Back To Their Roots: Elmhurst Academy Students Study Reggio Emilia Italy

As a Reggio Emilia inspired school, Elmhurst Academy is recognized for its commitment to shaping students as individual, life-long learners. Following WWII, educator Loris Malaguzzi and inspired parents constructed early childhood schools in Reggio Emilia that were dedicated to the belief that every child is capable, competent, and has the right to expand their own potential. With a curriculum that prompts children as architects of their education, students initiate projects through their own interests and passions. They also collaborate with the teachers who respond as “co-researchers” and immerse in their rich natural environment, inside the classroom and outside in their Nature Explore campus, to further promote in their self-discovery and personal exploration. At the forefront of the philosophy, children learn through one hundred different languages as they express their thoughts and ideas in many ways. Elmhurst Academy students immerse in these different languages through a dynamic collection of enrichments that include creative dance and movement, foreign language, technology, environmental science, and music. Students thus are provided with opportunities that develop as intellectual problem solvers, abstract thinkers, and cognitive learners.

Throughout the first month of school, each classroom will study the many facets of Reggio Emilia Italy through “virtual” tours, hands-on activities, meaningful provocations, and special visitors. From color mixing with the hues of the Italian flag, to working clay as they re-create some of Italy’s famous architecture, the students begin their global studies with age appropriate lessons that foster their creativity and learning.