Oak Park

Reggio Emilia Philosophy

Immediately after World War II a town in Northern Italy, called Reggio Emilia, decided to bring hope to their families.  Out of the ruins they constructed quality preschools for their children.  In present times Reggio Emilia has been broadly recognized for having some of the best preschools in the world.

The Reggio Emilia approach to education is committed to the creation of a learning environment that will enhance and facilitate children's construction of his or her own powers of thinking through the combination of all the expressive, communicative and cognitive languages.  The Reggio Emilia approach is based upon the following principles:

• Emergent Curriculum    (Click link to learn more)
• Project Work  (Click link to learn more)
• Representational Development  (Click link to learn more)
• Collaboration  (Click link to learn more)
• Teachers as Researchers  (Click link to learn more)
• Documentation  (Click link to learn more)

Reggio Emilia schools believe that there are three primary teachers of our children.  The first teacher is that of the parent, the second teacher is the classroom teacher and the third teacher is the environment.

• The Role of the Parent  (Click link to learn more)
• The Role of the Teacher  (Click link to learn more)
• The Role of the Environment (Click link to learn more)