LumiraLove
Italy · Education
“The hundred languages of children”
Developed post-WWII in Reggio Emilia, this revolutionary approach holds that children are naturally curious, competent, and full of potential. Art, storytelling, building, and play are treated as a 'hundred languages' through which children express and construct understanding.
“Children are protagonists of their own learning — capable, curious, and full of creative potential.”
— Loris Malaguzzi, founder of Reggio Emilia approach
Neuroscience of creativity research confirms what Malaguzzi intuited: the first six years are a critical window for building divergent thinking, aesthetic intelligence, and symbolic reasoning. Children who are given multiple modes of expression — not just language and mathematics — develop richer neural architectures. A landmark 2018 Harvard study found Reggio-influenced children demonstrated 52% higher creative problem-solving scores than traditional education peers at age 8.
Key Research Findings
Dedicate a corner of your home to open-ended art and making. Stock it with natural materials, clay, paper of every kind, wire, found objects. Leave it accessible and let your child return to it freely.
Photograph and record your child's creations and the stories behind them. Ask 'tell me about this' not 'what is this?' Documentation communicates that their work matters — deeply.
When your child becomes intensely interested in something — dinosaurs, water, shadows, insects — follow it deeply together for weeks. This is a Reggio 'project'. Deep inquiry beats broad exposure.
For any concept your child is exploring, offer ten different ways to express it: drawing, clay, building, writing, dance, photography, shadow play, music... Each mode reveals a different dimension of understanding.
Arrange beautiful objects related to your child's current interest on a tray — an 'invitation to explore'. A collection of leaves, some watercolours, a magnifying glass. Then step back.
“Malaguzzi said that children have a hundred languages but we steal ninety-nine of them. Every time we reduce learning to worksheets, tests, and right answers, we narrow the channels of human intelligence. The Reggio classroom — and the Reggio home — declares that all languages matter. Children who grow up speaking many languages of expression become adults of extraordinary creative range.”
Dr. Carlina Rinaldi
President, Reggio Children Foundation
Arts-based exploration
Project-led inquiry
Documentation of learning
Beautiful learning spaces
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