The Atelier Way
The Atelier is a learning environment where children and adults partner to construct meaning and explore the possible.
The Atelier offers learning programmes for children between 2 years to 8 years old.
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The programmes and curriculum at The Atelier have been designed for experimental learning. Children learn in various ways and communicate through a multitude of languages, as they seek to understand how the world works. Our effort is to help them connect the dots between what they see, observe, communicate and represent.
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The Atelier takes inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach to education.
An Emergent Curriculum
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Children learn best when their themes of learning stem from their interests and experiences. Our curriculum at The Atelier emerges from the interests of the children.
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An emergent curriculum is a whole child experience - involving the child in social, emotional, cognitive and physical realms of learning and development.
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The adults closely observe to understand what interests the children and create varied experiences to help them construct further knowledge, explore their interests, gain new perspectives, discuss and represent ideas and form new theories.
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These interests gradually take the shape of a project lasting weeks or months depending on the sustained engagement of the group of children involved in the project.
Our Image of The Child
We have trust in each child’s capability and their natural ability to be learners. We believe that children are active, competent, powerful, motivated to articulate, interested in exploring abstract and complex ideas, and seeking to co-construct knowledge.
We respect children, listen to them share and debate ideas and support them in defining a sense of purpose.
This relationship of trust and respect allows children to feel uninhibited and build their self identity.
The Atelier is the setting and stage for our protagonists, the children.
The adults here play the challenging role of moving fluidly from the role of set director to that of the audience.
The environment and materials are sometimes integral to the scene and sometimes a mere backdrop.
The script of the day evolves with the experience that the children bring in and the role they choose to play.
