Introductions- Kathryn

This is Kathryn, the other half of the Zach's Place team this year, Although Angelina is an accomplished artist, I don't tend to describe myself that way. I am a Montessori teacher who has loved and collected children's art for years. I am an admirer. Once of necessity, I left my primary classroom in the hands of another teacher for two months, and when I returned, was asked by a five year old girl if she could draw her picture yet. She had been told by the other teacher that she could only draw one picture a day. More important was the other work she had to do - learning to read, learning to write, learning how to do math. I was saddened that she had been told that, and saddened that she had accepted her fate.

The year after that experience, I became the Head of School at Children's Garden Montessori School, and began to read about the Reggio Emilia approach. I admit to great confusion and puzzlement about some of the things I read and saw, and I believe the Italian educators in Reggio Emilia would smile at that. Confusion, after all, is an important step in learning. For me, writing is one of the most helpful of Malaguzzi's "one hundred languages", so I not only read, but ended up writing as well.

Two years ago I wrote a Master's thesis entitled Montessori and Reggio: Exploring Possibilities. Partnering with Angelina as a co-teacher in Zach's Place is a way for me to explore possibilities. It will be, I know, a way for me to add other languages to my ways of understanding and exploring.