How the classroom is set up is very crucial. The environment is so important that it has often been referred to as the "third teacher". The layout of the classroom can encourage the children to learn by being able to interact with the space around them. The children also need to be able to feel comfortable and safe when they are in the class. Riggio classrooms are filled with a lot of creative items such as clay, pain, and writing implements. Children use these materials to represent the concepts in a hands-on learning experience. In the book
Bringing Reggio Emilie Home, Louise Cadwell says it best when she says:
"The importance of the environment lies in the belief that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through environments which support complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of expressing ideas."
I really enjoyed your presentation, especially this portion on how the environment is a teacher. There is no better way to learn than to try something. It is genius to set up a classroom that allows children to explore, experiment, and experience. It is something that I hope to incorporate into my classroom someday.
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