The 100 Languages

Imagine believing that children have the ability to express themselves in more than one way. Now times that by 100! Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Approach, describes the "infinite ways that children can express, explore, and connect their thoughts, feelings and imaginings."
http://www.childrenfirstschool.org/cf.phpid=childrenC&t=100%20Languages

These languages (the Hundred Languages of Children) are symbolic and are open to the endless potentials in children. They believe in the potential of a child's ability to wonder. It is the belief that there are "multiple ways of seeing and multiple ways of being."
http://www.reggiochildren.it/2011/09/2617/notizia-di-prova-consulenza/?lang=en

The Hundred Languages Poem illustrated

See the wonder through their eyes

How it is expressed...

The Hundred Languages are often expressed through "drawings, sculpting, dramatic play, writing and painting."
http://www.reggiokids.com/the_hundred
_languages_of_children.html

A Language different from our own...

This approach is much different from the instructional approach in the United States where children's learning is often planned for them. In the US children are viewed as blank canvases where teachers design and decide their outcomes. The Hundred Languages approach sees children as individuals who are capable of doing and communicating their unique abilities in extraordinary ways. They view children as "competent and naturally curious" learners. http://play-basedclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/03/reggio-emilia-hundred-languages-of.html

As Children Play...

Children are provided many opportunities to work through their ideas. They are encourage to depict their understanding of the world and their ideas through various representations. They are encouraged to revisit their representations later and if their work does not reflect what they thought it should be, they change it!

"...the child says: 'No Way. The hundred is there!" (From the Poem 100 Languages by Loris Malaguuzzi)