C5 CHILDRENS SCHOOL

To facilitate young children's optimal development and learning in a safe, supportive and enriched environment. We practice an innovative inquiry and project approach that is inspired in part by the philosophy and practice of the infant-toddler and pre-primary school programs in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and we rely in part on the offerings of the Program for Infant-Toddler Care (PITC), which is a collaboration of the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, now called WestEd, and the California Department of Education. Another influence for our program is the Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) program. We have also developed two models for working with children who are present in our daily work. They are the strategies and techniques of Partnership with Children and Community of Learners. The following are descriptions of the principles that guide our preparation as professionals; our planning with staff, parents, and early childhood education colleagues; our actions with children; our problem-solving; our review of our work; and, our continuous improvement.The Image of the Child — Our Image of the Child is very comprehensive and includes that they are: capable at birth to be powerful learners and developers; partners in their own evolution; highly perceptive; vital; energetic; curious; exploratory; adventurous; open-minded; adaptive; expressive; makers of meaning; and, innovators of new views of the world and the things and people in it and of solutions to problems.Partnership with Children — We recognize that relationships between adults and children involve the exercise of power as well as the expression of caring, friendliness, love, and guidance through skillful behaviors. We are mindful about how adult power is used and maintained, and how children respond to those influences.Joy in Everything — We believe in promoting joy in every aspect of our interactions. The best learning occurs when we are positive and energized about our efforts and hopeful about the results they might bring.The Importance of Relationships — We believe that relationships that are respectful, gentle, caring, collaborative, invigorating, diverse, imaginative, and adventurous are at the heart of quality learning.The Processes of Exploring and Expressing — The focus of learning emanates from children and their interests, fascinations, developmental issues, and family customs, culture, and heritage.An Emergent Curriculum — Children's interests, fascinations, and developmental requirements at the moment are the primary vehicle for immediate, complex, comprehensive, and sustained learning. What emerges from each child becomes the curriculum.A Project Approach — Children's inclinations, interests, and fascinations often lead to in-depth explorations that last hours, days, or many months depending on the child and other outside influences.Community of Learners — We help children to be very skillful group members and for learning groups to be very powerful learning teams We focus on a wide range of effective group processes.The 100 Languages of Children — Children have over a hundred languages with which to explore and express themselves in their holistic and comprehensive learning and development.The Role of the Environment — Our classroom environments play a very important role in our programs that are inspired in part by the pre-primary schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Our classrooms are designed to be lovely, compelling, and inviting for learning.The Role of Time — Great emphasis is placed on the pace of the activities, the demeanor of the adults, and the arrangement of elements in the environment that support being in tune with the temperament and rhythms of the children.The Image of the Parent and Family — Parents and family members are essential partners in a comprehensive collaboration to build, improve, and sustain a dynamic, rich, and diverse learning and development environment for their children and the children of other parents and families.