L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 9 Jan. 19, Mon. – Vancouver Sons of Italy Book Club at 7:00pm, Barnes & Noble, 7700 NE Fourth Plain Blvd. in Vancouver, WA. For information, contact Barbara Blair at blairbjb@comcast.net Jan. 21, Wed. – Festa Italiana Association monthly meeting at 7:00pm, St. Philip Neri Parish Center, corner of SE 16th and Division Streets in Portland. For information, contact Barbara Blair at blairbjb@comcast.net Jan. 25, Sun. – Italian Hour on KBOO 90.7 FM from 9:00 to 10:00am. Contemporary and classic Italian music, featuring news of the local Italian community. Listen online at www.kboo.fm Feb. 1, Sun. – Club Paesano's Annual Super Bowl Party, Cedarville Park Lodge, 3800 E. Powell Loop in Gresham. Doors open at 1:00pm. Watch the game on 3 huge screens while enjoying Italian buffet and no host bar; snacks, games, and prizes all day. Contact Marc Battilega to make your reservation, metromarine@mac.com Italian Language and Culture Thriving at La Scuola Italiana di Portland La Scuola Italiana employs the Reggio Emilia approach, a full immersion program that fos- ters children's intellectual devel- opment through multi-sensory, child directed learning. In other words, the children learn as they would naturally, by using Italian in everyday activities, such as cooking and picking up their toys. The school also maintains a low teacher-to-student ratio to allow for more individualized attention. This is important to Lara. "When I taught in Italy," she explains, "the ratio in the ele- mentary school was 25 to 1. In this preschool, we have one teacher for every four students." The theme for this year's preschool is "At School with the Smurfs," and Lara uses it to introduce the students to num- bers, letters, nouns, and verbs. They sing songs to memorize days, months and colors, and play games such as "C'è o Non C'è?" and "Buffo," a board game using dice where the children practice counting in Italian as they move around the board. The children also learn to use the polite words "Scusa," "Grazie," and "Per favore." Founder Grazia Solazzi is the driving force behind La Scuola Italiana. When she came to the United States with her family in 2001, she had no plans to open a school. But when her children began to read and write in English, it became important that her children retain their native language. She wanted her chil- dren to be at ease in both Italian and American cultures. Together with other parents who shared her vision, she founded La Scuola Italiana di Portland in 2006. It is the only Italian language school for chil- dren in the greater Portland met- ropolitan area. "There are many excellent benefits to raising a bilingual At the corner of NW 14th and Quimby stands Friendly House, the home of "La Scuola Italiana di Portland's preschool". Parents and preschoolers open the door and are instantly inside an Italian classroom; Italian children's music is playing softly in the background, papers with finger- paint handprints hang on the walls, and colorful posters for the days of the week and number charts hang in a corner filled with throw pillows. There are toys everywhere and books in Italian fill several shelves. In the middle of it all is "Maestra Lara" Carnovali, stand- ing in her stocking feet with a big smile on her face and wel- coming each child and parent in Italian. She speaks constantly to the children, directing them, ask- ing questions and encouraging the children to answer her in Italian. The atmosphere is so engaging that no one even notices when mom or dad slips quietly out the door. Lara is a native Italian. She received her degree in Education (Scienze della Formazione Primaria) from the University of Milano-Bicocca in 2008 and taught elementary school in Milano before moving to Oregon with her husband and children. She knows firsthand how quickly children pick up a new language. Her young children have begun using English more and more. Children younger than five years old tend to pick up multi- ple languages very quickly, which is why it is important to introduce a new language as early as possible. Some children attend the preschool just two days a week but already speak and understand a multitude of words and phrases. "I am jealous," Lara laughs. "They speak Italian better than I speak English!" child," Grazia explains, "Children develop better problem solving skills and achieve better overall school performance. And the earlier a child begins learning a second language, the more like- ly it will be for him or her to reach native-like fluency." All teachers at La Scuola Italiana are native or native-flu- ent. The goal is not simply teaching the language - it is about helping students understand Italian culture and how Italians interact with one another. In addition to preschool, the school also offers classes for older chil- dren and adults, as well as sum- mer camps for children of all ages. "Our biggest challenge is pro- viding the best teachers," says Grazia. "We want native or native-like speakers with strong teaching skills. Not an easy com- bination to find in Portland!" Winner of Red Tricycle's "Totally Awesome Children's Language Classes" award for three consecutive years, La Scuola Italiana is not your typical brick and mortar school. Keeping overhead costs down is the primary concern; administra- tive staff work from home and the space at Friendly House is leased. The school is also a reg- istered 501(c)3 nonprofit. "Our goal is to someday have an Italian Cultural Center which would house the school," Grazia shares. "It would also be a place for the Italian groups to meet and we would have other Italian cul- tural programs – films, cooking demonstrations and lectures. It would also be nice to have a library set up. We are just start- ing out now." For more information, visit La Scuola Italiana di Portland at www.scuola.us Students at La Scuola Italiana begin learning and speaking Italian from an early age KERRY-LYNNE DEMARINIS BROWN Cooking is a fun and delicious way to teach basic numbers and instructions in the Italian language

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