Reggio Emilia Preschools in San Diego
Searching for a preschool can be a challenging endeavor to say the least. Underlying the many questions that you ask as you are evaluating preschools is the desire to find a nurturing environment where your child will thrive and learn. Preschools that follow the Reggio Emilia philosophy of early childhood education are innovative in the way that they create such environments. Parents in the San Diego area are lucky because there are a number of quality early childhood programs either based upon or inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. Knowing more about the approach and knowing what to look for when you visit preschools will help you find the one that is the best fit for your child.
A school needs to be a place for all children, not based on the idea that they’re all the same, but that they’re all different.
- Loris Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia approach
The History
The Reggio Emilia approach began in the 1940s when a community located in the town of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, along with schoolteacher Loris Malaguzzi, began building a preschool for their children. Following the destruction of their area during World War II, the community came together to build their schools with the desire to raise a new generation of citizens committed to justice and equality. And it was a true community effort. A local farmer donated land for the structure, and townspeople – men and women – donated their time and labor to build the school using materials from the ruins of their village. This idea of coming together as a community for the sake of the children is at the very core of the Reggio Emilia approach today.
… these same people, without a penny to their names, with no technical offices, building permits, site directors, inspectors from the Ministry of Education or the Party, could actually build a school with their own strength, brick by brick …
- Loris Malaguzzi
The Fundamentals
Schools that follow the Reggio Emilia philosophy of education build their programs on the following principles:
- An emergent eurriculum that builds upon the interests of children
- In-depth projects that are long term and built upon the concepts, ideas, and interests of the group
- Representation in multiple forms (print, art, construction, drama, music, puppetry, and shadow play) as tools for development
- Collaboration among home, school and community
- Teacher as learner, researcher, resource and guide
- Documentation of children’s work into portfolios
- An environment that plays a crucial role as the third teacher
A key tenet of the Reggio Emilia approach is that art helps children express their thoughts. Reggio classrooms are packed with a profusion of innovative materials for the children to work with, such as pebbles, dried orange peel, driftwood, tangles of wire and tin cans. “The environment as the third teacher” is a favorite Reggio phrase.
- excerpt from The Garlanded Classroom in The New York Times
The Reggio Emilia Approach in San Diego
If you are searching for a preschool program in the San Diego area that follows the Reggio Emilia approach, you might quickly become overwhelmed by the plethora of preschools that San Diego offers; Greatschools.net lists 667 programs! The San Diego Reggio Roundtable, a group of early childhood educators and parents who promote the Reggio philosophy, comes to the rescue with the following alphabetical list of schools and centers that appear on their website.
Aspirations School of Learning
6286 El Camino Real
Carlsbad, CA 92009
(760) 603-9173
http://www.aspiringchild.com/
College Park Preschool
5075 B Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92115
(619) 582-2520
http://www.collegeparkpreschool.org/
Cuyamaca College Child Development Center
900 Rancho San Diego Parkway
El Cajon, CA 92019
(619) 660-4660
http://www.cuyamaca.edu/cdc/
Grossmont College Child Development Center
8800 Grossmont College Dr.
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 644-7000
http://www.grossmont.edu/childdevelopment/center.asp
Hanna Fenichel Center
336 N Acacia Ave
Solana Beach, CA 92075-1108
(858) 755-0860
http://www.hannafenichel.com/
La Jolla United Methodist Church Nursery School
6063 La Jolla Blvd
La Jolla, CA 92037-6799
(858) 454-1418
http://www.ljumcns.com/
The Little School
9614 Pebble Beach Drive
Santee, CA 92071
(619) 449-7162
http://www.onelittleschool.com/
Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church Preschool
17010 Pomerado Road
San Diego, CA 92128
(858) 487-0824
http://www.rbcpcpreschool.net/
Southwestern College Child Development Center
900 Otay Lakes Road
Chula Vista, CA 91910
(619) 216-6695
http://www.swccd.edu/4thLevel/index.asp?L3=298
Do you know of additional preschool programs in the San Diego area that either follow or are inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood? If you do, please share in the comments section below!
Learn more
An Argument for Preschool
from Newsweek
A School Must Rest on the Idea that All Children are Different
from Newsweek
The Garlanded Classroom
from The New York Times
Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Waldorf
from An Educated Choice
Reggio Emilia Approach
from Wikipedia
The Reggio Approach and Creative Learning Environments
from Understanding the Reggio Approach via www.alcassociates.co.uk
Photos from Aspirations School of Learning website at www.aspiringchild.com.
2 Responses to “Reggio Emilia Preschools in San Diego”
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Do you know about the Blue School in Manhattan? (It’s not San Diego but it’s really interesting.) The school was started by the people who started The Blue Man Group, that stage show with guys who have painted their faces blue. They don’t come right out and say that they are Reggio Emilia, but they sure do have a lot in common and they’re all about creativity. Their website is http://www.theblueschool.org/.
I agree with NYC Preschool Mom. Blue School is an environment that seems very much based on the creative expressions that the Reggio Approach also provides for children. Founded by a group of creative and passionate individuals, parents themselves, who originally founded the group, “as a 12-child playgroup that morphed into something more formal once the founders realized that their collaborative/creative approach to learning resonated with both kids and their parents.”
I discovered an article in American Way Magazine while flying on American Airlines this past fall on my way to where else? Reggio Emilia! The article is entitled The A-B-Cs of F-U-N and is dated November 1, 2009 in case you’re interested. Ciao for now!