The Montessori method is one that is a highly hands-on approach to learning that is characterized by an emphasis on self-directed activity on the part of the child and clinical observation on the part of the teacher. It stresses the importance of adapting the child’s learning environment to his or her developmental level, and of the role of physical activity in absorbing academic concepts and practical skills.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method
Montessori Information
The Reggio Emilia method is based upon the following set of principles: children must have some control over the direction of their learning; children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing; children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore; and children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves. Parents, teachers, and the social environment are all vital components to this philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_method
Preschool, Italian style
In the Waldorf method, learning is interdisciplinary, integrates practical, artistic, and intellectual elements, and is coordinated with “natural rhythms of everyday life.” The structure of education follow Steiner’s pedagogical model of child development, which views childhood as divided overall into seven-year developmental stages, each having its own learning requirements. Extensive time is given for guided free play in a classroom environment that is homelike; oral language development is addressed through songs, poems, and movement games. No literature is introduced until age 7.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
Applying Waldorf Methods In U.S. Public Schools
The Head Start program helps to create healthy development in low-income children. Programs offer a wide variety of services, that depend on a child’s and each family’s heritage and experience, to influence all aspects of a child’s development and learning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_Start
National Head Start Association