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!

 

 

 
Ottobre 2008
 "Autunno" is here!  "I progetti autunnali"  started.  Alberi con foglie (trees with leaves), new colors, new songs.  The light outside has changed to gold tones, no wonder why we are using so much "giallo".
The new expression the children are using is "Voglio" (I want), but as I always tell them it needs to be followed by "Per favore"!
 
Voglio giocare ....per favore I want to play please
Voglio ballare ................ I want to dance
Voglio cantare .............. I want to sing
Voglio mangiare........... I want to eat
Voglio colorare............. I want to paint
Voglio aiuto.................. I want help ......................................................
 
We are going to stay on "Voglio" for a while since it is a KEY word that we use a lot.   I am so thrilled and also encouraged to notice how much the children remember from last year, it works!!!
 
 
This week of Ottobre 27 we have started the family unit "La Famiglia".  The children cut out shapes for faces, drew the faces of Mamma, Papa, sorella and fratello, they looked proud as they think they have just painted the MonaLisa.  They are learning "Sono...Nella", "Sono Maria"...
 
Outside I ask them "Dove sei?"  Where are you?  They love to respond "Sono qui'"  I am here!
 
 

 

 
 
 
Settembre 2008
I bambini di Piccola Italia sono ritornati a scuola l'8 di Settembre! The children of Piccola Italia came back to school on September 8th!
What a fun group of children.  I am amazed at how much they remember from just a couple of months ago, I love observing them and I get such a thrill to experience their interest in wanting to know more and more.
My teaching method is simple and not complicated at all.  By closely observing the children I will know what we will be doing that day.  I highly value my capacity of improvising.  We go from hunting objects "rosso" (red), to "rosa" (pink), to "rana" (frog), we print the "R" on the blackboard, they print the "R" words.  I like to mix and match letters, colors and numbers.  In the process we have fun and in turn they really learn.
The children take turns balancing a small toy cup on their head and counting how many tiles on the floor they can walk on without dropping the cup, UNO, DUE, TRE, QUATTRO........some can count to DIECI and some to VENTI, TRENTA....  We play simple games, these are the games they enjoy!
This week we made out another song that we will add to our repertoire, the tune we usedis the one of clean up, clean up!
MANGIAMO, MANGIAMO
MANGIAMO LA FRUTTA
MANGIAMO, MANGIAMO
MANGIAMOLA TUTTA
UNA MELA ROSSA
UNA BANANA GIALLA
LA PERA VERDE
LA MANGI TU!
Giugno 2008
The school year has come to an end on June 27!  What a wonderful time we have had, I will cherish the memories made during these past 10 months.  The children know and are aware of Italian as a different language  and that Italy is a different country.  I love their interest when they ask me "How do you say this word in Italian"?
Ciao bambini al prossimo Settembre!
Maggio "il mese dei fiori"
May the month of flowers!  What a special month it is for all of us.  La Primavera is finally here, the tulipani have bloomed, il tulipano rosso, giallo!  Gli uccelli cantano con melodia (the birds sing with melody).  The children smell like sunblock... si!  Finally sunblock on their faces and arms.  By now we are repeating a lot that we have covered during the year!
Mother's Day was a special day for i bambini.  The Moms came over for lunch and the children sang their italian song
Mamma, Mamma ti voglio bene
Mamma, Mamma ti voglio bene 
Mamma, Mamma questo e' per te!
Mamma, Mamma I love you
Mamma, Mamma I love you
Mamma, Mamma this is for you!
The children presented  Moms with necklaces made from natural small rocks from the Adriatic Sea, they painted them and proudly prepared them. 
Aprile "dolce dormire"
That is the expression we use in Italy!  April is the month for sweet sleeping, and indeed we  all feel a bit addormentati (sleepy).  We have been singing:
Primavera, Primavera dove sei?
Primavera, Primavera dove vai?
Primavera, Primavera dove sei
Primavera, Primavera stai con noi!
Spring, Spring where are you?
Spring, Spring where are you going?
Spring, Spring where are you?
Spring, Spring tai with us!
By now, you know how much I think  music influences the children's ability to assimilate anything they are exposed to.  It is fun, it relaxes them, it encourages movement and helps them with the new language.  We always have a lot of fun with heart felt laughter. 
Primavera has been the topic,  we are playing games finding the "fiori gialli", "sole", "erba verde".  I am encouraging them to use sentences more than just words.  They  are doing a great job and it is encouraging to see and experience their progress.
We are starting the morning a bit differently.  In the large basket I have placed a lot of recycled paper and a bunch of safe scissors (forbici) .  I find the children gravitate towards the basket whenever they want some down time. 

