Our Children - Holistic approach to child development

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to be a presenter at a conference hosted by the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance.

At this conference, I attended presentations by a number of Reggio Emilia specialists on how this approach can be incorporated into our schools and curricula.

The Reggio Emilia approach is an educational philosophy and pedagogy focused on preschool and primary education. This approach is a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments.

Although it originated in Italy, this approach is used in schools throughout the world both on its own as well as to enhance many curricula.

It was such a valuable conference and much of what I learned there continues to influence my teaching today.

However, there is one standout concept that really blew my mind. It is something that often guides my thought process when developing activities and lesson plans. This revolutionary concept challenges the traditional separation of lessons into subjects, such as maths, language, history etc.

The presenter of this particular session brought to the audience's attention that in life, our daily activities are not compartmentalised. We do not have a maths portion of our day, and then an emotional skills section, followed by a language section. Rather, everything is integrated and forms part of what we do without even realising it.

This has guided my teaching as well as our collective team preparation to the point where we always aim to incorporate a variety of skills and learning areas into one activity.

An example would be a book that the Grade 0's put together, which involved fine motor skills, critical thinking and a strong focus on literacy and numeracy.

At Mina Lopato, no skill or concept is learnt in isolation. This is one of the many reasons why we love Play ball, our sports and gross motor intramural that takes place for all classes every Monday.

Below you will find out a bit more about our Play ball coaches who have been with us for many years and who know each child by name. Their programme incorporates so many skills and is a vital part of the Mina Lopato curriculum. We have seen firsthand how each child has grown, developed and benefited from their weekly Play ball sessions.

To the holistic approach of child development - Wishing you all a wonderful week.