I am inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, letting kids come into a space open and curious, and discover a new material or idea, open ended and full of possibility.
Process oriented: Whether there is a loose project in mind or not, I believe classes should always be playful and fueled by the desire to explore. I enjoy those times when a project moves in a different direction, taking on a life of its own. These are moments for encouraging the creative impulse. When it comes to these moments of diverging from the “plan”, my daughter has been my biggest teacher. An area set up for some beautiful wet on wet water color painting once inspired her instead to mix alot of water with the paint, collect toilet paper tissue from the bathroom, and create a brown tissue paper mache to plaster her body with. I find these moments, well, messy. But also wonderful.
Sustainability: I try to source materials in a way that conserves resources and helps keep the cost of classes low. Some of my sources for materials include nature, SCRAP, donations, salvage yards and thrift stores.
Community: The Warehouse Community Room is a part of a grassroots organization devoted to community building. Many businesses are united under one roof, with the common goal of serving families and creating a neighborhood gathering place. I am excited to help build this community.
The Hundred Languages of Children No way. The hundred is there. The child is made of one hundred. The child has a hundred languages a hundred hands a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking of playing, of speaking. a hundred, always a hundred ways of listening of marveling, of loving a hundred joys for singing and understanding a hundred worlds to discover a hundred worlds to invent a hundred worlds to dream. The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred hundred hundred more) but they steal ninety-nine. The school and the culture separate the head from the body. They tell the child to think without hands to do without head to listen and not to speak to understand without joy to love and to marvel only at Easter and Christmas. They tell the child to discover the world already there and of the hundred they steal ninety-nine. They tell the child that work and play reality and fantasy science and imagination sky and earth reason and dream are things that do not belong together. And thus they tell the child that the hundred is not there. The child says “No way – The hundred is there.” Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini)
