School Update: Week 2

Well, Cora now has multiple weeks of school under her belt, and Maya finished her first full week. Cora is still crying when we drop her off, but we think she's having a good time later. The teachers report that she is. And Cora usually says the same. She's even napped 2/3 times. So not bad.

Maya's update is more complicated. She's still happy to go to school and happy when she comes home from school, with plenty of stories to tell about her day. But her week this past week involved some upheaval that we're still settling into. First, some background...

Maya is at a public school in Trento that offers two different programs for the students (which are BOTH different from the programs usually offered in the other Italian public schools).

The  main program (the default program for the in-district students) is called the veicolare program. The idea in this program (and from whence I've assumed the name comes, but I could be totally off base) is that learning English is not a bad idea, and that a good way to do it is to use English as a vehicle for education. Specifically, for art, music, and gym. So, in third grade, the students receive the following (per week): 6 hours of Italian language instruction; 2 hours of history (in Italian); 2 hours of geography (one in Italian and one in English); 1 hour of English language instruction; 5 hours of math (in Italian); 2 hours of science (in Italian); 1 hour of art and 1 hour of music (both in English); 2 hours of gym (in English); 2 hours of German language instruction; and 2 hours of (optional) religion (in Itialian). There are also an extra 4 optional hours per week (2 in Italian and 2 in English). If I haven't missed anything, that should be a total of 30 hours of school per week. Each class has assigned to it multiple teachers: the primary teacher (who teaches in Italian) and then an English teacher (perhaps not a native speaker, but someone who's plenty fluent in English). And then there's a different German teacher and a different religion teacher.

The second program at this school is the bilingual program. This program is supposed to provide a more immersive experience in English. Basically, the instruction for math and science is flipped to English. The students in the bilingual program get 7 hours of Italian language instruction; 1 hour of history (in Italian); 1 hour of geography (in English); 3 hours of English language instruction; 6 hours of math (in English); 2 hours of science (in English); 1 hour of art and 1 hour of music (both in English); 2 hours of gym (in English); 2 hours of German language instruction; 2 hours of (optional) religion (in Itialian); and 2 hours of "cross curricular project". Each class has, as the primary teacher, a teacher who only speaks in English (they may all be native English speakers, but I can't necessarily attest to that) and then a second Italian teacher. There's also a German teacher and a religion teacher.

When our friends in Trento were helping us arrange our stay, it was clear that the bilingual program would be the smoothest option for Maya. However, it was clear relatively early on that the bilingual program was likely full, and that, while Maya could be put on a wait list for it, getting in would be unlikely. When we arrived in Trento in July and submitted our paperwork to register for school (or tried to do so), we found out that the demand for this particular school in general was high and that we couldn't even be immediately assigned a spot in the veicolare program, even though we live just steps from the school. We had to wait. Luckily, we got a call in late August that Maya did in fact have a spot in one of the veicolare classrooms. There was a brief discussion as to whether she should be in the second grade class (since she didn't speak any Italian and would therefore be lost). Even Maya astutely pointed out "but I don't speak second grade Italian, either!" Our friends (whose daughter is also in the school) pledged to provide Italian language support for Maya, and there was quick agreement that, academically, third grade made sense. So that's where Maya started. And I left the rest of that background out of the previous school post because it didn't seem to matter much.

It started to matter on Thursday. On Thursday morning, Maya's veicolare English teacher (Anka, if you've been reading along with us) chased me down on the sidewalk outside of school. She asked if I wouldn't mind coming inside so she could talk with me. She told us that, basically, she and her colleagues had discussed the possibilities, and that the best option for Maya would be to switch to the bilingual program. Because she has no Italian language skills, following along in class was difficult for her. I told Anka that this was our original request as well, but that we had, so far, been happy with the situation and that Maya seemed to be doing alright. But I also conceded that the teachers are watching the kids everyday and they have a better sense of what's good and right. So we were willing to give it a try. I walked in and met Maya's (now former) Italian teacher (she was also very nice; she told Maya she could come back and say "hi" whenever she wanted), then walked down the hallway to meet the new English teacher (and Maya's now principle teacher). Her name is India. The students in the class were immediately very welcoming to Maya (they seemed genuinely excited about the "new girl"). And, after two days, Maya seems happy, too.

The parents in this class are just as open and welcoming as in the last class. We all went to a birthday party this afternoon, and we had the opportunity to talk to many of them at length. Many of the children speak very good English (some are native English speakers; there's even a girl who was born in Austin!). The downside of the switch (which, I think, is small) is that it will be slightly slower for Maya to learn Italian. On the other hand, Italian is the language of "play" for almost all of the kids, so that will hopefully be a forcing factor. It sounds like Maya will also still get some somewhat individual Italian instruction. The alternate homework Maya was given (in lieu of the actual Italian language homework) was to read (I assume with us) "Il tuo primo libro del corpo umano". This book, from the school's collection, is basically a book of body vocabulary. And not one you'd find in a Texas public school, given the anatomical completeness of the book.

On that note, I'm sure I'll have much to say about the content of education here. I already have a sense that, in some ways it will be excellent, and in some ways it will be, at least, different. I'm a bit sensitive to (but not yet concerned about) the pace of math. It's also apparent from talking to the other parents, especially those that have had children in both the US and Italian educational systems, that the emphases on subjects are very different. Math and reading are the super focus in the US, while a more rounded picture seems to be the focus here. What they appear to study in geography, history, and science here greatly outpaces an American elementary school. (And probably a topic for a whole different future post... I flipped through one of the third grade workbooks for science, which included an exercise that asked the student to put the pictures of animals in order of their evolutionary appearance on Earth...)