Last fall, five teachers at APS joined an international research project with the California International Reggio Center (CIRC) that wondered “How do today’s children draw?”   Over the course of the year, we have observed children’s mark-making and collected drawing samples, attended seminars with Vea Vecchi and other Italian educators on teaching and learning, and met as a group onsite every month to compare observations and grapple with new questions.  One big question that has emerged...

My second child just finished  two years  in the infant-toddler program at APS. She bonded deeply with her teacher Margarita, or Mago, as she is called at school. My own first job in early education was in a “baby room,” where at 23 I was a primary caregiver to three infants. I developed deep bonds with my babies, and was even inspired to name my first daughter Frances after one. But more enduring than the bonds I developed with the babies were my relationships with their parents. Mago...

Curriculum happens in the relationship between teachers and children as they share their days together over time. At APS it’s not about teachers bringing a set of activities and sharing them. It’s not about stepping back and just observing children without adding our own feedback. It’s somewhere in the middle. In Reggio it’s called Negotiated Curriculum. At the beginning of the year, much of the curriculum for two year olds happens as adults move in partnership with children through...