About
Peaceful Heart Preschool
Wild Iris Class: Reggio Emilia-inspired Program with Miss Katie and Miss Celia
About Reggio-Emilia
The Reggio Emilia approach is a play-based, inquiry-led educational philosophy rooted in holding a strong image of the child — viewing children as competent, capable citizens from birth. There is a strong emphasis on honoring the “hundred languages of children” (infinite, diverse learning languages that children bring to the classroom) and on learning in community. In the Reggio approach, children and teachers are co-constructors of learning. We engage in long-term projects following the children’s inquiry, tackle real world problems that are relevant to the children’s lives, revisit documentation as a group to inform future learning, and build skills in advocacy along the way.
Reggio-inspired programs are deeply connected to their cultural contexts. In the Northern Rockies where we dwell, that means connecting to nature, to our local community, and to local Indigenous history, wisdom, and culture. As early childhood specialists, we view ourselves as cultural interpreters for young children. We believe that children of all ages are capable of navigating complex subject matter through inquiry and play, and it is our role to provoke and scaffold this inquiry in developmentally appropriate ways. Our mission, as a program, is to help young children connect to the natural world and to all living things through joyful inquiry.
Our curriculum is based on just being together in community. We learn about ourselves, each other, and our earth as we prepare food, clean up messes, and experience conflict. We slow it all down and feel in our bodies the stillness and connection. learn the art of solving complex problems and staying present
We create a space of connection and relationship above all else.
Mindfulness, Meditation and Yoga in the classroom
Peaceful Heart Preschool is focused on the education of the whole child. To balance our society's focus on "mental body", we strive to educate the Physical, Emotional and Energetic bodies. We are aware of our feelings and use them appropriately to ask for what we want, to communicate our experience to others and to make boundaries. We learn to sit still with ourselves in meditation to learn first hand "who we are" and how we feel beyond the mind. We practice awareness and empowerment of our "energy body" through concepts like a "magic magnet", imagining roots like a tree, and breathing love into our hearts, then out to others. Most importantly, I teach from the heart of my own yoga practice; from my intuition. Yoga simply means "union": When what you think, feel, say and do are all aligned. I sit in the stillness of my heart and listen carefully to the children in order to guide them. The classroom environment is one of integrity, awareness of self and others, truth, compassion and acceptance.
Yoga in a larger sense - beyond fitness
The world uses many languages to describe very similar experiences. The language of Yoga has "clicked" with me the most, so it is an organizational term I use. The translation means "union" or "yoke" and the evolving field of yoga is one of diversity, personal expression and constant evolution. I often ask, "what is your yoga?" as yoga to me is about finding an authentic and joyful expression of self that is truly your own.
Main Focus
Peaceful Heart Preschool's main intent is to share yoga and mindfulness as a way to promote joy, confidence, adaptability, resilience and grounded-ness. This is done through direct lessons and as part of everything we do, such as the way we guide conflict resolution, how we explore the world around us, and how we teach academics.
Academics
As a yoga school, we extend our yoga philosophy into how we learn as well. Yoga is about being “IN” our bodies and not just the mind. Our exploration in academics then is done from a whole body approach in which we use all of our senses as we learn. We use our 5 senses, movement, mindfulness activities and play to explore and learn letters, numbers, science and more. We follow the lead of the children’s curiosity in the moment and while we facilitate lessons and projects. Through these approaches we cover all of the conventional academics of preschool, helping your child succeed in Kindergarten, and, hopefully, keep their natural love of learning alive.
Play
We are a play based school. We spend a lot of time playing and we deeply respect the role of play in a young child’s education. We give children ample space to dive into all of the subjects of play that we’ve witnessed over many years of leading young children and we teach specifics when kids seem stuck, such as how to enter the play, how to be heard, how to listen and helping children create their own boundaries in a game. We emphasize the importance of clear, respectful and effective communication which we model and teach regularly, and it is during play that they get to practice it!
Natural World
Following the interests of preschool children, we will focus our extra lessons on the external and internal natural environments by studying the earth and its creatures (external) and our own bodies (internal). These are intimately connected in the study of Ayurveda (sister science to yoga): when we connect to the earth's rhythms and the wisdom of nature, we have greater health. We may explore rivers and blood vessels; roots and groundedness (focus, balance, steadiness); electricity and the nervous system; fire and the digestive system.
How does yoga in a preschool look?
As a framework for "yoking" together (working together) with friends to build community.
A way to experience the interconnectedness of body and mind as our children are growing up in a mind-dominated culture.
Demonstrating greater compassion for all things - self, others and the earth.
Teaching awareness of body, emotions and mind - thinking before acting and realizing where emotions live in the body and how to "move" them.
Strength, balance and flexibility practiced in the body also creates these attributes in all aspects of daily functioning.
How children express themselves is innately beautiful.
I teach and "hold space" from the heart of my own practice. Children learn through demonstration.
Immersion
Most importantly, a yoga based preschool means that the teachers are immersed in the study of yoga. That becomes the guiding force behind what we create - hence the children are immersed in the practice as well. Young children learn so much from us without words - by imitating and in an energetic sense, they develop their own body "frequencies" based on the vibrations around them. I also offer them a language to use to understand their inner workings from feelings to energy.
Intuitive Teaching
I teach from my experience with mindfulness, yoga and intuition. I have goals for subject matter and create experiences to reach those goals, then I allow the endeavor of learning to belong to the children. When they express interest in something, we follow it. I serve as a guide and a grounding force to hold space for their explorations. It is only through our own innate motivation that anything of value is ever accomplished, as it is with children. I offer the "answers" when they ask the "questions", rather than giving answers to questions they have not yet asked.
Emotional Awareness and Empowerment
Each yoga pose we do carries a lesson for life too - "Warrior" to feel brave, "Child" to feel nurtured and "Tree" to find our grounding and steadiness. We also have a new breath for each letter of the alphabet! These fun breaths are used as tools for different scenarios:
Peace breath, to feel relaxed: with an exhale, whisper the word "peace"
Laughing breath for releasing tension: inhale up tall and exhale with a loud "ha-ha-ha" and swipe the floor, folding forward
The "Quack Shake" is a way to shake off resentment: breathe in and exhale as you shake your body and say "quack, quack, quack" We do this because we've learned from the ducks, who shake their whole bodies after getting in a fight with another duck, rather than holding a grudge.
Movement / Body-Mind Connection
It also means that we move a lot! We use sign language and gestures that go along with letter sounds (animated literacy curriculum) and for communication, keeping the mind and body in sync. We practice yoga postures to increase body awareness, confidence, flexibility, strength, focus and coordination and to develop healthy brain development.