Time outs have been literally inexistent but instead the children will have moments of "riflessioni"  reflections on why and what they have done and then they are encouraged to apologize by saying "Mi dispiace"!
As a reminder Piccola Italia will be closed the week of April 21 for spring vacation, I hope you will all do something fun!  Buon divertimento!
Marzo Pazzo!!
In Italy we call March "Pazzo" which means "Crazy", and this month has been just that "Pazzo".  The weather pattern is driving us all "Pazzi" and yes we are all ready for "la Primavera" and the birth of all the new flowers. 
Our work is gearing towards spring!  Pasqua (Easter) is giving us the chance to learn new words.  The children are little geniuses, the translation for Easter egg is "Uovo di Pasqua" now think of the translation for snowman "Uomo di Neve"  :)
They recognized the sound of "UO-vo and Uo-mo".  It is thrilling to me to notice their progress and their willingness to do more.
We have been busy with "fiori", "uova", "coniglietti" .  During the cold days we have been doing a great deal of dancing,"balli", tarantelle, yoga but with "il buon tempo" we will be exploring the outdoors more.
BUONA PASQUA A TUTTI!
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PICCOLA ITALIA PRESCUOLA IS CLOSED FOR VACATION 
WILL REOPEN ON FEBRUARY 26  
Febbraio 2008
FELICE SAN VALENTINO "GIORNO DELL'AMORE"  - We composed a song that the children learned for this special day, it goes like this, it uses the same tune as Puliamo, puliamo!
TI AMO, TI AMO, TI AMO, TI AMO
CHE COLORE E' L'AMORE
CHE COLORE E' L'AMORE
IL COLORE DELL'AMORE E' ROSSO, E' ROSSO
(I love you, I love you, I love you I love you)
(What color is Love)
(What color is Love)
(The color of Love is red, is red)
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Febbraio??  I like to think that the "Primavera" is just around the corner but right now it certainly doesn't feel that way with temperatures near zero!  Gennaio was a busy month.  We accomplished  learning about "Inverno" and what we do when it is "freddo".  The children made their posters and we played matching games.  We celebrated Scarlett's "compleanno" and made what we are learning more real. For Febbraio we are getting ready to do the family unit "Madre, Padre, Sorella, Fratello, Nonna, Nonno, Zia, Cugini....."   Febbraio is also the month of San Valentino so "Rosso" is the color of the month.  The favourite song remains "Fa freddo, fa freddo non posso giocare......................" 
====================================================== 
Gennaio  2008
I want to give you a summary of what is going on.  The week of January 2nd was short and fun, the children played, sang and enjoyed each other's company after the 2 weeks of vacation (especially since few children were still away).  Last week we started at full speed again!
We are working on Inverno for Winter,  Gennaio for January.  I need some involvement from you parents.  It would be great if together with your child you could look in magazines, newspapers, books and find any image you think pertains to winter, you just need a couple images.  Cut it and send it with your child to school.  The children remember much better when with the word we couple the visual.  We are preparing posters with words and images and they are very good in remembering.  They are back to painting again.  They made some interesting pictures that hopefully I will add to Artsonia soon.
Also, we are making a poster pertaining to Famiglia for family.  If you find pictures of babies, children, Mom, Dad, grandparents please send them in (the week after next!)
Please add to you calendar:
Wednesday, January 23 - Thursday, January 24 -You are invited to attend the monthly Italian class at 12PM.  Please let me know if you are planning to attend. 
Wednesday, January 30 and February 7 - Moms or Dads are invited to have lunch with us @ 11:45 AM - Please let me know who likes to attend!
 

