Maggio 2009
"Mamma Mia" has been the expression the children have been singing, I guess some of them must have seen the Mamma Mia musical with Meryl Streep :) Maggio (May) has been an interesting month. With the warmer weather we have finally been able to stay outside for longer stretches. We took few walks (passeggiata) and played many games outdoors. Who wants to stay inside when the "farfalle volano nel cielo blu" - the buterflies are flying in the blue sky... :) And yes we also sing outside...
We are about to finish the months of the year, some of the older children can count way over 20 and are able to put sentences together, the younger ones don't seem puzzled any longer and are able to ask for what they want in italian without forgetting the "Per favore" and "Grazie".
Aprile 2009
Natale con i tuoi, la Pasqua con chi vuoi -- "Christmas at home and Easter with whomever you wish"is an old Italian saying. However, people have a way of returning to the hearth, and Easter is an occasion for far-flung families to reunite around a well-set table, renewing the bonds that tie. This week I have introduced the children to the Sweet Easter breads. We made some bread with the boiled egg in the middle, but all I could hear from the children was: "But are we still going to have our soup?" They also helped baking some biscotti and spread a bit of nutella on it :) They liked that! It was a fun time.., we sang:
Buona Pasqua, Buona Pasqua a tutto il mondo
Buona Pasqua, Buona Pasqua a tutto il mondo
Buona Pasqua a Mamma, Buona Pasqua a Papa
Buona Pasqua a Nonna, Buona Pasqua a Nonno
Buona Pasqua a Sorella, Buona Pasqua Fratello....
Ask me for the tune, it is the same one of Buon Natale, ask me if you do not remember!
Marzo 2009
We call Marzo "Pazzo" crazy, and it sure was un mese pazzo! No sense to talk about it..., there were some good things in Marzo, the snow started to melt - La neve inzio' a sciogliersi - and yes that was a great thing..
I often thought we lived in Siberia, la neve era cosi' alta che avevo paura di perderci i bambini.. (the snow was so tall that I was afraid to lose the children in it) - ed e' la verita' :) The truth!
Senz'altro abbiamo trascorso piu' tempo dentro che fuori ed i ragazzini aspettavano con ansia il primo giorno di primavera..
For sure we spent more time indoor than outdoor and the children awaited anxiously the arrival of the first day of Spring ,
Come se magicamente il sole era piu' caldo e finalmente potevamo dire addio agli stivali e cappotti!
As if by magic the sun would be warmer and we could finally say goodbye to the boots and coats!
Febbraio 2009
Febbraio has been a cold month (un mese freddo), it has been impossible to be outside and so we did a lot of yoga, dance, jumping games and with that all the new expressions:
Io cammino I walk
Io corro I run
Io salto I jump
Io ballo I dance
Io gioco I play
Io dormo I sleep
Io mangio I eat
We are putting more words together now, when I ask them "Cosa fai?" what are you doing? They will answer with some of the above expressions. Every day we review numbers, colors, shape and of course we always sing and leave enough time for lunch :)
The Pot luck dinner with all the parents was a great time, it is important for parents to get to know each other and share notes about the italian experience!
Gennaio 2009
Buon Anno a tutti!
"Il nuovo anno" is proving to be a un "Gennaio bianco".
Last week was an interesting week, being the first week back after the holidays and having a snow day in the midst made it different.
The children came back some tired and some wired after the holidays 
, so the first expression we used was "sono stanca" I am tired and from there we went to everything else that could use "sono" I am!
Sono Nella, sono bella, sono felice, sono allegra, sono affamata....... So far what they remember the most are the expression "sono stanca, sono bella, Sono Nella...... Then we also started with "Gennaio il primo mese dell'anno" - "Lunedi' il primo giorno della settimana", the children do not remember the whole phrase however if you say "Gennaio" they will reply "Gennaio the first month of the year" .
For art work they traced any shape we found, a cup (cerchio), a block in a triangle form (triangolo), they colored in their choice color, (I do not like coloring books however if you let the children trace and fill in within the lines is a good hand eye coordination exercise), then from the "cerchio" we decided to make what else but "Uomo di neve" snow man, they cut shapes for the eyes and nose and painted with white tempera paint. They played the shape game, I placed big bright colored plastic shapes on the mat and they jumped while saying the shape and color in italian. It was fun and a bit competitive too :)
Dicembre 2008
BUON NATALE, BUON NATALE a tutto il mondo....(Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas to the whole world) this is what we sang prior to Christmas. What a joyous time it is for the children! Their excitement with each ornament, their excitement in the preparation to what they made for "regalo" present for Mamma e Papa.
We were blessed with "NEVE" snow, a lot of snow and ice decorated the outside. Babbo Natale, Buon Natale were a bit confusing for the children and they mixed up the two, nevertheless it was fun..., a lot of "STELLE" stars, and "ALBERO DI NATALE" Christmas trees adorned the preschool.
We now look forward to un ANNO NUOVO brand new year, and we that more Italian words and hopefully conversation!
Novembre 2008
Le piume (the feathers) are everywhere. Voglio la piuma gialla, voglio la piuma rosa..., they all have their preference in decorating their personal tacchino (turkey). And so we are close to Thanksgiving. We have created new songs with the new words just learned! The children love music, they love to show off their musical skills and yes "Italian" too! We started the family unit and greeting and with that we have our new song, check under songs of the website!
Settembre 2008