In 2019 I began training with Sally Haughey and Fairy Dust Teaching. I am poised to receive Wonder Teaching Certification in child initiated, PLAY based education.  

This training and the pandemic led to shifts in our environment and teaching style. Susan Gallagher who was our Director in 2019-early 2020 developed our programs to reflect this shift. At the same time Kathleen Gorroir was hired. She has an extensive Nature Explore education background. Together we worked to bring about change at Friendship Garden.

What philosophy do we follow?  The Waldorf Approach,  Montessori Approach, Project Approach or the Reggio Emilia Approach? Are we Nature Inspired, a Forest School or do we follow some other guiding philosophy? We follow the MA Standards and Curriculum Guidelines for early Education. We meet and exceed these standards by choosing from the above guiding philosophies. We are not formally trained in any philosophy but rather broadly trained in all early childhood education.

Friendship Garden is first nature inspired. We are training to be good stewards of the earth. We are learning IN nature, WITH nature and ABOUT nature. We are attempting to be a fully outdoor program. We are not 100% set up to do that yet but our vision is leading us in that direction. We have a lovely 1-acre wooded property with which to work with. Year-round shelter and a supply of clothing for equitable access to this program are in the works.

Secondly, Friendship Garden is Reggio inspired. Reggio Emilia is a community in Italy that as a whole is raising its children surrounded by beauty and child led investigations.  It is formally described as such, “this approach is a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments.” Children are honored as capable co-constructors of their learning.   Reggio is a way of thinking and being as an educator. The Reggio philosophy of early education is guiding our days at Friendship Garden where we are following the lead of the child and developing their interests. We can never be Reggio Emilia but we can be inspired!

Third, we are child led and play based. Our classrooms belong to the children. (We are working on this change!) The children’s interests are evident in the materials and room arrangement. The influence of the educator should be supportive and not overwhelming. The ideas belong to the children.

Finally, our focus is fostering relationships where collaboration, cooperation, self-sufficiency, imagination, self-assurance, and leadership bloom. We are developing artists, engineers, scientists, doctors, plumbers, and the like. We are creating an environment of mutual self-respect. Children’s voices matter, and they need to be listened to. Developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik suggests we are “gardeners not carpenters”. We are allowing children to bloom rather than building them. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!