TerraNichol Academy of the Arts
Weekly Blog October 21st-25th, 2019
Learning Labs
We began our "Where the Wild Things are" Project Friday. It's no surprise our Where the Wild Things are project has become a hit with students. From acting out the story to recalling important parts, to discussing real vs pretend. Next week we will begin creating and designing our very own Wild Things crowns. We will be fully immersed in the literary adventure. It is amazing the places a story will take you!
In the art studio, students were introduced to Collaging.
Creativity and Process Art
To encourage creativity, we want students to investigate and try their own ideas. We offer process art projects, projects that do not have a certain end-result in mind. The materials can be used in a variety of ways. When offering a project like collaging exploration, we keep creativity in mind and allow children to explore as they choose. They may want to paint create a collage and then paint on top of the collage or paint a background. We encourage their creativity. Process art is focusing on the process instead of the end result. It’s encouraging children to explore their own ideas. However, that does not mean that we cannot provide some new ideas for children. We don’t insist that the children do it “our way.” We allow them to be creative. We are always surprised at the results.
As our pet and animal theme comes to a close we are pleased to announce that all of our pets in our rescue center have been adopted. Isabelle placed the last puppy "Poppy" in her forever home with Miss Terra this week! Thank you to all of the hard-working volunteers and veterinarians at the Rescue! We even had some big hearts adopt our cow and lamb that needed a forever home!
Our two workshops kept us busy this week as students participated in the Art Gallery enrichment workshop in collaboration with Pure Imagination creating a mosaic plate for the annual art gallery showcase in the Spring and a garden workshop watering our garden and documenting the growth.
Our Annual Art Gallery Showcase is our biggest school fundraiser Funds are to continue and support our visual and performing arts program. "ART FOR OUR SAKE". PRIVATE INVITATIONS WILL BE SENT OUT IN THE SPRING.
Ciao, Terra Tominelli~Founder
The Reggio Emilia Philosophy
The Reggio Emilia Philosophy is an innovative and inspiring approach to early childhood education, which values the child as strong, capable and resilient; rich with wonder and knowledge. Philosophy rides on the coattails of the innate curiosity of children and aims to assist them with understanding their world and who they are in it.
Started by parents in Reggio Emilia, Italy after World War II, the parents believed that a new better approach to teaching their children was required. The program they developed emphasized respect, responsibility and community involvement. Children are allowed to explore and discover in a supportive and rich environment, where the curriculum is created around the children’s interests.
So, what exactly is the Reggio Emilia philosophy? To help improve your understanding of this philosophy, here is a quick introduction.
First, It is important to realize that the Reggio Emilia philosophy is simply that – a philosophy. Education centers that are guided by it are not ‘Reggio Emilia accredited’ as there is no formal process for this. The philosophy simply guides the decisions of teachers in how they approach education.
To understand it better, it’s important to know the three core principles of the Reggio Emilia philosophy: the child, the environment, and the teacher.
The Child
The Reggio Emilia philosophy values the child as central to their own learning, not simply an empty vessel waiting to be filled with knowledge. Children are able to pursue their own interests and revisit and build upon ideas at their own pace.
You may have heard of something called the ‘100 languages of children’. This concept recognizes that children have multiple ways of thinking, playing, exploring, speaking and doing. The Reggio Emilia approach encourages children to use every tool they have to express themselves.
The Environment
A Reggio-inspired environment often referred to as ‘the third teacher’, is one that is open and free-flowing. It enables uninterrupted exploration, play, and learning. Outdoor spaces are valued just as highly as formal classrooms, and the design of the space should allow children to move freely between the two. In addition, it is important that children have free access to stimulating resources, as they cannot be the owner of their learning journey without this.
The Teacher
Teachers are encouraged to observe children rather than to direct them. It is important that children are allowed to experiment in their own way, make mistakes and find new solutions. The role of the teacher is to gently move students towards areas of interest to them, and this can only be done through careful observation carried out over time.
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is an integral part of education at TerraNichol Academy.
The Benefits Of The Reggio Emilia Approach
So how will your child benefit from this Philosophy? Below we have listed several factors that explain this:
1. Encouragement
Children in Reggio settings are active constructors of knowledge, who are encouraged to be ‘researchers’. Most of the educational experiences within Reggio take the form of projects, where children have opportunities to actively participate, explore and question things. There is also a very strong emphasis on the social development of children as part of the community and their relationships with other children, their families, and teachers.
2. Explorative
The Reggio approach starts from the premise that children use many different ways to express their creativity, understanding, and thoughts (the 100 languages). This perspective has been endorsed by many artists, who state that these different ways of thinking, exploring and learning are expressed through drawing, sculpting, music, dance and movement, painting and drama.
3. Problem-solving techniques
Children are given learning projects that provide extensive research opportunities, including real-life problem solving among peers, and opportunities for creative thinking and exploration. The children are placed in small group settings with projects that they work on are observed by teachers and the children are allowed to question the topic of interest. Then they introduce materials, questions, and opportunities that provoke children to further explain the topic.
The Reggio Emilia Philosophy has substantial benefits for students at TerraNichol Academy Of The Arts as they journey through their education and become confident and skilled individuals that can face the future brightly.
The TerraNichol Academy Way! Inspired by Reggio Emilia Approach.
