zillymom Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I'm new to the forums, and I have to say, seeing this board was what made me join! My DD is almost 2, but we are planning to homeschool. We've been raising her bilingually, Italian and English, since she was born. I'm wondering how that's going to work as she gets older, if we'll just do certain subjects in Italian, others in English, then switch it up, or what. But anyhow, very glad to find a homeschool board with a whole section dedicated to bilingual education! :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Can you elaborate on your situation? Is she learning Italian from a native speaker educated in Italian or you have some other situation at home? And most importantly - a dialect or Italian? Will her first contact with the standard Italian be books and school materials or she is spoken to in the standard? Which subjects would you like to cover in Italian? Are you going to model your school predominately by American or by Italian system (the two get mutually exclusive at some points, as you might be aware of it)? I can help A LOT in this camp, but I need considerably more information / concrete questions you are wondering about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zillymom Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 (edited) Hi Ester Maria, thanks for the reply! I speak to her in mostly standard Italian (any dialect that is in the mix is Neapolitan, I think). I'm not a native speaker, but lived there as a kid and was pretty much fluent when we moved away. I learned a good bit of Italian in school; and outside of school, all of our neighbors and most of my friends were Italian (and did not speak any English). Once back in the States though, I didn't really have anyone to practice with on a regular basis, and forgot a LOT. So now, I'm relearning it, but properly this time (and with help from native speakers). I'm hoping to stay well ahead of DD the whole time. :001_smile: So, exposure is 99% standard Italian. DD hears Italian a good part of the day, and I read to her a lot in Italian (she especially loves La mucca Moka!). I'd like her to pick it up as naturally as possible in these early years. Now that she's starting to talk, it's really exciting to hear words in both languages! I'm pretty sure we're going to model our school after an American system... I am still reading a lot about various homeschooling methods in general, so nothing is concrete on this front. ETA: I probably should say upfront that at this point, we're not leaning toward a classical route, but I love a lot of what I see on the WTM site and who knows, by the time DD is kindergarten age I may feel differently about what will suit her best. :) I guess my main concern is, if I'm the one responsible for speaking to DD in Italian, AND I'm the main person in charge of her studies, then don't I need to cover some subjects in Italian in order to keep up her Italian language skills? (I hope this question makes sense) Once DH gets home we tend to speak in English only, so I want to make sure we have a good balance between the two languages. Edited April 1, 2011 by zillymom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zillymom Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 Ester Maria, I'm excited to find this thread where you replied with specific books/authors. I have a couple of them, but you listed much more than I know of. This will really help me fill in my own gaps! I was just about to place another big order with IBS, too. Thanks! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 (edited) I guess my main concern is, if I'm the one responsible for speaking to DD in Italian, AND I'm the main person in charge of her studies, then don't I need to cover some subjects in Italian in order to keep up her Italian language skills? (I hope this question makes sense) Once DH gets home we tend to speak in English only, so I want to make sure we have a good balance between the two languages. If you want her to be literate, you have to include formal Italian education - at least when it comes to Italian as a subject itself. However, it might be difficult to teach Italian in Italian in isolation, as the programs are made to suit the needs of children who speak Italian as their dominant language and live in an Italian-speaking society. Also, you might not be able to teach fully on your own higher levels of it, unless your Italian is stellar, since high school literature is often quite linguistically challenging even for native-speaking Italians and it takes an italianist - a person with an advanced degree in Italian from an Italian university - to teach it properly. Because of all of that, you might wish to add additional areas which you study in Italian and/or have her learn Italian, at least partially and at least on higher levels of education, with an italianist or, if that is not possible, with an Italian speaker from Italy educated in Italian. No matter how well you speak Italian - I am writing all of this with an assumption your Italian is truly very good - she needs additional models for the language, especially in the context of learning Italian with Italian materials for school. I know you said you weren't interested in classical education, but you might still wish to consider learning Latin for a truly good, refined command of Italian. :001_smile: Edited April 2, 2011 by Ester Maria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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