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reggio-inspired

The  next time you find your­self walk­ing through the halls of Rain­tree, just glance at the stu­dent work you see around you.  Yes, look at the art on the walls, the sculp­tures on shelf-tops, and the col­or­fully tan­gled con­trap­tions hang­ing from the ceil­ing.  If you look closely, smack dab at the cen­ter, you’ll the see the inten­tion, the love, the cre­ative mind of the child within each piece.

 

We often seem to stand in stark con­trast to the Work­sheet Moun­tain and ROYGBV Val­ley of plas­tic bits and snap-its in many class­rooms today.   The lit­tle folks that fill our cam­pus have a mag­i­cal and pur­pose­ful energy about them.  They bounce and bob­ble as lit­tle kids do, but they also exude an aura, yes an aura, of astro­naut and artist, zool­o­gist and Zen master.

They are the ulti­mate exam­ple of our Reggio-inspired approach.  From the wee age of two to the very accom­plished six-year-old, Rain­tree chil­dren dream and work together in long-term projects of their own design.  Our fac­ulty have been pro­foundly influ­enced by the work of edu­ca­tors in Reg­gio Emilia, Italy and so have our stu­dents.

 

With each project, our stu­dents think crit­i­cally and apply their skills in Math­e­mat­ics, Read­ing, Writ­ing, Sci­ence, Ecol­ogy, and the Human­i­ties.  And as they tackle the tricky work of find­ing answers to their own ques­tions, they are dri­ven by clar­ity of thought, And just like that, any passer-by

can begin to grasp the beauty of what has been accom­plished here at this small school.

While conducting research for their project, The Problem with Sharks, the pre-k class corresponded with famed shark scientist, Eugenie Clark.

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