We focus on the child's interests, much like the Reggio Emilia pedagogy.  We observe and then document our findings in order to create invitations, also called provocations, for the children to explore. Each of our explorations is rooted in the seasonal changes that we observe on the farm, which allows us to continually engage in scientific inquiry.  We also explore art through process. We focus on the materials and cultivating a creative spirit rather than the product.  We focus heavily on play as well as establishing and maintaining relationships within our school family. Our teachers work to cultivate compassion in the school community as well as in our interactions with the world around us. 

 

Teachers incorporate the state standards and subjects into all aspects of this emergent, place-based, experiential pedagogy. Major goals include cultivating compassion, creativity, and critical thinking for our learners. Guided collaborative learning experiences include group problem-solving opportunities with intentional designs for specific problem-solving and communication skills and specific learning outcomes from teachers.

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When children at Lupine interact with the plants and animals on the farm, they have the opportunity to build relationships with the natural world. The philosophy at Lupine is a hybrid of humane, placed-based, and emergent pedagogies, and is rooted in the fundamentals of Reggio Emilia. The Reggio approach promotes “a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments.”

 

The Lupine Community School sets itself apart from other schools by utilizing the Reggio approach, offering this powerful teaching methodology to not only its youngest learners, but to older students as well. Humane education is a model of “compassionate curriculum” that draws connections between human rights, animal protection, and environmental sustainability.  Students learn to identify unsustainable systems and develop a “solutionary” mindset for problem solving (i.e critical thinking).  Children are taught in a democratic fashion, incorporating voting and developing rules and procedures as a group.

 

Our teaching and learning method values parents, communities, and the surrounding environment as critical components in a child’s education. Leveraging community relationships enhances the student experience. With our elementary school students, we will incorporate functional work as “solutionaries” in the local community and give the students opportunities for micro-economy lessons and experiences.