 

 

January 2008

 Buon Anno everyone!  It is hard to believe that we are in a brand new year.  I know many of us have new resolutions, I have few of my own that I hope I will be able to keep.

Have we had enough with the "Neve?"  (snow).  Tomorrow a new term starts! We will start new boards with new words and expressions. It will be interesting to see how much the children remember.  I hope Babbo Natale was good to all of you and I hope everyone is healthy and happy upon the return, I have new and fun projects for this new month..  My new book Gracie and Belle "Never Again!" is scheduled to be released on February 11, 2008.  I will keep you posted with reading dates and all. 

Ciao, ciao a presto and again BUON ANNO NUOVO!

December 2007 

Thanksgiving was a nice break!   I heard a lot of funny stories from the children upon their return.

The turkeys are gone and up go the nutcrackers.  We started to paint "le stelle" the stars and some of the decorazioni the children will bring home.  Their eyes shine with excitement thinking about Babbo Natale.  We are singing "Babbo Natale vienimi a trovare" and they seem to be aware that Babbo Natale is watching any misbehavior ...., they ask if Babbo Natale likes the cookies we made, actually the true story is that I burned some :(    They basically all agreed that they liked my soup the best but they liked "Mommy's cookies" better than mine and who could blame them?  I make good pizzelle but the cookies for some reason I can never get them not to burn!

New words:  Stella (Star) - Vienimi a trovare (come to find me) -  Non ho piu' (I do not have anymore) - Inverno (winter) - Buon Natale (Merry Christmas) - Uomo di neve (Snow man) - albero di Natale (Christmas tree) - Angelo (Angel) - Guanti (mittens) - Cappello (Hat) - Ho freddo (I am cold) -

 

 

November 2007

"Felice Giorno del Ringraziamento",  that is the best translation I have for this special day of "Thanksgiving" .

The children had fun prepararing their "tacchino", they placed their hand in paint and made a nice print on paper, they knew each of the colored "piume" feathers.  Their bowl of fruit was actually a still life painting of the bowl of fruits we have in the classroom.  They used watercolor paint and then we cut each of the fruits and glued it in their basket.  Of course they were able to recognize "la mela rossa", pera, banana and arancia while practicing their colors.

We had a nice gift on Tuesday, "Neve" snow, the children were ready to go out and build their snow man...  :)  Not yet, I told them, let's wait for more neve; they were so excited!!  They had their faces glued to the window.., I enjoy watching that genuine excitment on their faces, how little they need to feel the happiness!  We will start next week with our preparation for "Natale" Christmas and with that a new array of words!

Yoga was a hit with the children, the instructor was amazed just how natural they were, they loved all the new animal poses, leone, cane, elefante...  We will offer "Yoga" classes once a month.  I will notify which week it will be!

New words: Tacchino (turkey) -  Piume (feathers)  Colla (glue) -  Carta (paper) - Natale (Christmas) - Patata (potatoe)

Neve (snow) - Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) -  Fa freddo (it is cold)

 

 

Week ending November 8, 2007

It was fun to have the Adult/Mom's italian classes.  I appreciate all the efforts you put forth the learning of the language.  It will, and it does, make a difference with the children! They are so proud of themselves and it thrills me to hear the little ones replying "Bene, grazie"  when asked "Come stai?"   I will sort of ignore their requests unless they say "Per favore".

This week they kept working on colors, they all had a chance to paint  on some nice board at the easels, as you saw from the photos I have sent you earlier.  I stress the use of primary colors and have them find out how exciting it is to mix a different hue. They are very serious in their work!

This week's new words used:

Greetings:  Buongiorno, ciao, come stai? Io sto bene, io sono stanca (tired) per favore, grazie, voglio mangiare per favore (I want to eat please), voglio bere per favore (I want to drink please) Mi dispiace (I am sorry)  Buon Compleanno (happy birthday) Aspettate (wait), Piano, piano (slowly), Venite qua' (come here), dove vai? (where do you go?), Non si corre (no running) Fa freddo (it is cold)

Numbers and Letters (words): Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci.

