In all of our preparations to come here there was only one thing we were really concerned about, and that was Italian school. Should we send them, should we not, should we hold them back, how will they deal with the stress, will they get a good education, is the stress worth knowing the Italian language (a somewhat useless one) and on and on and on. But we came and we asked around and we considered and came to the conclusion that, yes, with all the information we have and a long term vision in mind, we do want to send them to Italian school.
There have been a lot of nay sayers. We've had Americans here telling us that Italian kids are mean, aggressive bullies that hit a lot and the teachers do nothing about it. We've had them tell us that the teachers here are cold and that they don't care about our kids because they know that they are not going to be here for very long. We've had Americans tell us that the teachers will refuse to speak any English to us, as parents, or our children in school and that they are very unhelpful. But we also, thankfully, spoke with other parents who opted to put their children in Italian school and heard their votes of confidence. One friend eased my mind by telling me how quickly her children picked up the language and dispelling the idea that Italian teachers don't care about bullying and physical abuse. She did have one experience with a kid teasing her son and the teacher nipped it in the bud within one day. That kid and her son are now best friends. Another woman who has been here for 8 years, told me all about the kind of education system here, how they teach (she has been quite impressed), their emphasis on science, things out of doors and unique field trips, the art of school lunches and some of the downfalls to Italian education, like their lack of technology/computer experience. She is a teacher herself and says that when she goes back to work, if at all possible in the American School system she is going to teach students to read the way Italians do. In the end we chose to really focus on the information from those that actually attended the schools mostly because, I think, it's what we wanted to hear. In our minds and hearts we had made our decision and felt like even if all of what the naysayers had to say were true, the pros out weighed the cons. Here are a few of our pros:
Our children will be exposed in a day to day way to a new culture, a different (albeit slight) way of thinking that Joey and I could never give to them otherwise and an experience in Italy that without attending school here, they could never have. They will learn another language, which, embarrassingly is so rare in the United States (uhh hmm, a big plus for serving mission isn't it?!) which, even though this is huge, it really isn't my #1 reason for sending them. With our kids in the Italian school system we will meet families in our immediate community, hopefully make long term friends across the globe and make the difference between a good experience here and an exceptional one. They will make friends that live across the street rather than 45 minutes away (Americans here are really spread out). They will know what it feels like to be a fish out of water and develop compassion for foreigners in the states. The bottom line is, really that we're living in Italy. Why keep ourselves and our children in the comfortable protection of the US bubble when we're here...in freaking Italy! We have an opportunity and I can't imagine, especially now that we've made it through the first couple of day, why on earth we wouldn't want to take it.
The kids came home today, their second day of Italian school, with bright eyes and big smiles spread across their faces. The kids in school are asking for their autographs! Ha!! On the play ground, Isaac and Georgie play together and italian kid after Italian kid approaches them wanting to know where they are from and what their names are. They feel like superstars. The teachers are every bit of warm and fuzzy and speak all kinds of English to us, as much as they can, frequently apologizing that they can't speak more (what they do speak is plenty sufficient). They joke with kids, hug the kids and make rules that "they must wear a smile";). Isaacs new friend, our neighbor, I thought just might be a bit of an exclusionist (big title for a 7 year old, no;) and I actually worried about it much of the morning while they were away today, after I'd met the boy for the first time. He wore a subtle mohawk, is really handsome and seemed to have a little posse of giggling boys that surrounded him. But the second thing Isaac said when he got off the bus, with wide eyes of surprise, was "Alessandra is soooo nice. He helped me a lot, asked me to sit by him and gave me his notebook to use because I didn't have one." The experience, thus far, has been encouraging in every way.
I realize that bumps are before us. That there will be crying fits over homework and mornings of resisting school over cold cereal. It will be hard for them to face day after day of expectation dashed with confusion and, sometimes, failure. But this too shall pass. And when it does I think the kids will have a really, really great gift that will last a lifetime in the way most gifts do not. I am grateful for this experience.
