within schools and homes that reflect the values of the community. We allow for children to have freedom of expression, while enabling them to move, play, and learn with independence and curiosity. We create open-ended play spaces and creative set-ups that focus on building practical life skills, creativity, emotional and social development, gross and fine motor development, and critical and cognitive thinking. We understand that children are active participants within their schools, families and home-life and deserve to have their voices be heard. We believe children are the future. They are the people who will one day create businesses, technology and social solutions that will change humanity and make the world a better and more beautiful place. Therefore, we strive to give them the best possible environment to open a world of possibility and concentrated learning during their most formative years.
Childhood&Home 