Richelle Bridge Richelle Bridge talks about inspiring children with the help of Reggio Emilia concepts.

Richelle Bridge is an Early Childhood Educator at our Greendale centre on Hamilton Mountain. She's a fairly recent graduate of Mohawk College, where she became familiar with Reggio Emilia — the child-centred curriculum approach to early childhood education. Now she's relishing the daily opportunity to use Reggio Emilia with a group of children ages 3 - 5.

"We start with their ideas and go on to create a chain of ideas and projects," says Richelle. "Children have a lot more fun and learn much more this way."

One example — a two-month learning cycle that began when one boy brought a book about sharks. The other children quickly picked up his enthusiasm about sharks and sea life. Using resources Richelle located, they learned about shark body parts, food, activities and habitats. They visited an aquarium with Richelle and saw a live shark. They drew posters with the help of a professional artist who visits the centre and teaches art techniques and concepts children can use to express their ides and feelings. They also created a diorama — a 3-D undersea shark scene that was featured in the annual show of children's art at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts. Photos and text accompanied the diorama - Reggio Emilia documentation showing the learning processes in the project.

Having the resources in place is a big key to success. "As Early Childhood Educators at Today's Family, we have a lot of resources to draw on," says Richelle. "We have the concepts, the tools, and the freedom to try new things. There's a lot of electricity in the air. That helps us generate ideas and work together effectively."

Reggio Emilia is a wonderful approach for children's learning and development — particularly when delivered by skilled educators like Richelle Bridge. Thank you, Richelle!

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