Learning Through Play

The Brown Play School curriculum is inspired by the highly regarded philosophy of the schools in the Reggio Emilia region of Italy.  The fundamental components of the Reggio approach are described below.

• All children have the potential to construct their own learning and are not simply empty vessels to be filled with knowledge.

• There is a strong connection between the home and the school, and the teachers and families work closely together to strengthen the children’s education.

• The school environment and curriculum are designed to foster an intrinsic love of learning.  The environment encourages activity, engagement, discovery, and use of a variety of media.  The curriculum is emergent, meaning it is child-centered, follows from the children’s interests, and allows the children to return again and again to a project to add new insights.

• The teachers collaborate daily to engage the children in long-term projects based on the children’s interests.  The projects are carefully documented, by the teachers, through observation and recording.  This documentation provides a window into the children’s learning and highlights for them the value of their thought processes and work.

• Children play in many ways. They play independently, each child engrossed in his or her own activity. They engage in parallel play, playing near each other and perhaps using each other’s toys, but not coordinating their play together. Children also play cooperatively, organizing ideas, roles, and scenarios for group play. As children age, they are capable of more cooperative, coordinated play.

• At Brown Play School, we believe all types of play are valuable in helping children grow, learn, and discover. Therefore, we provide ample opportunitie s for children to play independently, in parallel, and cooperatively.

We believe, and research suggests, that, as children play with each other, they begin to learn about empathy, kindness, and understanding another’s point of view. They also develop an understanding of the customs and rules of their culture and an appreciation of the customs and rules of other cultures. Through play, children develop their muscles and coordination. Through play, children learn to use language in new ways to describe their play. We document our students’ insights by recording their words on paper. In this way, children learn that their thoughts and ideas are important. They also begin to learn how to recognize and perhaps write or read letters.

Each day at Brown Play School, children have hands-on opportunities to investigate and enjoy the world around them. In a language rich environment, students create imaginary landscapes in the block area; they explore roles in dress up play; they learn about numbers, the calendar and the weather in circle time; they create original, unique art in an array of mediums in studio; and they draw and write about their observations of their plants growing in the greenhouse.

Our teachers support children’s learning through play by providing space, opportunity, materials, and encouragement. We make sure the children have the time to choose their activity or play area and become engaged in it. Indeed, we allow our curriculum to emerge from the children’s interest. For example, one year students were interested in transportation. Out of this interest, we developed a project in which they counted the numbers and classified the types of vehicles that passed by on the road and then created those types of vehicles, out of cardboard, paint, and other materials, in the art area. With all of our projects and activities, our goal is to create confident young learners, who are ready and able to tackle new challenges.