Greetings all, many of you had reached out requesting that we offer this series online. We have changed the dates and can now offer this series via Zoom.
A World of Words: Cultivating the Dialogues of the Classroom Part 1
Wednesday, May 22nd 6:30pm-9 pm.
Challenging Conversations Part 2
Wednesday, May 29th 6:30pm-9 pm.
presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi
A World of Words: Cultivating the Dialogues of the Classroom Part 1
Wednesday, May 22nd 6:30pm-9 pm.
In the immersive realm of childhood education, fostering meaningful conversations with children is not just about communication; it’s about building a world of words where language thrives as the third teacher. Come join Branches Atelier as we delve into this vital aspect of early learning, exploring the significance of dialogic speaking and reflective conversations, building community through dialogue, and supporting our teachers and children in embracing language as a fundamental tool for growth and understanding.
Key Ideas Discussed:
Dialogic Speaking.
Language as an aspect of the Third Teacher.
Reflective conversations with children.
The role that materials play in sparking dialogues.
Supporting colleagues and creating a learning community.
It’s not just about questions; it’s about curiosity! Conversations with children are more than just words—they are windows into a world of wonder, curiosity, and connection. By embracing language as the third teacher, engaging in dialogic speaking, facilitating reflective time and conversations, and supporting new teachers in this journey, we cultivate an environment where language flourishes, minds expand, and hearts unite in the joy of learning.
A World of Words : Challenging Conversations Part 2
Wednesday, May 29th 6:30pm-9 pm.
As adults in the lives of young children, many topics arise that we consider challenging. From death to gun violence, from exclusion and power play and challenging behaviors, we can often find ourselves at a loss for words. At the same time, these topics are wonderful opportunities to help children process and understand the complexities of our world and can offer amazing and rich threads to be explored.
Join us as we consider how to address and understand complex social and emotional issues in the lives of children. Build your toolkit as we reflect on the importance of creating a safe and inclusive environment, setting strong boundaries, and fostering emotional literacy and social awareness when dealing with both expected and unexpected challenges. Learn how to approach these issues with sensitivity, nurturing, and an open mindset, and to celebrate diversity and build connections among all people.
Key ideas discussed:
How to support students when they share personal experiences and emotions related to these topics, including sadness, anger, and frustration?
How to emphasize emotional literacy, social justice, and empathy in children’s education while still retaining joy, community building, and the delight of being in dialogue?
How to create a culture of curiosity?
How to difficult conversation can become lines of classroom inquiry?
As before, it’s not just about knowing what to say; It’s not just about questions, it’s about curiosity! Conversations with children are more than words— together, we cultivate an environment where language flourishes, minds expand, and hearts unite in the joy of learning.
Greetings all, many of you had reached out requesting that we offer this series online. We have changed the dates and can now offer this series via Zoom.
A World of Words: Cultivating the Dialogues of the Classroom Part 1
Wednesday, May 22nd 6:30pm-9 pm.
Challenging Conversations Part 2
Wednesday, May 29th 6:30pm-9 pm.
presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi
A World of Words: Cultivating the Dialogues of the Classroom Part 1
Wednesday, May 22nd 6:30pm-9 pm.
In the immersive realm of childhood education, fostering meaningful conversations with children is not just about communication; it’s about building a world of words where language thrives as the third teacher. Come join Branches Atelier as we delve into this vital aspect of early learning, exploring the significance of dialogic speaking and reflective conversations, building community through dialogue, and supporting our teachers and children in embracing language as a fundamental tool for growth and understanding.
Key Ideas Discussed:
Dialogic Speaking.
Language as an aspect of the Third Teacher.
Reflective conversations with children.
The role that materials play in sparking dialogues.
Supporting colleagues and creating a learning community.
It’s not just about questions; it’s about curiosity! Conversations with children are more than just words—they are windows into a world of wonder, curiosity, and connection. By embracing language as the third teacher, engaging in dialogic speaking, facilitating reflective time and conversations, and supporting new teachers in this journey, we cultivate an environment where language flourishes, minds expand, and hearts unite in the joy of learning.
A World of Words : Challenging Conversations Part 2
Wednesday, May 29th 6:30pm-9 pm.
As adults in the lives of young children, many topics arise that we consider challenging. From death to gun violence, from exclusion and power play and challenging behaviors, we can often find ourselves at a loss for words. At the same time, these topics are wonderful opportunities to help children process and understand the complexities of our world and can offer amazing and rich threads to be explored.