Play-Based learning.
Drama Workshop.
Construction Play!
Robot Miller
All Animals adopted!
Dancing Feeds The Soul.
Spider 🕷 investigation!
Reggio Emilia Spider Project
Beautiful week engaged in Yoga Workshop!
We are dedicated to the practice of yoga as a tool for building and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through strength, flexibility, and body awareness, as well as satisfying the need for relaxation, stress reduction mindfulness and compassion and joy.
Namaste our little yogis!
Wild Rumpus THURSDAY October 31st.
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE PARADE
Calling all Wild Things for our Annual Wild Things RUMPUS!!
Inside all of us is hope, fear, adventure. Inside all of us is a Wild Thing.
Again this is optional and only applies to students who attend the program on Thursday.
This is an annual tradition for our school and the students love creating homemade costumes, crowns, and wands.
Tips for making DIY Wild Things costumes:
Costumes should be safe and free of any type of mask.
Cool for the weather. The white t-shirt and white shorts are affordable and cool. Upcycle an old white pair of shorts, skirt, old pajamas, or t-shirt.
Use fabric markers to decorate costume.
Browse Pinterest for DIY Wild Things Costumes.
Keep age-appropriate and simple.
Make it a family project on the weekend.
Let's make mischief of one kind or another. Let the wild rumpus begin!!
Our School Garden! Enrichment Workshop
There is many benefits to having a school garden.
- Vegetable Gardening Teaches Food Systems Ecology
- Exposure to Nature and Gardening in Childhood Shapes Adult Attitudes and Environmental Values.
- The style of learning that happens in school gardens, using direct contact with natural phenomena, is considered experiential, inquiry-based learning grounded in concrete experience.
- The present research shows that among published quantitative studies, science achievement, nutrition knowledge, and change in food behavior have been most frequently measured, preceding environmental attitude change, self-esteem, and life skills.
Environmental Stewardship
A school garden is a powerful environmental education tool. Through gardening, students become responsible caretakers. They have an opportunity to engage in agricultural practices on a small scale, learning about the responsibilities and impacts of land cultivation. They explore the web of interactions among the living and non-living players that sustain life.
Community and social development lessons do not receive the attention of academic achievement, but they are as crucial to the survival of our country as reading and writing. Children must learn how to take responsibility for their environment and develop a strong sense of community to ensure the continuation of our society.
Healthy Lifestyle Beyond academics, the garden provides broader life lessons including contributing to students’ knowledge of how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Taking care of the garden is hard work but teaches us how to love and respect the earth and enjoy all the wonderful foods that it can offer us.
"A garden is an environment in miniature, and to be successful a gardener must work in sympathy with nature."-Terra Tominelli-Founder
Pure Imagination Studio-Extended Enrichment
Students really sharpened fine motor skills as they worked their pincer grasp to place many tile pieces. Students were mesmerized by the concentration that this project merited. Miss Kristi shared that our students were very focused, excited and she was so impressed by their fine motor skills especially since she has done this project with many students some much older than our students! Way to go teaching team! All the fine motor projects are working!
Calling All Pumpkins
Mark Your Calendar!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
October
31st (TH) Wild Rumpus Parade This is a Regular School Day with a Typical School Daily Rhythm
28th-1st Usborne Book Fair
November
8th (F) School Closed for Teacher Professional Day
25th‑Dec.1st (M-F) School Closed for Thanksgiving Break
December
20th ‑Jan. 6th (M-M) School Closed for Winter Break
Special Days
October
4 The Love of Pets
25th International Artist Day
31st- Wild Rumpus
November
1st Cook for your Pet Day
8th-Tongue Twister Day
13th World Kindness Day
20th Universal Children’s Day
December
3rd Giving Tuesday
12th Gingerbread House Day
Shop our TerraSoul Eco-Friendly School Store!- Featured Products from BetterLife
Holiday Stocking Stuffers.
Upcoming Tour- Refer a friend.
TerraNichol Academy of the Arts Innovative Progressive Reggio Emilia Private Preschool
Come and Explore our Reggio Emilia program at TerraNichol Academy acclaimed for the stunning environments, their educators who create, provoke and dazzle the students senses, invite curiosity and discovery, and most importantly, foster strong, respectful meaningful relationships.
Come learn about the values for children in the program:
Being a home away from home
connecting children to their families
helping children to be powerful and active
being a steward of the natural world
seeing oneself as a capable learner
recognizing and being curious about
We provide a school environment that is beautiful and taken care of with an attitude of care so that parents, children, and teachers want to come to school every day.
It is with intelligent heart and courage that we continue our goals and vision to continue to proceed with the work of a child.
RSVP today!
We would love for you to attend one of the backstage tours on the following dates:
November 11th @4:30pm
December 9th @4:30pm
January 13th @4:30pm
February 10th @4:30pm
March 9th @4:30pm
April 13th @4:30pm
May 11th @4:30pm
June 8th @4:30pm
Submit a school application by visiting our website if you will be attending the Tour. http://www.terranichol.com/resources
Email: terranicholacademy@gmail.com
Website: terranichol.com
Location: 701 Old Englewood Road, Englewood, FL, United States
Phone: 941-474-3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerraNicholAcademyofthearts/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: @terranichol