A beautiful description of the Diana Municipal Reggio Preschool, made by some 5 and 6 year olds in 1993

    

This is absolutely gorgeous.

Here are a few (of my favourite) excerpts from a pamphlet ‘Advisory’ made by some five and six-year-olds at the Diana Municipal Preschool for three-year-olds who are about to enter:

“It’s the most beautiful school in the world to us. The way you get there is always the same, and when it’s no more a new way to you, that means that you know it.”

Map of school and park

“As soon as you go into the school you’ll see mirrors shaped like small triangles. If you get into it and look, it makes you see thousands of yourself. Don’t be scared though, because it’s only you that the mirror makes so many. Your picture makes many pictures just like you, but if you get out of it, it’s always you only.”

“As you get in, just past the hall, turn right and you’ll find the classroom of the three-year-olds. There are some green tables there, and you’ll find, right straight, another door: if you find it unlocked, you can go into the courtyard. There is a blue carpet and three ladders fixed to the wall: you can climb them and then you can throw yourself down those ladders!”

Indoor garden

“There are two small gardens in the school. We call them gardens of beauty. They show some things of nature. You can see the sky and trees come out of the roof.”

“If you are a little sad, you can take a look at the gardens and you’ll cheer up.”

Tree house

“The tree house is up there, just before your eyes. You must be careful when you use it because if somebody moves too much on the rope bridge, he may fall. It’s very adventurous. You feel very scared at first, then you get used to it.”

What a fantastic insight into how children perceive (and own) their early learning environments!

(From: Children of Reggio Emilia. “Children in Reggio Emilia Look at Their School.” Children’s Environments 1993, 10(2): 39-45.  Retrieved [16/03/2012] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/.)