Reggio Approach | Art & Creativity in Early Childhood Education

I just had the good fortune to attend an inspiring BJE Early Childhood Institute hosted by Adat Ari El Synagogue in Los Angeles. I was completely mesmerized by Adat Ari El’s classrooms, which were full of life and color, and clearly reflected engaged learners. I found great pleasure and inspiration from their use of art and the way children responded to their open ended approach to creativity. Check out these colorful examples:

Their ECE Director, Beryl Straus, explained to me that Adat Ari El has been slowly incorporating Reggio Emilio principles into their curriculum for seven years. Adat Ari El preschool is known in LA as one of the places to schedule a site visit if you want to learn more about the Reggio approach to learning. But Beryl pointed out to me that their Reggio inspired program didn’t happen overnight – that their curriculum is always in a fluid state of change, adaptation, and improvement. They have an “Atelier” (art studio) and an “Atelierista” (art specialist) – how exciting! But each of their teachers also incorporates art in their classroom daily, and they share ideas and materials with Tali Soffer, their Atelierista. Adat Ari El preschool is a truly engaging environment and I’m happy to share photos from their Atelier and classroom art here, by video clip. Most of the artwork shown here uses Liquid Watercolor, one of my favorite paints. I found Liquid Watercolor being used in every classroom, with beautiful results.