The main points of the program
We aim to develop an educational space that is flexible and accessible to all, ensuring quality teaching focused on resolving societal issues and providing educational continuity with parents.
Our objectives
Approaching the common core of National Education differently
Our school’s curriculum follows the objectives of the National Education Common Core Skills, but these are approached differently: sensory, rational, and playful, particularly through the values advocated by Reggio Emilia & Montessori pedagogy. It is inspired by research in neuroscience. Our 3 objectives are:
01.
Develop an agile educational space to enable children to acquire confidence, autonomy, curiosity, a creative spirit, the pleasure of learning and become the architects of their own lives.
02.
Offer affordable pricing to promote social diversity.
03.
Put parents back at the heart of their child’s education, to ensure better educational continuity and involve them in school life, while leaving the educational team in charge of pedagogical practices.
Our vision of learning and teaching methods
The educational program is based on a constant pedagogical dialogue, drawing essentially on Montessori, Reggio Emilia and the French National Education Common Core of Skill (socle commun des compétences) as well as Freinet, Charlotte Mason and other pedagogies. The material is essentially derived from Montessori pedagogy.
Reggio and Montessori are two very similar and complementary methods. Both Loris Malaguzzi and Maria Montessori were convinced that children are born with enormous resources and are capable of learning, communicating, loving and much more.
From the earliest age, children seek to apprehend and understand the world around them. As adults, we must listen to them and help them to do so.
“Children need the FREEDOM to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes, and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds, and colours. ”
– Loris Malaguzzi
Pedagogy
The pillars of our pedagogy
Life skills, critical thinking and the ability to become an entrepreneur in one’s own life and in society are the three pillars of our pedagogy:
TO THINK
At Petits Plus, we’re convinced that only a child who knows themselves (qualities, faults, negative beliefs, etc.) can become a fulfilled adult. In control of themselves, they will be able to trust themselves to learn in complete safety.
THINKING ABOUT THE WORLD
Following a series of questions from childhood onwards, such as “Who am I?”, “Where do I come from?” and “Where am I going?”, enables us to re-appropriate our relationship with the world, and thus to become aware of and take responsibility for it in a different way. Developing the need for an “analytical mind” to enable the subject to “shape” things in his or her own way.
“First and foremost, it’s about promoting philosophy with children, getting these “little people” to think, to help them grow in humanity, to help them understand an increasingly complex world, and to orient themselves in their lives in an individualistic age when they have to invent their own lives, with collective reference points largely blurred.” Michel Tozzi, professor emeritus in educational science at the University of Montpellier 3, educator of philosophy, UNESCO expert in philosophy.
ACTIVATING THE WORLD
Finally, the ability to be in the world is the final outcome of our pedagogy: becoming an architect of one’s own life, aware of major social issues and implementing solutions to create the world of tomorrow.
Key principles
Educational objectives
We draw on pedagogical dialogue. Our key principles:
Respect for the child
Respect each child’s personality, rhythm and needs.
The desire to learn
Awaken the desire and pleasure of learning, the taste for effort and research.
Life in society
Encourage autonomy, self-discipline, responsibility, cooperation and solidarity, self-confidence and trust in others.
Co-education
Child/educator, child/child, parent/educator and child/parent relationships are all sources of learning. As such, they are respected and encouraged. At Les Petits Plus, parents are partners. The aim is to gradually and continuously build and maintain a close-knit educational community around the school and its pedagogical project, thanks to mutual trust between educators, management and parents. The ultimate goal is the child’s well-being: adults who live well together mean children who do well.
Developing critical thinking skills
Children must learn to distinguish, analyze and argue. Philosophy workshops for children are held weekly.
Respect for the environment
Cultivate knowledge of and respect for the natural environment.
Social skills
Practice non-violent communication through active listening and the no-lose conflict resolution method. Children learn to recognize and control their own emotions and those of their peers.
Being in the world
Through a research program to feel and identify a social problem, imagine a solution, create a concrete and achievable solution, share this solution with fellow students, parents and other schools around the world.
Documentation
The verbal and written traces of the children’s explorations form a basis for documentation. They then become opportunities for reflection and interpretation. They can also be used to share with the community (exhibitions, newspapers, etc.).
Transparency
It interacts with the environment through the choice of equipment and its accessibility, creating an incentive to curiosity. Light, mirrors and light tables are preferred.
The “provocation”
The aim of provocation is cognitive stimulation. Action must therefore be provoked, like a trigger. The organization of the space and the way in which the new material is brought in are ways of stimulating the child’s learning, in particular by arousing their curiosity.
The 100 languages of children
Children can communicate in many ways. All types of communication are welcomed and encouraged. Creativity and the artistic dimension are favored because they are associated with the diversity of languages. The aim is to encourage children to represent their ideas symbolically, using a range of media.