Join us as we consider how to address and understand complex social and emotional issues in the lives of children. Build your toolkit as we reflect on the importance of creating a safe and inclusive environment, setting strong boundaries, and fostering emotional literacy and social awareness when dealing with both expected and unexpected challenges. Learn how to approach these issues with sensitivity, nurturing, and an open mindset, and to celebrate diversity and build connections among all people.
Key ideas discussed:
How to support students when they share personal experiences and emotions related to these topics, including sadness, anger, and frustration?
How to emphasize emotional literacy, social justice, and empathy in children’s education while still retaining joy, community building, and the delight of being in dialogue?
How to create a culture of curiosity?
How to difficult conversation can become lines of classroom inquiry?
As before, it’s not just about knowing what to say; It’s not just about questions, it’s about curiosity! Conversations with children are more than words— together, we cultivate an environment where language flourishes, minds expand, and hearts unite in the joy of learning.
presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi
Unlock the transformative power of documentation and design in early childhood education with a three part workshop on documentation and design. This workshop is designed specifically for teachers and educators, this dynamic experience will equip you with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration to create rich and meaningful documentation, hone your expertise in observation, making children’s learning visible and revisit design concepts that emphasize these ideas.
Workshop Highlights:
Understanding Documentation: Understanding the philosophy and principles of documentation in our context.
Gain insights into creating visual tools that that foster curiosity, exploration, and collaboration.
Develop practical skills in observing children’s play and activities. Learn how to document these observations in a way that honors children’s unique voices and learning styles.
Visual Storytelling: Dive into the world of visual storytelling through photographs, videos, and written narratives. Discover how these tools can amplify the impact of your documentation and engage parents and caregivers.
Collaborative Learning: Engage in collaborative discussions and activities with fellow educators, sharing experiences, challenges, and success stories.
Build a supportive community of like-minded professionals.
Who Should Attend:
These workshops are ideal for educators, teachers, parents and administrators with children from infancy through early childhood. Whether you’re new to the Reggio Emilia approach or looking to deepen your understanding, this workshop offers valuable insights and practical tools that can be applied at home or school.
Saturday, February 10th, 2024, 9 am to 3 pm Cost: $110, includes light breakfast
Presented by Christina Bianchi and Patricia Hunter McGrath
Our new Branches Atelier workshop, Materials Literacy: Creating Strong Foundations, is designed for teachers, parents, and new atelieristas as a comprehensive introduction to the vital role of materials in early childhood education.
Rather than focusing on individual materials, this day-long workshop aims to deepen educators’ understanding of how to introduce new materials effectively, emphasizing the importance of caring for these materials as a fundamental aspect of their development into a language for children.
Together, we will explore properties and attributes that come into play when choosing materials to support children in making connections and building relationships.
Key Topics Discussed:
How are new materials introduced in the classroom? By delving into strategies for introducing new materials in the classroom, participants will engage in hands-on activities and discussions to explore the significance of the initial introduction, considering factors such as cultivating an inquiry, making age-appropriate choices, and fostering curiosity.
How is caring for the materials essential to becoming a language?
What is the difference between developing an alphabet of materials and accessing them to develop thinking?
What does a materials-rich environment look like at different stages of development?
Key Takeaways:
Participants will discuss a nuanced understanding of the role of materials in early childhood settings.
Develop strategies for introducing and caring for materials, emphasizing their significance as a language for children.
Highlight the difference between providing materials and using them to stimulate critical thinking.
Cultivate practical approaches to integrating materials into long-term inquiries were discussed.
Gain insights into creating a materials-rich environment that evolves with children’s development.
Join us for a rich and immersive adult experience, equipping ourselves with the tools and insights to create dynamic, engaging, and developmentally appropriate learning environments for young children.
2) Viewing The World Through Their Lens: A Journey Through Photography and Transformation
Saturday, February 17th, 2024, 9 am to 3 pm Cost: $110, includes light breakfast
Presented by Christina Bianchi and Patricia Hunter McGrath
Join Branches Atelier in an exploration of integrating photography into our experiences with young children.
This workshop delves into various vital concepts, offering participants a rich inquiry into how photography can be a powerful tool for both adult’s and children’s teaching and learning.
Key Questions:
How do you introduce the language of photography to children?
How do we take great photos?
How can photographs help to tell a story?
What is the language of creative photography, and how does this language support children’s imagination and relationships?
How is photography used to represent children’s ideas and uncover children’s theories?
What materials can we introduce to transform our images?
How does photography alter our understanding of the world?
How do we play with transformation through digital and artistic materials?
