The whys of early childhood education...

  We KNOW that young children learn best in > child-centered, experience-based, social classrooms > with teachers that facilitate and foster respect.  > Why, why, WHY is this is the exception, not the > rule, in American preschool classrooms?  Because, in the real world environment (outside of college child development labs with university funding) being child-centered & experience based is a lot more work & takes a lot more resources than teaching a "canned" curriculum, at least in the beginning--and until the TEACHERS recognize the value of following the child's lead and begin fighting for that, we will get nowhere with administrators--IMO. As my school year has just begun & as I have begun the licensing process for home/family child care I have, in the last two weeks, talked to at least twenty individuals about my approach--probably more. This confirmed the fact that there is absolutely no one in this county (and the one next to us) who uses anything that could be even slightly classified as "Reggio Inspired". The closest we've come to is ONE program that uses Creative Curriculum--so far all the rest that offer any form of educational program use weekly themes (with the exception of a few "Montessori" programs, only two of which were able to tell me who Montessori was). Those educators I have spoken with, and even some of the families I have talked to, have reacted to my explanations of the importance of following the children & the value of documentation with comments such as "I don't know how I could possibly do that, I don't have enough time as it is" or "It must be pure chaos to have a classroom where children are all exploring their own interests" (yeah, it is--when you are used to children who sit quietly at story time & rotate through centers every 15 minutes, under the threat of time outs or being sent to the office if they don't comply--and then they wonder why they have behavioral problems?????). As someone who is currently entering a possible position in where I may actually be able to reach other educators in the area and share bits and pieces of Reggio Emilia, I would welcome discussion on how to help these educators and caregivers, all of whom are struggling to do what they believe is best for children despite their lack of time & resources, find a way to implement some of the basic frameworks of Reggio Inspired programs (I know these are heavily debated--but I have found recent discussions in this arena helpful as I ponder this question).