This year I am studying a post grad education degree  and it is simply wonderful.

In the last week I was writing a paper about emerging literacy in the home and stumbled upon a beautiful article about the notion of Reggio Emilia’s looking for “Extraordinary in the ordinary” when observing and documenting children.

Oh how this idea literally sings to me.

I have been applying this phrase to all I do, with children in particular, to observe and delve deeper into the learning that is inherently occurring.

Here is one beautiful example from our Foodie Nature Play playgroup the other week. Look at the photo above.

 

The children lead me to look for bugs and insects in the pumpkin patch. What I observed from this with the Reggio Emilia lens is:

💚 the children felt comfortable with me and trusted me

💚 the children had an understanding that bugs like to hide and be near a food source

💚 the children had an understanding that we needed to be quiet to respect the bugs and not scare them

💚 the children understood that this was the pumpkin patch, not the zucchini plant, through leaf and vegetable identification

💚 the children knew that with the magnifying glass they were able to make the bugs appear larger

💚 the children knew to not touch the bugs until we could identify what it was.

So much extraordinary

 

Think about a snapshot in your mind, or perhaps look at a photo of your own children or the children in your care. What is extraordinary in their ordinary right now?

If you are on the Central Coast, NSW, we run a Foodie Nature Play playgroup each week during term. You can find out more information here or book your tickets here.

I also run a whole host of incursion around the Central Coast, Sydney and Newcastle, find out more information here, or flick me an email at mandy@littlepeoplenutrition.com.au