Key Takeaways:
This workshop will discuss practical strategies and the philosophical ideas underlying how we work with children to manipulate images, negotiate perspectives, and illuminate challenges. In addition to practical considerations, we will also reflect on strategies for fostering dialogue and encouraging children to articulate their thoughts and feelings about the images they encounter and create.
What was once primarily considered a tool for teachers, documentation in our classrooms has become an essential instrument for communication, storytelling, and creation in our classrooms.
Unlock the transformative power of documentation and design in early childhood education with a three part workshop on documentation and design. This workshop is designed specifically for teachers and educators, this dynamic experience will equip you with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration to create rich and meaningful documentation, hone your expertise in observation, making children’s learning visible and revisit design concepts that emphasize these ideas.
Workshop Highlights:
Understanding Documentation: Understanding the philosophy and principles of documentation in our context.
Gain insights into creating visual tools that that foster curiosity, exploration, and collaboration.
Develop practical skills in observing children’s play and activities. Learn how to document these observations in a way that honors children’s unique voices and learning styles.
Visual Storytelling: Dive into the world of visual storytelling through photographs, videos, and written narratives. Discover how these tools can amplify the impact of your documentation and engage parents and caregivers.
Collaborative Learning: Engage in collaborative discussions and activities with fellow educators, sharing experiences, challenges, and success stories.
Build a supportive community of like-minded professionals.
Who Should Attend:
These workshops are ideal for educators, teachers, parents and administrators with children from infancy through early childhood. Whether you’re new to the Reggio Emilia approach or looking to deepen your understanding, this workshop offers valuable insights and practical tools that can be applied at home or school.
We will start this workshop at the Mar Vista Farmers Market on Venice Blvdat 9am,
Then we will continue back at BranchesAtelier.
This workshop will include the cost of lunch that we will create together plus cutting board, knife, bowl and cruet.
Cost: $135 plus EventBrite fee
When we return to Branches participants will learn:
What is the language of food?
What are slow foods?
What are the techniques and tools of tasting?
How does the exploration of food extend and deepen children’s poetic language?
How is food integrated in other areas of curriculum?
How are different flavor combinations introduced to the children?
How are herbs and spices introduced to the children?
What is the current research on children and healthy eating?
How does our local community support the children’s connection to food?
What is an atelier of taste?
Who Should Attend:
These workshops are ideal for educators, teachers, parents and administrators with children from infancy through early childhood. Whether you’re new to the Reggio Emilia approach or looking to deepen your understanding, this workshop offers valuable insights and practical tools that can be applied at home or school.
Presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi.
Includes, silk and natural fabrics, beautiful sewing materials and breakfast.
Alterations and Alchemy: Re-imaginings in Fabulous Fabrics, Textile Transformation, and Stitch
Saturday, September 23, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. $135
Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi.
Includes, silk and natural fabrics, beautiful sewing materials and breakfast.
Unlock the magical world of textile transformation with Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi in our captivating workshop, “Alterations and Alchemy.” Dive deep into the realm of fabrics, textiles, and stitch, where you’ll discover the power of creative expression through printing techniques, the infusion of tactile textures into various art forms, and the fusion of textiles with natural materials, and exploring the interplay of textiles and light.
What to Expect:In this entirely new workshop, you’ll embark on a journey of artistic exploration and innovation.
Printing Techniques Extravaganza: Immerse yourself in a world of printing techniques, from the mesmerizing realm of Easy Natural Dyes to the intricate artistry of Stamps and Textiles. We’ll also delve into the whimsical world of gelli prints, where your imagination knows no bounds.
Texture Through Stitch: Discover the transformative power of stitch as we explore how it can add dimension and tactile richness to creations spanning various artistic mediums. Learn how stitch can be a bridge between fabric and form.
Textile Backgrounds for Mixed Media: Master the art of creating captivating textile backgrounds that can serve as the perfect canvas for your mixed media endeavors. We’ll provide insights, techniques, and inspiration to elevate your mixed media creations
Early Childhood Integration: Explore the potential of incorporating these innovative materials and techniques into early childhood settings. Foster creativity and tactile learning in young minds through textiles and natural materials.
Experimental Magic: Unleash your inner alchemist as we delve into experimental processes. This includes the enchanting world of Flower Pounding on Silks and Natural Fibers, where vibrant colors emerge like hidden treasures beneath your hands. We’ll also explore the use of translucent and transparent materials, as well as the incorporation of natural elements into your textile creations.
