Bambini Creativi

Yesterday, we had a 1/2 day of teaching so we could spend the rest of the day observing other schools in the area. I really wanted to go and observe another music teacher, but it just wasn't going to work out for a Friday afternoon. I guess (unlike me), a lot of music teachers are just sitting around eating bon bons on Friday afternoons because they don't have any music classes. (HA! Don't throw stones at me, music teachers...I'm only kidding.)

So instead, I visited a Reggio Emilia school in Martin City. It's called Bambini Creativi. Let me tell you a little about Reggio schools. They started in post-WW II Italy, after the town of Reggio Emilia was destroyed. Those Italians were smart - the first things they rebuilt were the schools. Reggio mainly focuses on early childhood, although apparently some schools go up to the 2nd grade. I could explain the philosophy to you, but you'd be better off just reading about it here.

I took some pictures of the school, built from the ground up (actually remodeled - this building used to be a restaurant) but the pictures in no way do Bambini Creativi justice. It was A-MA-ZING.







I actually had a physical reaction walking in. The soothing colors, the soft music playing in the background, the two-story entry, the trickling waterfall, the birds chirping around the corner, the modern aesthetics...it was magic. Any kid would PEE THEIR PANTS to go to this school. (I would bet that some kids already have. Sorry, that was mean.)

What struck me the most, though, was the passion with which the director, no more than a few years my senior, spoke about her school, and the Reggio philosophy. She had studied in Reggio Emilia with master teachers, and she knew her stuff. I could tell that she believed in what she was doing wholeheartedly, and wanted the world to know about the impact this kind of teaching could (and will!) have on children. She answered all of our questions thoroughly and was quite entertaining to listen to. It was inspiring.







Being there made me feel SO GLAD to be a teacher. I am so passionate about the children that I teach and about music, and I KNOW it's what I'm supposed to do, because every time I am teaching, I feel a rush of energy and peace, like I am exactly where I am meant to be in the universe. That being said, I have so much to learn. It's hard being in a private school because I am so isolated. There is only one other music teacher, and she doesn't teach my age group and is only at school one day out of the week that I am. That doesn't lend itself to much collaboration. I do, however, seek to find teachers who are as passionate about their craft as I am, so that I can continue to grow and learn. It's so important. That's why being at Bambini Creativi was so important, because it allowed me to observe another environment and bounce ideas off of a fantastic educator.

It made my brain happy. :-)




To sum this visit and Reggio Emilia up, I will share "The Hundred Languages of Children", written by Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach. It's hard to tell in the first picture, but this poem was displayed in the entryway of the school next to 100 jars of "things". The poem and the jars reached so high in the space that you had to bend your neck to see them. Have I already told you how amazing this place was? It was amazing. :-) Check it out here.

"The Hundred Languages of Children"

No way.
The hundred is there.
The child is made of one hundred.
The child has a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
a hundred, always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds to discover
a hundred worlds to invent
a hundred worlds to dream.
The child has a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and Christmas.
They tell the child
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says
“No way – The hundred is there.”

-Loris Malaguzzi

HOLLA -