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8 | Early Childhood Education and Care Department EARLY CHILDHOOD APPROACHES There are many philosophies, methods, and approaches to early childhood education and care, and better understanding them will help you decide what best fits your family’s needs. Child care providers will often advertise which philosophies/methods they use. Below are brief descriptions of some of the most common: Bank Street/Developmental Interaction: This approach focuses on the child as they are presented with opportunities to make meaning in their world. Children are prompted to engage with the social and physical aspects of the environment in order to gain more understanding. The educators are the facilitators that connect the children to the real-world environments and opportunities. Faith-Based: A faith-based child care program may provide religious instruction or impart values that reference faith in their curriculum. Some faith-based early childhood programs may not provide specific religious instruction but may operate under a mission aligned with their faith or religious culture. High Scope: High Scope is an early childhood approach that views children as “active learners” meaning that they learn best from activities that they can plan, carry out, and reflect on. The educator’s role is to help the children learn to make choices, solve problems, and engage in a variety of activities by engaging in conversations and supporting children’s plans. Montessori: This approach is highly focused on environment and materials paired with structure and routine. The Montessori method encourages independence and often includes practical activities such as sweeping or personal care. Children are given choices within limits of a variety of tasks and activities prepared by educators. The Project Approach: In this approach, students are engaged in selecting their own real-world topics to explore and determining a project to demonstrate what they’ve learned. A project may be short-term or long-term depending on the level of children’s interest. Reggio Emilia: This approach takes its name from a city in Northern Italy and has its roots as far back as the end of World War II. In this approach, families are actively involved in helping their children thrive and contribute to community learning, and the environment is seen as the teacher. Reggio Emilia uses a project approach based on child inquiry. Waldorf: In this model educators create the classroom and the curriculum around the children. This is a play-based approach which focuses on children’s interests, and acceptance of each child. A Waldorf approach provides opportunities for exploration through play as well as consistent and predictable rhythms and routines throughout the day, week, and year.