Executive director Donna Stapleton and staffer Mansure Jung spent eight days studying in northern Italy about the Reggio Emilia approach, part of which embraces art and sensory stimuli into the bread-and-butter curriculum of literacy, language, science and math.

 The method dates back about 50 years and places emphasis on discovery and exploration based on the child's interests.

 The Italian city, which also shares the same name as the education philosophy, embraces the works of children with businesses both posting drawings on storefronts and talking to kids about what they do.

 "Their community is very involved in early childhood education," Ms Stapleton said in a recent interview. She said it's one of the goals of Small World Learning Centre to encourage a new level of local involvement in what kids are doing.

 Officials say they are taking steps to make the learning environment more like home than an institution.

 The York Street centre's infant program ended due to costs and difficulty in filling vacancies so that room and other spaces have been converted to make room for areas designed for physical activity and to showcase art and colour.

 "We're dividing it up into the stuff that is more action and the stuff that is more the thinking part," Ms Jung said.

 Outdoors, the backyard playground equipment and grounds were adjusted to tap into a child's senses. Ms Stapleton said, for example, mint was planted around the sandbox.

 Centre officials said what they learned in Reggio Emilia has prompted them to rethink the way things are done.

 Ms Jung said the days of lectures and classroom work wasn't to copy the ideas and bring them back but to try and include the spirit of the Italian method here at home.

 It was the first time Ms Jung and Ms Stapleton had been to Italy to learn Reggio Emilia. Both women hope to one day return to gather more information.

 The centre, which also has a facility off Pleasant Street in Bridgewater, provides full and part-day after-school and day-care programming for youngsters between 18 months and 12 years of age.

 Recently with the help of a provincial grant, a commercial dishwasher was purchased and the flooring was replaced at the Pleasant Street location.

 Ms Stapleton said more upgrades are planned.