Our Kindergarten program is designed to establish a solid foundation for our students' future academic success, and is based on experiential learning. From the outset, our young learners are seen as intellectually powerful, naturally inquisitive, and innately creative.
We encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas, to collaborate, and to compare and problem solve together.
At Hudson, we have established a Reggio Emilia inspired teaching pedagogy that encourages children to explore, investigate, and grow. The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching originated in Northern Italy and is founded on the belief that children's curiosity about their world, as well as their innate sense of creativity, should guide their learning. Reggio Emilia inspired teachers observe children, support their interests and document their learning in order to reflect on developmentally appropriate ways to help their students expand their knowledge. Long-term collaborative projects connect core academic areas of Language, Mathematics, Science and The Arts.
The following principals guide Hudson College's Reggio Emilia inspired kindergarten program.
The Image of the Child
At Hudson we define our students as capable, imaginative, reflective, knowledgeable, inquisitive learners. Our teachers use the potential in all their students to create learning experiences that are guided by children's interests and talents, while simultaneously meeting curriculum requirements.
Reggio inspired teaching practices depends on collaborative partnerships between parents, teachers and students. Reciprocity of continuous learning takes place between all three partners. Visual documentation of children's learning is made available to the three partners for the purpose of examining the student's learning so as to move it forward.
The space in which children learn is defined as the third teacher in Reggio inspired schools. Spaces are intentionally designed for collaborative, inquiry-based work.
The teacher plays a very special role in the children's learning. She is a co-constructor of knowledge, a researcher, a documenter, and an advocate for her students. She makes available the resources for children to engage in their inquiries and guides the learning experiences so that curriculum expectations are mastered.
Projects are central to children's and teacher's learning experiences. Creativity and critical thinking skills are promoted through hands on projects that inspire discussion. Project ideas come from the children's interests and are tied into the Ontario curriculum expectations.