Customer Reviews

Working in the Reggio Way: A Beginner's Guide for American Teachers

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As someone who has been to visit the schools in Reggio Emilia and has studied the Reggio Approach with a large group of co-learners, I have to say that I find this book very disappointing in its ability to explain the municipal infant/toddler and preprimary schools of Reggio Emilia in a way that remains true to what they are. Granted, the task of explaining is very difficult given the huge and fundamental differences between the Reggio Emilia schools and the early childhood programs in the United States. Even so, there are much better resources for those interested in learning about and applying ideas from Reggio Emilia. Try "The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach Advanced Reflections, Second Edition" or "Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners." These two books remain true to what Reggio is. They, in a sense, translate ideas from Italian into English instead of translating ideas from Reggio into American, which is the mistake made by the authors of "Working in the Reggio Way." While the two recommendations I have given are considerably more expensive than "Working in the Reggio Way" and considerably more challenging to read, the money you pay for the book and the time and effort that you and your co-learners put into understanding Reggio represents an intelligent and lucrative investment that will pay off greatly for you. There is no shortcut to Reggio. Any book that claims to be for beginners or to be easy or is offered cheaply should be approached with great caution, and will most likely lead the reader through familiar American paths of early childhood rather than truly transporting her across the seas to the Reggio Emilia experience.

I bought this book after it was recommended in a professional mentor group as a great resource for making authentic changes in individual settings. I found the book to be engaging and easy to read. The suggestions are very practical and respect the individuality of each school site that may use the book. I found the book to be completely process oriented and made me much more aware of the history and thinking in Reggio than other sources I had consulted before. I love that is it a first person account and not based on distant research but original research. I would recommend this book for anyone looking to begin the process of change in their school.

I have had the pleasure and opportunity to have had Ms. Wurm work as my program's consultant this year. Reading "Working in the Reggio Way A Beginners Guide for Teachers" really brings all of the theory and practice that Julie Lives, Walks and Breathes! I found this book to be "People Friendly" and a hard one to put down! This book really empowers ECE teachers in creating our own "Reggio Way" here in the states. It's also a book which reminds us to place children first.

I recently came back from a Teachers conference and took a class on Reggio style. The teacher recommended this book, since I enjoyed the class I bought the book. THIS book is the only Reggio text that I have found that actually gives me ways to use this method of teaching in my classroom. I don't want page after page of how it worked somewhere else, I want to know how I can make Reggio-style WORK in MY classroom. This book gave me those tools.

I ordered this book after discovering that the company that I work for was trying to implement a Reggio inspired approach. This book has been a wonderful resource for me. It has explained how Reggio works in the classroom, and has given me many ideas of how to implement small but effective changes in my own classroom.

I recommend this book for anyone who is tired of the same old tired curriculum, who feels like they do the same tired stuff day in and day out, who feels like they don't enjoy their job any more. Reggio will help you connect with the children in your classroom on a whole new level, and this book will help you begin on your way to making that happen.

Reggio, in the broadest sence, can be used in any classroom, simply by allowing children (or adults) to learn by discovery.