Figuring out the Floorplan

On Friday, Heather and I met to start designing the physical space of the farm preschool cooperative, which will consist of a one-room open schoolhouse and fenced in play yard. In the Reggio Approach, the classroom plays such an important role in students’ education that it was important for us to map out the curriculum first to serve as our guide. This way, we are able to design an environment that best facilitates learning in each of the three areas of knowledge we identified as most necessary for happy, healthy development in an ever-changing, global society. These three areas, Social & Personal Responsibility, Agriculture & Sustainability, and Creativity & the Arts, make up the core curriculum of this Hawaii-based program and thus determine how the space is designed and what materials will fill its walls.

The circles are mango trees which already occupy the space that will be fenced in to make the play yard. The entry gate is at the bottom left corner with the covered classroom at the top right (three walls one open to the covered lunch/art table), and the existing play structure next to the mango trees at the top center with play stations scattering the yard, yet to be placed.

Now that I have a solid idea of the space we’ll have to work with in addition to the objectives and focus of the curriculum, we can begin acquiring and developing the educational tools needed to breathe life into the program. For each component of the core curricula, I am researching and identifying activities and materials to support development and facilitate learning. I started this week focusing on the first area of the core curricula, Social & Personal Responsibility, filling in my outline with ideas for fostering empathy and compassion, gratitude, mindfulness, conflict resolution, friendship, self-awareness, responsibility, management of emotion, etc.. For an emergent curriculum to work, Reggio-Inspired programs like ours must be set up to invite and facilitate meaningful and relevant educational experiences. Because the role of the classroom environment is so powerful, it is designed with great purpose and care; every station, object, and decoration has been thoughtfully selected and intentionally placed.

Books are a great place to start building a Reggio classroom because they naturally lend themselves to the idea of teachers learning with rather than teaching to their students. Having worked in libraries for so many years, children’s stories are of particular interest to me and I have repeatedly seen first hand the value of lessons learned from them, so I always like to start here. To help students understand the importance of community and how individual actions and contributions can have collective power to solve social problems, I read stories like Stone Soup. The more kids hear this story and incorporate its ideas into their play, the more ingrained these community values become. Stories are a powerful learning tool because the lessons are there for students and teachers to learn together, inspiring readers of all ages in endless ways. Stories can be read and referenced when their messages are most relevant and they invite students to think deeply and make connections between their favorite stories and their own experiences. There are so many valuable books out there to choose from, imparting wisdom on every topic imaginable, making them a necessary part of any quality classroom, not to mention the pleasure provided by the beautiful illustrations and stories. Check out my childrens’ literature pinboard for a collection of my favorite stories.

To accommodate a wealth of carefully selected stories, the farm preschool cooperative will need a library, or in the case of a small program like this one, a cozy reading area. Since books are in greater need of protection from the elements of an outdoor/indoor classroom, it made sense to incorporate this all-important learning station into the walled-in structure. In the most private and sheltered part of the room will offer big comfy pillows, a small couch or cushy bench, and a cozy rug to accompany the book-display, creating a homy, calming, peaceful place for kids to curl up and dive into a good story. This cozy spot will also make for a great meeting place when the group gathers together for circle time discussions and activities.

more ideas here

In addition to stories, I have stumbled across tons of educational materials for kids to engage with that can help them practice their social and intrapersonal skills. I tend to seek out DIY projects that fill these needs as well as materials that serve multiple and interdisciplinary aspects of our curricula because this means the program as a whole will require fewer resources and less space to create a quality learning environment. Also, the more uses for each material the more creativity and innovation they inspire as children discover new ways to involve them in their play. For example, to encourage a strong sense of responsibility for their space, while engaging their creativity in dramatic play, the playhouse will be well stocked with child-sized brooms, mops, spray bottles and towels, shelves to put play food, and other organizational tools and play cleaning supplies. By trying on the responsibilities of keeping house in an enjoyable (and self-selected) way, kids can develop a more positive association with caring for their personal property and communal space. This in and of itself will likely not be enough to teach all that responsibility but combined with regular classroom clean-up chores, keeping a personal cubby for their belongings, stories, and many other classroom activities, responsible habits are bound to develop over time.

A look inside the future walls of the farm preschool play yard.

There are countless ways to design a classroom space so that kids can develop the skills they need to grow into happy, healthy, contributing members of the community and there are endless materials that can support their growth. The needs of each community are so unique that what works best for this farm preschool cooperative will likely be very different than those of other schools. As I research I am compiling a wealth of ideas for all kinds of programs and sorting my findings on the various Pinterest Boards I have created. For this specific program, I am selecting the most applicable resources and ideas to make up the three boards (Social & Personal Responsibility, Agriculture & Sustainability, and Creativity & the Arts) representing the core curriculum. This way Heather and I can get a better understanding of what we need to do so that the classroom environment itself best supports the curriculum. It is a long process of scouring the internet, flipping through books, and calling on my past teaching experiences to identify the materials and activities that will be most useful to us and effectively support student growth in a meaningful and enjoyable way.

Although the curriculum is well mapped out at this point and we have a rough idea of what the space will look like, there is still much to be done. There are many details to be nailed down, building projects to start, materials to develop and seek out, and to make sure that every aspect of the curriculum is represented in the classroom space itself. Luckily, this is my favorite part of the process as it puts to use my most developed and preferred skills of brainstorming and researching ideas, organizing information, creative problem solving, and crafting handmade educational materials. This project, more than I could have ever imagined, taps into my Element, the place where my greatest talents and interests converge allowing me to be my most productive self while having the most fun at work. Naturally, I have high hopes for the farm preschool project and how the documentation of its development can offer clarity to others who are curious about the Reggio Approach. I don’t, however, believe for even the briefest of moments that my expectations are unrealistic. Anything is possible with the right amount of creativity, motivation, and dedication, especially when the process is as intrinsically rewarding as program development is for me. The key is to start where you are with what you have and build from there one little step at a time, and never forget to have fun with the process.