Early Childhood Center Reggio Emilia-inspired Pedagogy and Philosophy

As the laboratory school housed within the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at CSU, the ECC offers quality programming for young children, trains CSU students for careers in the field of early childhood, and provides opportunities for research related to children, families, and early childhood education. We are dedicated to working in partnership with families to ensure a quality educational experience for their children.

At the ECC, meaningful educational experiences are planned in a caring atmosphere to promote the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth of each child. We are committed to the idea that through the encouragement of self-expression and curiosity and through explorations of their own world (both at home and at school) preschool-age children develop a healthy self-image, a sense of responsibility and helpfulness, and learn problem-solving and decision-making skills.

The ECC is a Reggio Emilia-inspired school, providing an emergent approach to educating children that is play-based and child-directed. This approach strives to develop a learning community committed to the co-construction of knowledge in the context of collaboration between parents, children, and teachers.

The fundamental guiding principles of our Reggio Emilia-inspired Approach include

• The image of the child as competent and capable: In our Reggio Emilia-inspired approach, teachers and children explore, discover, and learn together.
• The role of the parent as integral: children, teachers, and parents are embraced as equally important components in the educational life of the child.
• Collaboration as essential: parents and teachers work together and value open lines of communication in the educational process.
• The environment itself is considered the “third teacher” and environments that allow for exploration and inquiry are considered optimal.
• The process of documentation: Documentation promotes open communication between teachers and parents, allows teachers to reflect upon their practice, and affirms to the children that their work and play are highly valued.