Our Image of Childhood

The GREDC Blog

Elevating the image

Childhood is a time of infinite wonder and possibility that is also significant to the development of the brain and therefore the child and how they view the world.

We aim to create a space that young children can explore their interests, follow their curiosities, and learn about their world in an environment that empowers them to safely explore risk and be active participants.

Teaching and learning is viewed as a collaborative process where teachers can gently guide and support children by carefully observing their play, listening to their inquiries, and using these observations to facilitate their learning. This encourages the development of autonomy and cultivates a deeper understanding of their world.

We encourage children to put their theories into practice and continuously observe them in the process. This enables teachers to gain an extensive understanding of how each individual child learns and develops. It also also constantly evolves the teacher’s knowledge of early childhood.

The teacher acts as a coach and a researcher who will document their findings to share with colleagues, families, children and the wider community to elevate the image of the child as capable and competent learners who can be active contributors to society.

Blog Posts

A toddler's view of the Avventura classroom.
Audrey Hannah

A Toddler’s Point of View

Avventura were recently gifted an electronic “disposable” camera. This piece of technology has proven to be an interesting topic of discussion and exploration in the class.

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Lauren Huyck

Mentor Teacher

B.S in psychology and writing
A.A. in early childhood education
Teaching since 2010

My name is Lauren Huyck and I am the afternoon lead for the Scoperta classroom. I started as a teaching assistant when the center was still part of Aquinas in 2010. When we became the GREDC in 2012, I stayed on. In 2014, I was excited to accept the role of lead teacher.

I have a Bachelors in psychology and writing, and an associates in early childhood education. I am currently working on getting a Masters in psychology with a concentration in child development.

I love seeing the children grow and learn. There are so many developmental milestones that I get to see and experience. I fell in love with the Reggio approach and work to incorporate it in all my experiences with children. It has definitely taught me to treat children as citizens of the world.

I honestly could go on about how much I love the work I do and how passionate I feel about every child having quality care but that would take eons. So I will end with these two quotes:

“To take children seriously is to value them for who they are right now rather than adults-in-the-making.”

Alfie Kohn

If you trust play, you will not have to control your child’s development as much. Play will raise the child in ways you can never imagine.

Vince Gowmon