I recently found an early K program for four year olds that uses the reggio method. I've googled it but anyone know or have experience with this method?
My DD's preschool used Reggio Emilia methods. We loved the school, but I don't know how much of that was good-match and how much was good-method. I know the atelier (art studio) was a big part of Reggio Emilia, and there was a lot of time devoted to structured, in-depth work in the arts. They also spent a lot of time outdoors, which I think was a school-specific thing, rather than a Reggio thing.
It was definitely a play-based school, not academic. DD's teacher identified her at the beginning of the 4yo class as one of the kids likely to be reading by the end of the year, but she wasn't - nor was there any pressure for her to be.
IMHO a 4yo going from non-reading to 3rd-grade-level reading says more about the 4yo than about the preschool - and I'd be leery of a preschool that said otherwise. (I'm thinking specifically of the academic program we looked at at another school, where 4.5yos were in the "3yo" class, having been asked to repeat the year due to lack of material mastery, and the kids in the 4yo room were silently doing worksheets at their desks.)
