Il Castello

Imagine that you are a young boy of 8 or 10 years old. You move to Italy and have to go to school there. The first weeks of school are a blur. You spend so much time immersed in Italian that you are exhausted by the time school is over. After school you wake up when you arrive home, and if it is a nice day you go play outside with the neighborhood boys, and if the weather is not nice you play inside. Then you try to do any homework on your own that you can. But you must still go over what you studied and did in school that day with your dad who is Italian and can help you. Then you sit down with the family and have dinner together and talk about the various things that happened at school, and anything else that comes up. If you are lucky you have finished the homework and can relax and play x box or watch a movie... otherwise the studying continues.

I can't really imagine what it is like for a child to be a foreigner, suddenly adapting to a new language and a new set of school rules. It must be overwhelming at times. Several times Gabriel has said the class is too noisy to effectively do work. When I want to hear Italian, I turn on the tv or radio... but I only have patience for this a few hours at a time, while the boys are inundated with this Italian all day long at school. They did not complain as much as they probably had a right to. Last year was full of obstacles, and the feeling of exhiliration as we broke through yet another one... and learned to manage. I am so proud of them! One of the teachers who really made a difference for the boys took all of the foreign students, a few from the U.S. and a few from Germany and England, and started teaching them basic Italian. The students weren't with her for more than an hour each day, but what she taught them was incredible. Once they were able to say some sentences, their life in school changed. Their classmates realized they were kids, not just monkeys in a zoo. They were so thrilled to finally start making friends, but the tightest knit group were the kids in the basic Italian class. One of the projects their Italian-class teacher had the children do was to write a story, design the cover and artwork, using cut fabric and glue, and make a book. In Italian. My children each wrote a story. Here is Matthew showing his, Il Castello:


Now these two boys will always have a keepsake of their first year in Italy. Maybe they will remember the hardships, but I think they will be reminded instead of all the hard work they did, and how good it feels to learn, and to do well! I think they will be self confident when they are faced with new situations, because they have already proven themselves capable. It was a difficult first year... a time of transition. But this year is going so much more smoothly. Full immersion works. I am amazed at how quickly children adapt, but I know they also put in a lot of effort... I am so very proud of them.