Fueling Curiosity, Wonder, and Renewal, Through the Environment and Natural Materials
TOMORROW Sunday, May 21st
We still have spaces in all workshops
WITH PATRICIA HUNTER-MCGRATH AND OUR BRANCHES TEAM OF EDUCATORS
May 21 through July 18th 2023
All workshops are onsite at:
Branches Atelier 11359 W Washington Blvd.Culver City, CA 90066
For more than 18 years, Branches Atelier has developed an innovative program using expressive media and materials as tools of the mind. We are happy to offer this series of workshops to deeply explore the essential role that materials play in children’s learning. Over six sessions, you will be introduced to the philosophy, techniques, and organizational strategies needed to create dynamic, creative, and innovative ateliers.
Unlike the traditional art studio that focuses on art production, ateliers are beautiful, creative spaces designed to support all areas of children’s learning and development from math, narrative, and science to creativity and problem-solving. Through the introduction of tools and techniques, you will discover how to use these amazing materials in your homes or classrooms with young children. We will explore how to organize these materials and create ateliers for a wide range of diverse settings and around specific concepts from classrooms to homes, sheds to shelves, both indoors and outdoors.
We invite you to attend all or any combination of these workshops.
Fueling Curiosity, Wonder, and Renewal, Through the Environment and Natural Materials
Sunday May 21th 2023 9am to 3pm
a hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi
$100 Includes Breakfast
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ― Rachel Carson
Now, more than ever, our approach to the environmental design and materials in our schools and classrooms must reflect our role in creating a restorative, responsible relationship with the natural world.
How do we support wonder and curiosity rather than only relying on algorithms for research?
How are the values of the school reflected in the environment?
How to delight in the unpredictable alive in our classrooms? How do we support the use of multiple symbolic languages?
How do natural materials enhance learning environments and connect to the curriculum? How do we create classrooms that support a worldview of environmental stewardship?
How do we support children in seeing themselves as a part of the natural world?
What can we do to make visible our interdependence with all living things?
How has our yard been reimagined as an outdoor atelier?
What design elements support engagement, imagination, integration, and experimentation?
Join Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi as they explore these questions through the lens of their work at Branches Atelier.
Integrating Felting into the Classroom and Curriculum: A Hands on Exploration of Fiber
Saturday June 10th 2023 9am to 3pm
a hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Branches Staff
$135 Includes Breakfast, wool roving and silk fabric
Join us as we explore the wonderful world of felting and fibers. Together we will learn,
How is fiber introduced into the classroom?
What are the techniques of felting?
What is wet felting?
How does the use of felt expand and extend curriculum?
How do we support the use of multiple symbolic languages?
What is the alphabet of felt?
What is nuno felting?
How can wool roving be introduced as a material for story and narrative?
How can we make children’s ideas visible through fiber work?
Pastels and Watercolors
Saturday, June 24th 2023 9am to 12pm
A hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Branches staff
$70 Includes Breakfast
“Because watercolor actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art.” – Nita Engle
When considering which materials to introduce, the fluidity of these materials and the nature of the relationship between gestures and lines make these materials ideal for supporting a class of individuals in becoming a collaborative group. The creation of initial color palettes with an eye for how these materials can be combined and layered helps draw children’s interests over long periods of exploration.
How are pan pastels, oil pastels, and watercolor media introduced to the children?
What are the tools and techniques offered to the children?
How are the materials used to represent children’s ideas?
How are these materials used to support narrative and communication?
How are they combined to create new possibilities?
Mixed Media: Bringing the Materials Together
Saturday, June 24th, 2023, 2 pm to 5 pm
Presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Branches Staff
$75includes a canvas board, collage papers, and acrylic textures
“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse
Join us while we explore the possibilities of layering and collage. Combining many different materials and media is a powerful tool for representation and meaning-making. Mixed media can support stories and narratives, scientific thinking, and problem-solving. Its power lies in the ability to endlessly combine and layer different types of materials to create theories, ideas, and new ways to communicate. The potential of different combinations of media invites us to reconsider our perspectives over and over again.
What are the techniques of mixed media?
How mixed media supports literacy?
How is mixed media used to represent children’s ideas?
How is the layering of materials introduced to the children?
How does mixed media become a tool for reflection and collaboration?
Included in the cost of this workshop is a canvas board, collage papers, and acrylic textures
Creating a World of Colors: Palettes that Connect us to our World
Saturday, July 8th, 2023, 9 am to 3 pm
A hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Branches staff.
