What an amazing second day at the 2013 Reggio Children's Winter Institute. Amazing, relevant and profound topics were presented and discussed. The issue of adopting and practicing the Reggio Approach in an elementary [in Italy 'primary'] school is an issue somewhat new to Italy, but something we have been doing in Grand Rapids for 13 years. This statement is not intended to take anything away from our mentors and colleagues in Reggio-Emilia. The social and cultural supports for education from the earliest ages throughout young adulthood are light-years ahead our our ideology and policies in the United States. The common thread is that we all recognize there is plenty of room for each of us to grow, develop, mature and practice. Thoughts from today's session: What do we understand about continuity? What can schools generate around this topic? The leaders of Reggio urge us all to share our personal journeys of continuity with different perspectives. It is also important that we see our conceptual journesys as temporary - that our concepts and realities of continuity are, and should, be constantly changing. It is also very important to use internal dialogue [i.e. who we are, what we want, where we are going....] as starting points to engage with other schools. It was stressed in today's session that it is imperative that this be an OPEN and DYNAMIC process. The social and cultural elements that exist greatly affect this process. One of the most impactful moments for me today, was while watching a video of a group of parents discussing their experiences transitioning with their child from preschool to primary school. One father said his hopes for his child were that his primary education wuld not simply be a school FOR him, but instead a school WITH him. This stressed for me the importance of not just parent involvement, but parent ownership and partnerhip. The conference is such a sensory event. Here are some of my sensorial observations: Sounds: Languages, music, church bells, conversation Sights: Sunlight, shadow, color, yellow walls, green, lavendar and tangerine chairs Smells: oranges, espresso, Nutella Feelings: Warmth, friendship, collegiality Tastes: Sweet, salty, acidic, fresh, rich, tomato, cheese, oil, vinegar, butter