Fulton Community School & Farm

A Study Tour to Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia is a place. Their practice is fundamentally grounded in their culture, their context, and their way of life. It has emerged and changed over time, but still holds true to what they believe: that children are profound and deserving of rich, responsive, dedicated spaces and educators. This image of the child, seen as capable, deeply intelligent, and worthy of our fullest attention, is not unique to Reggio Emilia. It is a truth that all of us who work with and love children should carry.

What I witnessed was a deep, abiding connection to children and a profound sense of responsibility to them. Every detail of every space and action communicates that children’s thoughts matter, that their ideas have weight, and that the adults around them are paying close attention. Environments are designed as places of research, where questions are welcomed and curiosity is treated as serious intellectual work. Nothing is incidental. The documentation covering the walls is not decoration; it is evidence of careful listening, a platform that says your thinking was seen, recorded, and honored. Planning flows from children outward, shaped by what educators observe, what children wonder, and what the community holds as meaningful.

I walk away knowing that no one outside of Reggio Emilia can truly experience a Reggio school. However, we can be deeply inspired and honor their view of children and the importance of this time of life. We must look at our own context and think critically about what that means to us. True inspiration asks us to go deeper, not just borrow the look of something beautiful, but to understand the beliefs underneath it. We must elevate the image of the child, see them as competent, capable, deserving members of our community, know that they are researchers, and give them a rich, inquiry-based environment that honors the genius and gift that they are. We have the privilege to research alongside children and be taught by them.

Thank you for the opportunity

The Spark of Initiation

The Self-Directed Inquiry

This research project didn’t begin with a prompt or a prepared invitation. It began with the child as the protagonist. After working with red paint, she brought her own history to the water table, initiating a transformation that was entirely her own. She didn’t just wash her hands; she launched a deliberate investigation into how pigment behaves in a new medium.

An Open Invitation

Because the environment is a “third teacher,” it allowed her initial spark to become a communal one. There was no adult direction needed for the second researcher to join. He was drawn in by her focus and the vibrant shift of the water. Together, they entered a self-governed negotiation of space and tools, proving that the most profound learning happens when children are given the agency to follow their own “What if?”

The Sensory Truth

Their conversation about the cold water was the raw, honest dialogue of scientists in the field. They weren’t performing for an audience; they were authentically immersed in the sensory truth of the moment. From the “scoop and pour” rhythm to the shock of the chill, every second was a testament to the power of child-led discovery in the log yard.

Go outside. 🌿

In the middle of Santa Rosa, Taylor Mountain Regional Park rises quietly above the city. More than 1,100 acres of oak woodland, grassland, and winding trails offer a place to slow down and remember what this landscape has always been.

This land is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded homeland of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples, who stewarded these ecosystems for thousands of years. The living presence and resilience of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and other Indigenous communities continues today.

Time outside changes the body and the mind. Research shows that green spaces lower stress, support immune health, and help regulate the nervous system. But the deeper gift is attention.

The scent of California bay in the warm air.
Wildflowers scattered across the hillside.
Wind moving through the oaks.

Small details that remind us this landscape is alive.

Access to nature is a gift.
Caring for it is the responsibility that comes with that gift.

Step onto the trail.
Look closely.
Go outside.

The Reggio Emilia approach recognizes the child as a natural researcher. This process is a sophisticated display of neuroaesthetics. It involves the brain’s ability to perceive a stimulus in the natural world and replicate its exact frequency through a different medium.

Matching the paint to the plants almost perfectly requires intense neural firing within the occipital lobe and the prefrontal cortex. This is a complex cognitive map where the child is analyzing hue, saturation, and value against a living specimen.

The eye for beauty is a biological imperative. By using the environment as the third teacher, these children are strengthening the synaptic pathways responsible for observation and fine motor control. They are proving that the brain is wired to seek harmony and patterns within the natural world.

Did you know?

• Neuroplasticity: Children have nearly double the neural synapses of adults, allowing them to detect subtle color harmonies and patterns that we often overlook.

• Chromatic Sensitivity: A child’s visual system is highly tuned to the high-contrast yellows and greens of spring, which stimulates the release of dopamine in the developing brain.

• Biophilia: This “eye for beauty” is actually a biological survival mechanism called biophilia, our innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.