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RIVET Project Updates
Chittenden County Project (2024 - present)
RIVET was awarded a Building Bright Futures grant to collaborate with five Chittenden County Early Childhood programs: Burlington Children's Space; Pine Forest Children's Center; King Street Center; Family Room; and Burlington Forest Preschool. RIVET has begun meeting with teachers over the summer to describe the project and to invite their participation in the study of the values, principles and pedagogical implications of the Reggio Emilia Approach in their contexts.
Montpelier Children's House Project (2024 - present)
RIVET is excited by the prospect of working with the teachers and administrative team of the Montpelier Children's House this fall. Adapting the framework developed in Addision County, this project will include in-person and on-line presentations, site visits and zoom sharing/discussion groups.
Addison County Pilot Project (2023-24)
In the fall of 2023, RIVET was awarded a Landon Grant to initiate a pilot project in three early childhood programs in Addison County: Mary Johnson Children's Center; Addison County Parent Child Center; and the Bristol Family Center. The goal of this project was to develop a professional development program that result in hubs of study and practice where teachers and administrators explore the values, principles, and pedagogical implications of the Reggio Emilia Approach in their unique contexts. The hubs are meant to serve as resources to local early childhood programs, educators, families, administrators, and policy makers.
This project commenced with a session that introduced the values and principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach. Over the course of the grant period, RIVET "documentarians" visited the program classrooms and then met with the teachers to review and discuss the recorded observations. Within a month of these visits, zoom meetings were scheduled during which teachers shared subsequent observations with each other and discussed ways to build experiences based on teachers' theories about the children's intent. Sessions were also offered which focused on observation strategies and the role of the teacher as researcher. (This format is in the course of being reviewed and refined for implementation in the following projects.)
On June 1, 2024, teachers from the project shared their and the children's experiences at a RIVET Saturday morning gathering. It was a joyful and nourishing celebration of children and teachers as co-learners and co-researchers!
While the funding period is about to draw to a close, RIVET and Mary Johnson Children Center will continue to collaborate and to invite other early childhood programs to join us in the study and practice of the Reggio Emilia approach.
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