Philosophy

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 student’s 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 student’s learning progresses through the student’s involvement in long and short-term projects, which develop out of first-hand experiences and the child’s 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 student’s 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 child’s 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.

If you would like to learn more about how this exciting and beautiful school works, please contact our office at (512)326-4545 or michelle@olivetlc.com. Schedule a tour for Tuesday at 9:15 am. We can’t wait to meet you!

Philosophy

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