“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one
child, and one teacher can change the world.”

Mathematics, Science, History, Sport, Art, Informatics, English, Italian and so much more …
Primary School

The child who enters primary school is a child rich in experiences who already knows many things, but his learning is still based mainly on play. What the Italian primary school aims to do is to acquire basic skills which will gradually become more structured over the years such as the ability to communicate effectively, the ability to solve problems, the ability to work in a team and the ability to think critically. The educational objectives of the school can be translated into a child who cares and respects himself; understands and respects the rules of social coexistence; reflects on the values of coexistence, democracy and citizenship; acts on the context by making his own contribution; assumes responsible attitudes; undertakes roles and behaviors of active and community participation; develops conscious behaviors of civil coexistence; respect for diversity; and is responsible for discussion and dialogue.
One of the most common teaching methods used in primary school is the frontal method, in which the teacher conducts the lessons by presenting the topic in a systematic way and providing explanations and demonstrations, however teaching methodologies can include the use of teaching materials such as textbooks, audiovisual and practical activities, as well as the use of active teaching methods such as problem solving, group work and cooperative learning.

Other teaching methods commonly used in primary school include the discussion method, in which students discuss and solve problems in groups, and the experiential learning method, in which students learn through exploration and direct observation of the world around them.

Attention is paid to the classroom, making it lively with colored posters on the walls and arranging the desks so that each student has good visibility and can move around the classroom more easily, without disturbing the activities of their classmates. Naturally, the desks can be moved if you work in a group or if there is a need for a particular arrangement to carry out different activities.

When teaching Italian in the first grades of primary school, free and guided conversations, topics of direct experience, reading by the teacher, listening to simple narrative and/or poetic texts, structured games outdoors or in school environments, stories of personal experiences, collective discussions, reading of simple sentences, reading and global understanding of short narrative texts, manipulative and paragraphing, observation, and generalization activities are preferred.

In teaching history, we start with simple questions such as: «What did you do after school yesterday? » to bring students to recognize the concept of «Time». Through educational and playful activities and using various material tools such as clocks and calendars or graphs such as their photos as children, they are helped to produce information using traces of the past. As far as geography is concerned, students are encouraged to recognize the spaces in which they play, eat, make friends…

Starting from school spaces we go further to push students to orient themselves in the spaces they recognize. Spatial indicators are used to describe spaces and paths and graphic drawings to recognize the symbols combined with their meaning. Pupils are guided to identify the simple elements that characterize a landscape, often also through school trips.

1st and 2nd Primary

In the beginning years of primary school (1st and 2nd Primary) learners will be exposed to a practical use of foundational English that apply to their daily lives within and outside of the school. By introducing them to different themes of vocabulary, beginning reading and writing while practicing the different techniques needed to improve these skills as well as encouraging their speaking and listening abilities within the class with their peers and teachers. Also included within the curriculum are the fundamentals of mathematics from the beginning stages of numeracy to more advanced topics such as multiplication, as well as exploring themes of science seen in nature and the world around them.

 

Furthermore the 1st and 2nd Primary is seen as a transitional stage, giving learners time to adapt themselves to a different school environment than Kindergarten and Preschool, giving them time to adjust to and build the social, mental and practical skills necessary for them to succeed throughout their later school experiences.

English 1st Primary

  • Exploring vocabulary through basic themes. (Objects, animals, colours, holidays and celebrations, people and places, etc.)
  • The letters of the alphabet and their phonetic sounds.
  • Conversational English appropriate to their age and level.
  • Beginning reading of simple words and sentences.
  • Building handwriting strength and stamina.
  • Exploring the local culture as well as their own nationalities through different seasonal celebrations and developing acceptance amongst their classmates despite their different backgrounds.

Mathematics and Science 1st Primary

  • Early numeracy: Recognizing and counting numbers up to 20 as well as their value.
  • Addition and subtraction within 20 and practicing learner’s mental fluency of sums.
  • Shapes and their characteristics.
  • Introduction to graphing and grouping of data.
  • The phases of the day (morning, afternoon, evening and night) and the progression of the seasons.
  • The senses of the human body (sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell).
  • Animals and their basic characteristics.
  • Different materials and their properties and usage in everyday life.

