Montessori, Waldorf and Reggio Emilia

While LearnGarden is a modern approach to learning, its philosophical foundations are built from components of the European methods known as Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia. Most of us are familiar with Montessori, where students learn in a hands-on fashion at an independent pace.  Waldorf promotes teamwork and social consciousness. Reggio children work collaboratively on complex long-term projects in a setting rich with tools and materials.

These models all share a common set of beliefs about children and learning.  Our children naturally want to be more complex, more sophisticated, and more able.  We need only provide the tools, the experiences, and the questions.  For a full comparison of these three European methods, see this article.

We welcome your photos and comments relating to any of these three models!