The Design and Development of YSA's Pedagogy and Curriculum

 

Young Scholars Academy was founded and designed on the premise that all children have a “voice,” a right to be heard, valued, and celebrated.

Continual professional development at YSA finds us studying and collecting data on various methodologies and practices. We read, research, and attend programs both nationally and internationally to expand our existing knowledge base. In so doing, we are then able to integrate new learnings as we conceptualize and pilot innovative programs.   

As a team, we discuss, debate, and massage the results until we are perfectly satisfied that our children will benefit. When a consensus is reached we adopt the best elements and incorporate it into our pedagogy and curriculum. 

YSA believes that each child deserves to learn in a way that enables them to best acquire information and new concepts. The children are encouraged and supported as their journey at YSA helps them to create a narrative that begins to allow their “voice” to  emerge and thrive. We respect each child’s thoughts, feelings, and abilities, and always celebrate daily milestones. 

We sought to align the basic (foundational) educational tenets of YSA with that of Reggio Emilia by doing research and attending various professional development offerings, studying best practices from the field, attending graduate school courses, and visiting the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre complex in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The aforementioned practices led us to identify the commonalities of philosophies, missions, and core tenets. 

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In July of 2019, I had the opportunity to travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy. I viewed and studied at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre during my visit there. Here are a few of the many sights and displays:

  1. One City, Many Children (the history of education in Reggio Emilia);

  2. Ray of Light Atelier (a place of research and experiment in which lights in its different forms can be investigated);

  3. Atelier and exhibition areas;

  4. The Library; and

  5. The Digital Landscapes Atelier

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 Children are active protagonists of their growth and development processes

“Children possess extraordinary potentials for learning and change, as well as extensive affective, relational, sensory, and intellectual resources that manifest in an ongoing exchange with the cultural and social context. Each child is the subject of rights, first and foremost possessing the right to be respected and valued in his or her own identity, uniqueness, difference, and in his or her own rhythms of growth and development.  Each child, individually and in relation with the group, possesses an ecological sensibility towards others and towards the environment, and constructs experiences to which he or she is capable of giving sense and meaning.”

 PRESCHOOLS AND INFANT-TODDLER CENTRES of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia