Infants and Toddlers at Work: Using Reggio-Inspired Materials to Support Brain Development (Early Childhood Education Series)

I love this book and am frustrated by it at the same time. The good things definitely make it worthwhile all the same.LOVE:- This author seems to be coming from a really genuine place. She describes how she came to write the book because the mother of a baby she did amazing Reggio-inspired work with asked her to explain what she was doing so the mother could do it with the second baby. I much prefer authors who come from such a personal, humble and self-reflective place to authors whose books may have flashy photos and format, but whose churning out of publication after publication causes one to question their motivation ($$$ vs education) and expertise (writing books that sell vs education).- This book is just about infants and toddlers (0-3). The reason I love this is that it takes the questioning out of trying to apply big ideas with little ones (what does this look like with babies? how do I know if this is really age appropriate?...) It also _gives_permission_ to the reader to be confident about trying Reggio materials with babies even when some people have other ideas about age appropriateness. There are also many many practical suggestions as well as broader ideas. With older children, I find I prefer broader ideas, but with the little ones, at this stage in my teaching development, practical suggestions are very helpful.- This book answered many very specific questions that I wish I thought to ask when I visited the infant-toddler centers of Reggio Emilia, Italy.NOT SO HOT:- The organization of this book is poor and confusing. I forgive this mostly because I believe the author is an educator first. I would rather learn from an educator. I think perhaps the difficulty with organization is that the author had so much to say, doing so in a neat and functional way became a challenge. I haven't read her other books. Maybe the same problem with flow persists there. (Interestingly, in relation to a previous comment, I am also put off by Carter and Curtis' format which feels condescending to me.)- There is a huge emphasis on how all this relates to brain development as is stated in the title. This is one way that the book strays from what I understand to be Reggio values. In the US we tend to be obsessed with preparing children for the future, with developing their brains. School in the US is preparation for the future. School is Reggio is part of life now. School is a place where infants and toddlers live part of their lives. They have a right to amazing and stimulating environments simply because of who they are now. Though there is use in reading about what the Reggio materials are doing to the brain that will benefit the baby later, I prefer reading about their rights in the present.- It is good that the author includes examples from Reggio and from Reggio-inspired teachers, however, most of the examples from Reggio are simply described in her own words rather than in the words, photos and work samples of the Italians. This leads me to think perhaps she did not get permission to use those stories from Reggio. The stories would be better with the actual words, photos and work samples.

This book has some good content, but the photos are sparse, poor-quality black and white images that do nothing to interest or inspire. Thus, it makes for a dry and often redundant read.It might be worth adding to an already rich collection, but if you are looking for a few high quality titles, I would suggest starting with "Learning Together with Young Children" or any of the other titles by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter. These books have amazing photos of real environments and real children at work and play, and it seems that makes all the difference between a book that will collect dust on the shelf and one that will be picked up and paged through again and again.

I own an indoor kids play and learning center and was inspired by the reggio approach. We don't run ourselves as a full fledged reggio learning center; however, I still wanted reggio and montessori inspired activities. This book is a perfect addition to our activity driven center.

Bought for a class and it is exactly how I needed it.

I am always looking for supportive texts for my infant/toddler classes at the university.This is a "must have" edition for anyone working in the field of early childhood.

I have not finished reading it, but from what I have read it is good. it came highly recommended for my employer.

Good info on brain development and connecting it to infant/toddlers and Reggio influences

Great Book. Very Informative and helpful.

I bought this book for my university studies. It is a great book full of wonderful ideas for anyone in contact with young children (parents, grandparents, teachers etc). This book has really inspired me and I can't wait to graduate now so I can use some of activities in the book

Should be read by all infant-toddler educators.

Love this book has inspired me to new highs in my work.