The Environment

Today, September 2nd we are starting our new school year here at Aspen Leaf Preschool. Last week all the teachers worked hard setting up new rooms and getting ready for exciting new beginnings!
My little friends and I are facing some changes. Our classroom is in different room now ( I had to switch rooms with another teacher Miss Erin since in my old room there is a little bathroom and now Miss Erin will have the two year olds since her children all moved to kindergarten). I am staying with the same group of children who are now 3 and 3.5 years old but we will be getting few more children sometime soon. I also have a new co-teacher Miss Susan! I am very excited to have her as my partner as she is also passionate about Reggio approach and I know that together we will make a great team!

In this post I am going to share my new classroom set up. In Reggio Emilia philosophy we believe that the environment is the third teacher. (Parents are the child's first teachers, teachers are the second teachers, and environment is the third teacher). The environment has a potential to inspire children, invite them to explore, discover and engage in play that leads to learning. Play is children's work. The space encourages collaboration and communication. Each area in our classroom invites at least two children to work together. Naturally children can choose to play/learn on their own occasionally but the classroom set up invites the children to share the learning process with one another. There are quiet areas such as book corner and writing center and also areas where a lot of collaboration and problem solving will take place such as block area.
There needs to be order of beauty present in the environment. Orderly presentation of materials helps children appreciate, respect, and use materials more intentionally. Space needs to be free of clutter, where each material has its purpose and place. Some other important elements of Reggio Emilia approach are natural materials that engage the senses, natural light and transparency which provoke wonder and sense of mystery, and open-ended materials that allow children to use their imagination and creativity.
When setting up our room Susan and I made sure to incorporate all those aspects of Reggio environment in our classroom. We agreed on important areas to divide the room into making sure the classroom feels homey, with touch of magic, lots of beauty and good flow.
We set up the science area by the window, where a lot of natural light will add to discoveries.

There is a little table with a mirror on top of which Susan placed natural objects to study and a basket filled with other natural materials such as sticks and dried leaves to study and observe. We also have magnifying glasses which scientists use very often to take closer look at the object of study. Next to the table is a sensory bin which at the moment is empty. We will let children help to decide what we should fill it with. It is very important to include children in decision making and follow their lead on topics of study. When children study topics that interest them they will more likely engage and learn. On the window we have couple of bottles filled with colored water. We call them sun catchers aka rainbow makers! From the ceiling we have two branches hanging which we decorated last year with dried leaves, colorful feathers, yarn and tissue paper.

Next to the science area is our book corner with two shelves for children's books and a basket filled with All About Me books which children have made with their families last year. Our Baking Book is also there, which I made to document our food making projects from last two months. There is a rug on the floor, with four pillows to sit down and make oneself cozy and a rocking chair. There is also a fabric hung from the ceiling at the end of the area to soften and add element of beauty.
Next we have our writing center:

The writing center is set up for two students at the time. We have a small table with two chairs, and to the left is a shelf with writing tools: color markers, pencils, rulers, different type of paper to write on, dry erase boards with markers. To the right, Susan taped the alphabet chart and number chart for children to use as a reference when needed.
On the other side of that shelve we have our block area:

In the block area we have wooden blocks as well as pine cones and logs. On top of the shelf are bins with toys available for children to include in their block play such as dinosaurs, jungle animals and bugs, and foam shapes. On the shelf next to it we placed more manipulatives and puzzles that children are welcome to bring over to the table to work on. My favorite item in this area is the rug! We got it at IKEA and it is perfect for this center, it makes me wanna pretend that I am a little bear walking around in the woods! I cannot wait to see children getting inspired by it and get busy in this great math area!
Then there's the art center:

The easel is by the doors that lead out to the porch. One side of the easel is chalk, and the other side has paper for drawing and painting. Susan placed the color chart at the top to inspire our little artists. On the other side of the table we have our art shelf with four shelves of art materials always available for children to work with: construction paper sorted by color, color pencils, markers, crayons, paint, paintbrushes, pastels, marker stamps, glue, popsicle sticks, paper pattern squares and a basket with paint samples for inspiration. And on the bottom shelf is a basket of scissors and a tray with paper for cutting.
Next to the art area, on the opposite side of writing center and block area is our dramatic play area:

At the moment we have a doll house and a little table with horses.
Lastly, there is a purple rug where we will have the circle time, meetings and large group activities. On the shelf by the rug we have some musical instruments, as well as, a basket with feathers and a basket with scarves that we love to use for movement and dance activities.
There are also two tables in the classroom.

The tables will be used for activities of all sorts, as well as for meal times.
The classroom environment is a reflection of children and teachers and I believe our room does its justice! The areas are permanent but we need to stay flexible once we start our school year. We may find we need to make changes to accommodate our young learners. This is also only the start and with time we will add and change the materials to match the interests of children and units of study that will be taking place.