Farfalla (butterfly)   mela (apple)  Sole (sun) - Girasole (sunflower), albero (tree), giocattoli (toys), macchina (car), bicicletta (bike) mano (hand), piedi (feet), testa (head), naso (nose), occhi (eyes), orecchie (ears) pietra (rock), zucca (pumpkin), fai attenzione (be careful), piano (slowly) Foglia (leaf), Giacca (jacket), scarpe (shoes), Zaino (backpack)

Colors:  Giallo (yellow) -  Bianco (white) - Blu (blue) - rosso(red) - grigio (gray), marrone (brown), verde (green), arancione (orange) Viola (purple)

Food: Brodo (soup) - Pane (bread) - farfallette (butterflies noodles) - mela (apple) - banana (banana)- pane tostato (toast) - latte (milk) - succo di frutta (fruit juice),pizza (pizza), formaggio (cheese), pomodori (tomatoes), biscotti (cookies), gelato (icecream) pera (pear), fragole (strawberries) rigatoni pasta, risotto
Animals: Cane (dog) - capra (goat) - giraffa (giraffe) - topo (mouse) - gatto (cat), uccello (bird), pesce (fish), tartaruga (turtle), rana (frog), asino (donkey), cavallo (horse), zebra (zebra)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week ending November 1st, 2007

Halloween is behind us and so we find ourselves thinking about Thanksgiving, (il giorno del Ringraziamento). It is not an italian holiday but a fun one for all of us.  So, October has been the month of developing friendships. The children know each other's names and I often hear "you are my best friend!".  Each day we dance at the sound of music : "The alphabet is easy to learn..A,B.C.D.E.F.G.H.I.L,.M.N.O.P.Q.R.S.T.U.V.Z "- If you hear them say Zeta it is the letter Z in Italian!

We finished the fall projects and next week the folders will come home.  They learned the fall colors: arancione, verde, rosso, marrone. They learned about the "foglie sugl'alberi" (the leaves on trees) changing colors.  They painted pictures of the fall. We sang more songs!  I am looking for a music writer as I made up a lot of songs in Italian for them.  I have developed the tunes but I do not have the music!

Today as we spent some time outside there was an airplane flying high up in the sky so I said "Guardate l'aereoplano che vola....." and they finished the sentence with "nel cielo blu"  I was impressed and moved!  They remembered the "farfalla che vola nel cielo blu" .. They are geniuses as one of the Mom says!

Here is the updated list!  I hope you are all having a good weekend, 
Ciao, Ciao
Nella

Greetings:  Buongiorno, ciao, come stai? Io sto bene, io sono stanca (tired) per favore, grazie, voglio mangiare per favore (I want to eat please), voglio bere per favore (I want to drink please) Mi dispiace (I am sorry)  Buon Compleanno (happy birthday) Aspettate (wait), Piano, piano (slowly)

Numbers and Letters (words): Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci.

Farfalla (butterfly)   mela (apple)  Sole (sun) - Girasole (sunflower), albero (tree), giocattoli (toys), macchina (car), bicicletta (bike) mano (hand), piedi (feet), testa (head), naso (nose), occhi (eyes), orecchie (ears) pietra (rock), zucca (pumpkin), fai attenzione (be careful), piano (slowly) Foglia (leaf)

Colors:  Giallo (yellow) -  Bianco (white) - Blu (blue) - rosso(red) - grigio (gray), marrone (brown), verde (green), arancione (orange) Viola (purple)

Food: Brodo (soup) - Pane (bread) - farfallette (butterflies noodles) - mela (apple) - banana (banana)- pane tostato (toast) - latte (milk) - succo di frutta (fruit juice),pizza (pizza), formaggio (cheese), pomodori (tomatoes), biscotti (cookies), gelato (icecream) pera (pear), fragole (strawberries) rigatoni pasta, risotto
Animals: Cane (dog) - capra (goat) - giraffa (giraffe) - topo (mouse) - gatto (cat), uccello (bird), pesce (fish), tartaruga (turtle), rana (frog), asino (donkey), cavallo (horse)


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