$135– includes, Breakfast, a Color Wheel, paint recipes, a set of tempera paints, and paint cups to take back to your classroom. Participants will also create a paint recipe book that can be used as a tool to create beautiful palettes throughout the year.
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keefe
Tempera Paint can be mixed in an infinitely nuanced palette, but how often do we end up creating colors that represent the vitality, diversity, and beauty of the natural world?
Join us as we consider how we can use this resource to bring attention to the richness of the environment, including:
What are the tricks and tips to creating a wide range of beautiful palettes?
What are the techniques of paint mixing with children?
How can color support children learning?
How can a wide range of paint colors support children’s connection to nature?
What is the difference between a tone, hue, shade, and tint?
How can paint and color support literacy and poetic language?
Included in the cost of this workshop is a Color Wheel, paint cups, and paints that participants can use to create a personal palette that can be taken back to their centers.
Light, Shadow, Transparency and Color.
Tuesday July 18th 6pm to 9pm
A hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath and Branches staff.
$65
What kind of provocations can you set up on a light table?
How can shadow be used to explore scientific inquiry?
How can light and shadow be used to support story and narrative?
How can the overhead projector be used to create dramatic, magical immersive environments?
How to we introduce transparent materials to the children?
What kind of materials can be used with a light table?
Nearly 23 years ago, I attended my first Reggio conference and visited the schools of Reggio Emilia. That conference changed my life in so many ways. There would be no Branches if I hadn’t visited Reggio. There would be no Reggio-inspired infant or toddler programs. I wouldn’t have learned to listen to children and believe in their good ideas. Imagine schools with no ateliers, no hundred languages to inspire and make children’s learning visible, and no view of children with challenges as having special rights to be included, not special needs that push them aside.
Imagine a school where teaching is only a job, not a passion. I could go on and on. I learned so much, it changed me, and I believe that the best way to inspire and support other educators is to come together to offer all teachers inspirational, professional development.
To carry on our commitment to providing continuing professional development for educators across the US. Next week, the West Coast Collaborative is excited to welcome back Tiziana Filippini and Loretta Bertani as speakers in our two day conference. I know they will inspire and provoke us through their questions, help us further our thinking, and help us think more deeply about the role materials play in children’s learning. Their presence connects us to a bigger whole and reminds us that the work we do in our classrooms every day – building relationships with each other, learning to listen with an open mind and heart, dreaming and creating different possibilities, sharing kindness and empathy, understanding, The Hundred Languages and the dreams of children – provides an opportunity for us to highlight equity for all children. It makes us shine brighter and gives us strength. We reflect on how we want all children’s education to be visible in our culture, that the children we educate today will help create our future. Maybe through education, we can change the way we are with each other.
So come and join teachers from across the US to reflect with us and be inspired by the work and ideas of young children. Visit our schools and help us build a dynamic Reggio-inspired community, one teacher, one child, one family, and one community at a time.
Exploring the Relationship between Materials and Learning
Featuring:
Tiziana Filippini and Loretta Bertani, Reggio Children
AND
The West Coast Collaborative:
Bright Start, Santa Barbara
The New School West
Branches Atelier
Growing Place – Lab School, Ocean Park, Marine Park
We invite you to join us for a multi-day, multi-site conference highlighting work with materials and the power of listening. You are welcome to attend one or both days. Due to the hands-on aspect of this event, space is limited and early registration is encouraged.
Tiziana Filippini is a pedagogista who collaborates with Reggio Children with regard to research, conferences, and consultancies in Italy and abroad.
From 1978 to 2015, she worked as a member of the Pedagogical Coordinating Team of the Instituzione – Preschools and Infant Toddler Centers of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia.
Tiziana is currently one of the curators of the new version, “The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred Languages of Children”.
In addition to her work with the municipality, Tiziana was part of the original research group of Making Learning Visible, a collaboration between Reggio Children and Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The collaboration resulted in a book, Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners, which became very well known in North American early childhood circles and all over the world.
Loretta Bertani is an atelierista in the Robinson Crusoe Preschools and Infant Toddler Centres, Istituzione of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia since 1996
Loretta graduated at Instituto d’arte (Art college) of Reggio Emilia. From 1991 to 1995 she worked as an educator with the municipality of Reggio Emilia in local education groups, an experience addressed to pre-adolescent age groups and to the support children with school difficulties.
Loretta collaborated with the theatre group “Teatro Gioco Vita” of Piacenza for designing and leading workshops on expressive languages and on shadow theatre addressed to primary schools, as well as for street entertainment events for children and youth.
Reggio Inspirations 