Reggio Inspired Emergent Curriculum & Constructivist Practices in Early Childhood Education

Spaces that Encourage Encounters

The classroom as a place of encounters.   That word encounter has weight.   It intrigues me when I see it surface as a component of this Reggio-inspired principle: The environment as third teacher: There Is an underlying order and beauty in the design and organization of all the space
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Four year old Em

Four-year-old Em, she wants to take a walk. She wants to sit on the edge of the pond. She wants to drop a piece of mulch from Wishing Bridge into the narrow running waters below in hopes that her wish might come true. Four-year-old Em she wants to take a walk. Everyone else is eating
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Statement on Play

I was invited to put together something about play to insert into a radio program on Education from Emory & Henry College.  This piece I wrote and spoke was inserted into the intro to a two-part interview with Erika Christakis, Yale Professor who spoke about play and wrote about i
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Imagine you were invited to play with an all white palette of papers.

The papers ranging from thin white tissue paper to thick white foam core boards, and the only tools for manipulating these are your hand, a thin paint brush, white glue, scissors, and 18 gage wire. What choices would emerge? Colorless Emotions:  Follow the twists and turns of Deb’s re
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Color and Texture Journey

I have been playing with the colors and textures of fabrics and threads.  Cutting and piecing here and there before committing to a specific design.  Using pins for placement so changes can still occur. In my designs I see interesting differences in sections with subtly toned transiti
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Representing Community: Reflections on the Co-op Family Center in Eugene, OR

In a recent visit to the Co-op Family Center, in Eugene, Oregon I was inspired by the ways community are represented and the documentation of authentic work that reveals collaborative processes of learning among children and their teachers. Community History: In the school lobby a col
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Gifts

Gifts Recently I find myself wearing this little necklace. Four beads stacked together. It’s a charm chosen from among the many that were presented and offered as gifts to visitors during a tour at the Ochoa Community Magnet School. I was one of the participants at the NAREA Win
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Inspirations from the ACT Conference

  The Association for Constructivist Teaching recognized Dr. Connie Kamii at our annual   conference with a Life Time Achievement Award.  Hearing her speak about the history of her education and academic career was inspiring. She contributed greatly to mathematics education in early c
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Excerpts from the Playing, Observing, Documenting, & Interpreting Workshop at HPUMP

Just returned from an exciting Study Tour at Highland Plaza United Methodist Preschool (HPUMP) in Hixson, TN,  outside of Chattanooga.  Here are some excerpts from the Playing, Observing, Documenting, & Interpreting Workshop facilitated by Jane Broderick and Dawn White (atelierist
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