Upper Canada Child Care: Reggio Inspired ECE

Happy September! Last week as I was setting up our classroom for the new school year, I happened to bump into my early childhood educator friends in our school early years centre (daycare). We chatted for a bit about our new Junior Kindergarten students and which ones they knew from their summer program, and a bit about the interesting materials in the classroom (I had just bought a huge haul of natural materials from Kijiji!). She kindly invited me over to their classrooms in the early years centre to have a peek at thier learning environment … It was beyond beautiful!

We often hear about the transition from early years care into kindergarten being a tough one for young children, and in recent years, there has been a real push to bring play-based, and Reggio inspired learning environments into early years settings such as daycare, and before and after school care.

The early years center in our school has done a wonderful job embracing the Reggio Emilia philosophy to support their understanding of Ministry of Education documents such as How Does Learning Happen! I wanted to share a few photos of the evolution of their space with you all.

**Loose parts play!! I was amazed to find so many creative materials for the toddlers to explore!**

**I love their attention to detail by including natural materials to support literacy such as alphabet rocks.**

**Their collection of glass bottles and plants help to make the learning space interesting and calm!**

**Every detail of their space was co-created with the children, making buildings like this house so special!**

So many interesting ways to display children's artwork! — **So many interesting ways to display children’s artwork!**

**Another co-created building! I absolutely love the attention to detail like the popsicle stick ladder! So much creative and imaginative play for the toddlers to engage in!**

**This is co-created road/race track. The children and staff created this using an old dresser drawer and a variety of recycled materials.**

Every inch of their space is so well thought out - plants, a collection of loose parts and amazing recycled finds are displayed throughout the room! — **Every inch of their space is so well thought out – plants, a collection of loose parts and amazing recycled finds are displayed throughout the room!**

**Documentation binders displayed for families, visitors and children to access easily.**

I hope you enjoyed joining me on my visit to this beautiful and intentionally planned early years learning environment. I found it so inspiring to know that the Reggio Emilia philosophy is not only being embraced by teachers, but also by educators beyond the classroom such as early years centers, daycare, and before and after school care – sending the message that we all share a common vision of quality early childhood education here in the province of Ontario!

I’d like to sincerely thank my friend Doreen at the Upper Canada Child Care center for inviting me into their early years space and sharing the evolution of their practice with me. One of my absolute favourite things to do is visit early learning environments and chat with educators about their inspiration, evolution of their program, and all things early years! If you are interested in having your classroom featured here on Teach Grow Love, or know of an educator that may be interested in this opportunity, please fill out the contact form below. My goal this school year is to feature one learning environment a month! Alternately, if you would like to visit our learning environment, please also fill the contact form at the end of this post. I hope to hear from you, and wish you all the best in your new school year!

Kamini

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