The Olive Tree Learning Center

The Olive Tree is a Reggio-Emilia inspired learning environment. So what does that mean?

In 1991 Newsweek hailed Reggio-Emilia as the best early childhood institution in the world. We could not agree more.

The five basic tenets of this inspired curriculum include:

1. The image of the child: We view children as capable competent and powerful. It is important for children to have a balanced and secure sense of their social-emotional intelligence and growth. Once the social-emotional intelligence is respected our students cognitive development has a sound foundation to build upon. Our program focuses on providing our students with the platform for investigation exploration communication and understanding. Our students learning progresses through the students involvement in long and short-term projects which develop out of first-hand experiences and the childs theory of the world.

2. The view of the environment: The classroom is a place what is possible and to initiate creative thinking research and discovery. It is a place where theory is developed and ideas are represented (Brunton page 8). Our school utilizes this theory by cultivating a home-like environment where the children hold the responsibility for respecting their materials and classroom community. The environment is seen as the third teacher a place that exudes safety and exploration.

3. The image of the teacher: The teacher is a guide and a researcher on this early childhood education path. The teacher is a teacher-researcher a resource and a guide as they lend their expertise to our students. Our teachers listen observe and document the growth of the community and individual child in order to provide carefully selected provocations to excite our students learning capabilities. (Brainy Child) Our teachers work as a community to foster individual and group learning self-reflection and growth.

4. The view of the family: Parents are an intricate part of our learning community. We welcome the building of a community of inquiry for our students. Together we can build a rich sense of inquiry and theory within each individual student by collaborating together communicating and fostering a sense of safety and trust. We provide parent workshops parent-teacher conferences community building activities and direct access your childs learning experience.

5. Making learning visible: We love documenting learning processes! Our classrooms have private blogs with stories photos and some videos. Each child will graduate with an individual portfolio that highlights significant learning arcs special moments and captures the way your child learns. It is a beautiful snapshot into their school life. Documentation is a great process for students and teachers to stop slow down and reflect on what and how they grew throughout their time at The Olive Tree. Learning is a not a linear process but a process of construction growth reflection and reconstruction. Giving our students the time and space allows the learning process to have a stronger and deeper foundation for further learning and growth.

So how does The Olive Tree make all this work? For example in our primary classroom the children were interested in bugs. Now this poses a complex issue because entomologists list over 1.3 million species of insects! The guides asked the children to list what they already know about bugs and what they want to know about bugs. They reached a hypothesis and a focused research topic about butterflies and bees. In order to explore butterflies and bees the children researched the topic they built a vegetable garden grew butterflies from caterpillars parents students and teachers volunteered to plant edible and butterfly friendly landscaping books were made butterfly wings designed and the research goes on. Through this inquiry and exploration the students are learning about themselves how to communicate math and science skills are challenged stories were written and acted out and we built a thriving learning community.