"living is learning / learning is living."
A Child Has a Hundred Languages
For us, every child who comes to MIA Kindergartens is an explorer. All children who follow their curiosity have the ability to explore and learn on their own. What matters is for the teacher to be able to hear the child, to open up space for exploration using the possibilities of the space and the immediate environment, to help them collaborate with the community while exploring, and to help them express themselves in ways that go beyond words. A child has a hundred languages. At MIA Kindergartens, a child can express themselves through every language of art.
First Steps into Life
MIA Kindergartens carry the ideal of being a modern community where children know and understand each other. A child who comes to school places their belongings on their own cubby, passes through an area visible to all adults and children at school, and steps into a brand-new community beyond the world their family has offered them. Being at school is a joy in itself. Their timeless research project awaits them — whether it leads to an outcome or not — along with the teachers and playmates who collaborate with them. At MIA, a child experiences existing independently from their family within this community they feel a sense of belonging to, solving problems, and facing the challenges they encounter.
The Third Teacher: THE ENVIRONMENT
In the Reggio Emilia approach, learning is not merely a mental or academic process. We all know that "The mind forgets, but the body remembers." Children learn, above all, with their senses. For this reason, all spaces at MIA Kindergartens are adorned with materials that stimulate children's senses — hearing, sight, and touch. The arrangement of classrooms and surroundings is open to change and transformation in ways that support this interaction. All indoor and outdoor spaces at MIA Kindergartens are conceived as architectural designs that open doors to different learning possibilities. For example, while the use of different floor textures, slopes, and flat areas in the playground supports children's motor skill development, mirrors placed in various sections of the building strengthen children's sense of self-awareness.
Communication Begins with Interaction
The learning process at MIA Kindergartens is not limited to the school walls. A child connects with everything they are curious about. Making those connections opens the doors to healthy communication alongside new questions. MIA Kindergartens value children's interaction with different areas that will spark their curiosity, and to this end draw upon the possibilities of the immediate environment. At MIA, children spend time in nature, get to know the neighborhood they live in, shop at the local market, and visit museums and exhibitions. In the eyes of a teacher at MIA Kindergartens, the environment is more than just a physical space — it is a network of relationships. Inspired by nature, nourished by urban culture.
It is now much more important to express oneself, to understand others — in short, to communicate. Because we live alongside very different cultures in the vast metropolis we call the world. At MIA Kindergartens, teachers create opportunities for children to get to know different cultures in the natural flow of school life. With the idea that "The world is everyone's home and every language is a door," they also bring foreign languages into the living spaces at school. English, now considered the world language, is part of the school atmosphere. At MIA Kindergartens, a child encounters English without pressure, without hardship, and without being confined to a set program.
We are here to witness the excitement of our children and to tell the story of their learning adventures. All teachers at MIA Kindergartens follow every step of the child's learning journey like scientists — they learn with them, research alongside them, and record everything. These records are also the building blocks of the educational program that develops and constantly transforms in line with the curiosity of our children. Documentation is also a communication tool that allows families and teachers to receive information about children's development. In a school that adopts the Reggio Emilia approach, the archive is a great treasure.