The Local Environment is our Third Teacher
Here in the BestStart Te Whāriki Nursery we are on a journey of learning about the Reggio Emilia approach and how this looks in a Nursery environment of infants and toddlers.
This professional learning has reinforced to us the importance of using our natural environment as a third teacher. It is a great tool to spark whakatoi /wonder and curiosity which supports children to explore and learn as they develop their own working theories that help them to make sense of the world. We are so lucky to have such an amazing natural environment on our doorstep in Lincoln and we love exploring it with our children.
Our whānau and families also talk about the fun they have exploring the village in the weekend and it is wonderful to see the children’s faces light up when we are exploring with them and they see familiar landmarks, people they know and animals of interest. We bring these discoveries into our classroom environment so the wonder, curiosity and investigation continues. Loose parts, wall displays, books and music, table top provocations and the language we use when describing what we see the children doing are all ways this learning is enriched and the inquiring minds sparked to seek out more learning.
The Reggio Emilia approach compliments the RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) practices we use on a daily basis and we are passionate about ensuring children have the time, space and resources to explore at their own pace and make discoveries about the incredible natural environment right on our doorstep, something that we know is valued by our whānau and families.