REGGIO EMILIA
Curiosity Founded in Reggio Emilia, Italy, following
World War II, Reggio Emilia schools center on
the innate curiosity of children.

“Children are naturally inquisitive and
curious,” says Alice Wetzel, the early years
coordinator at the Reggio-inspired Roland Park
Country School in Baltimore, Maryland. “Our
classrooms take that natural curiosity and work
alongside it rather than being teacher-directed.”
Reggio teachers intently observe their
classes to see what they are collectively drawn
to learning about, then plan their curriculum
around the students’ interests.

“I had a class that was really interested in the
Chinese New Year, so they ended up putting on
a dragon parade,” Wetzel says.

For their parade, Wetzel’s students
recorded music, created invitations and made
a huge dragon.

“We fold in our writing work and our
music work and all of the different areas into
something that they already show that they’re
interested in,” she says.

Co-teaching Montessori education is focused on the
individual. “Much of our work is based on observing
children and their unique nature and creating
learning environments that support that
unique nature,” says Gina Lofquist, senior
director of education and strategic initiatives
at the American Montessori Society.

Montessori teachers extensively observe
“Loose parts”
Reggio Emilia schools use materials that each child to understand how they work, both
adhere to the “loose parts theory,” which sees independently and as part of a group.

“While the focus is on the individual, it’s also
toys and manipulatives as open-ended.

“A block might start out as a block, but looking at how someone is in community and
maybe a child is using it as a cell phone or how they can support a community of friends
and learning,” Lofquist says.

something else,” Wetzel explains.

One of the tenets of Reggio education is that
“the environment is the third teacher.” Reggio Larger class sizes
teachers put materials out in their classrooms One way Montessori schools support
to see what the students are drawn to as a way independence is through having relatively
to foster their curiosity and allow the children larger classes.

to lead the lessons.

“If there are a lot of adults in the
“With younger children, we might see environment, then children might have a
that they’re interested in enclosing things or tendency to become more dependent on the
pouring things or hiding things,” Wetzel says. adults,” Lofquist says. “It’s about this group of
“Then we build on that interest.”
children coming together and supporting each
other in their learning.”
to promote learning in a variety of specific
curricular areas.

“There are hundreds of teachers in a
Montessori environment,” Lofquist says.

“Between the children teaching each other and
the materials teaching children, there are lots
of learning opportunities.”
Preparing for adulthood
Montessori education aims to prepare students
and build skills for later in life.

“What a child is really doing is constructing
themselves to be an adult,” Lofquist says. “We
try to create an environment that allows for a
healthy construction of the adult who is to be.”
According to Lofquist, the lifelong skills that
Montessori education instills include being
“able to hear different perspectives, create
with other people and vocalize ideas.”
With their creative, student-centered
philosophies, any child has the potential
to thrive in Waldorf, Reggio Emilia and
Montessori schools. But each model is unique,
and if you’re already having a difficult time
narrowing down the vast array of choices to
send your child to private school, it might be
helpful to take a deep dive into them all and
see which you like best. Once you figure that
“Hundreds of teachers”
Individuality Unlike the open-ended learning materials in out, see which private schools employ your
Named after its founder Maria Montessori, Reggio Emilia classrooms, Montessori schools preferred educational model. Voilà, it’s not all
an Italian educator, physician and scientist, have didactic, specially designed materials that daunting anymore, is it? n
MONTESSORI 18 Washington FAMILY OCTOBER 2021
ARTISTEER / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUSA
Reggio classes have a high teacher-to-
student ratio.

“We have 15 children and two teachers,”
Wetzel says of the classes at her school.

“The teaching is a little different from a
traditional preschool, in that it is co-teaching
— a collaboration between the teachers and
a collaboration between the teachers and
the students.”