ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PRIMO CIRCOLO DIDATTICO “G. VERGA” Scordia Sicily/Italy

Method The children learn the fundamentals of the English language through various activities which include songs, rhymes, music, stories, creative play and imaginative play. Our program allows children to learn by having them pursue their own personal interests. We want to encourage children's natural curiosity an interest in learning by providing them with stimulating activities in an environment created just for them.

How we work with the children The children explore, question and discover solutions by themselves which allows them to further develop their self-esteem, confidence, creativity, social skills, thinking skills and the maturity they will need for elementary school and beyond.Through carefully organized play, stories, songs and other motivating activities the children enjoy themselves while gaining the fundamental building blocks they will need for the rest of their educational life.

Our teachers do not directly teach math, science, reading, writing and other academic skills, instead we provide the experiences and materials to help the children develop the logical abilities that are the foundation for later academic learning. Children learn by doing, and through activities such as sand and water play, construction play, puzzles, arts and crafts and imaginative play they obtain a foundation in the basic skills of mathematics, reading, writing and speaking in English. Our schol offers child care programmes for children aged 1 to 3 years also. The children receive quality care through our English How we teach subjects

The curriculum The curriculum the staff provides for the children is planned broadly around a theme at weekly planning meetings. The planning begins by both looking at children's individual needs and stages of development and children's current interests. This will also take into consideration what may be happening in the family or community, i.e. a new baby on arrival or a festival time. The choice of activities we offer spans over the following curricula areas: music, physical development, creative and aesthetic development, imaginative and social development and personal and spiritual development. The plans and provisions encompass both indoor and outdoor activities.

Each area of the classroom is set for a particular play activity. -The home corner (with kitchen and other household play furniture) - the dress-up corner (with dress-up clothes and a mirror) for imaginative and creative play - the book corner (with a classroom based library) for reading and listening to stories -the writing area for writing activities -the music corner (with musical instruments, tape recorder, etc.) for singing, listening and playing music -the creative area (with a painting easel, scissors, glue, clay, collage materials) for manipulative and creative activities -the construction area (with duplo, legos, wooden building blocks), -the puzzles corner as well as the sand and water play areas. HOW IS OUR CLASSROOMS

The classrooms will also have theme tables/areas where display material and activities will link up to the specific topic work carried out by the children during the course of the year. All materials and resources are easily accessible to the children, who are encouraged to use their own initiative in making choices and planning their learning, but also to learn how to keep their room looking clean and tidy after they finish having fun!

We have a large selection of toys to encourage the play, general development and social skills they will need for their educational life. They construction play, puzzles, arts and crafts and imaginative play. In this way they obtain a foundation in the basic skills of mathematics, reading, writing and speaking in English.