English 2nd Primary

  • Continuing the exploration of phonetic sounds from individual letters to letter blends, long and short vowels and word families.
  • Progressing from reading simple words and sentences to short passages and texts.
  • Encouraging learners to practice and improve their practical speaking and listening skills to express their more complex ideas and observations.
  • Improving on their writing and dictation skills through regular spelling tests.
  • Improving on their handwriting and reading skills through regular practice.
  • Encouraging the reading of books to explore topics of interest to them.

 

Mathematics and Science 2nd Primary

  • Different systems of measurement and their practical usage.
  • Reading the calendar and days of the week and months of the year.
  • Numbers to 100 and their values.
  • Addition and subtraction within 100, with and without regrouping.
  • Skip counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.
  • Collecting and organizing data to create graphs.
  • Multiplication up to their 10 times tables.

Methodology

  • Coursebooks focusing on their phonetic skills as well as reading, handwriting and mathematics skills practice.
  • Technology based learning using video, PowerPoint and online resource-based lessons to explore themes of vocabulary and other relevant topics.
  • Game based learning using interactive online games to be played together as a group to encourage reading and review previously covered topics.
  • Board games and Interactive whiteboard activities to encourage group play and cooperation.
  • Weekly spelling tests (for the 2nd Primary) to encourage practice at home of different word families and spelling patterns.
  • Monthly assessment of their practical, written and oral skills.

3rd 4th and 5th Primary

We want to present to you the teaching program of Italian, History, Geography and Civic Education for the third, fourth and fifth grades. Our goal is to promote the Italian language and culture abroad. Do you want to start this long journey with us?

Sometimes it can be hard to study but we can make it fun! History is designed to help us to learn to not make the mistakes that our ancestors made. Through Geography we can learn and discover the world. During our Italian lessons we can learn about this magical language, as well as focusing on the importance of Grammar to be able to speak and write correctly. Furthermore, Civic Education helps to train responsible and active citizens and to promote full and conscious participation in the civic, cultural and social life of communities, respecting the rules, rights and duties. Let`s start with Italian.

Over the years, students will learn to communicate, read and write in Italian, expanding their lexical knowledge over time through scholastic and extracurricular experiences. Starting from the third grade on wards, we will begin to study and analyze the different textual typologies starting from the narrative text up to the study of poetic and theatrical texts, allowing students, through the study and reading of these, to obtain useful information to expand their knowledge. To make the lessons and program more fun for the kids, there will be workshops and show activities especially during the holidays and Italian language week.

History, on the other hand, represents our roots, our starting point. Knowing and studying history well will make more aware human beings. The main objective is to understand the events of the past, analyzing the various facts, events and people who have contributed to determining the cultural, religious and social characteristics in reference to the history of great civilizations. The students, from the third grade, will start from the study of prehistory up to the appearance of man, examining that transition from prehistoric man to historical man in ancient civilizations. In the following years they will focus on the study of these, knowing the essential stages that have characterized the evolution of civilizations and societies over time. To make our lessons more fun, we will organize laboratory activities that will include: educational games, watching documentaries and much more.

And Geography?

The main objective will be to excite and involve the child in a journey in which they will discover himself as a citizen of the world. From the third grade onwards, students will learn to orient themselves in space through the use of cardinal points and maps; to read geographical maps and study natural landscapes (the mountains, the plains, the river, the sea…), also continuing on into the following years we will go into an in-depth study of Italy and its regions.

Mathematics

  • Reading and writing from natural numbers (from 0 to large numbers), with written and mental calculations;
  • Perform the four operations with different methods, tools and techniques;
  • Solve problems using the four operations;
  • Know decimal numbers, fractions and relative numbers;
  • Orient oneself in space and represent it graphically;
  • Recognize, describe, calculate, the elements of geometric figures;
  • Associate the corresponding quantities with the units of measurement using various tools.

The various fun and artistic activities are designed to stimulate creativity and can vary depending on the difficulty or not of the student. With MEMO cards, with Rules, to know the numbers, pronounce them, create groupings; Construction of boards, to understand simple additions and with change;

Create the game of Dominoes, to learn the multiplication tables either with Tombola or by repeating them by singing (Montessori Method) by creating origami and tangram, we help the student to learn mathematical and geometric concepts from the simple to the most complex. For each topic, motor games are created in the classroom, in the gym, in the canteen and in the garden on Space, Measurements and Figures.

Science

The science course involves the active involvement of students to, observe and reflect on the surrounding reality. At the end of the experiments in the laboratory, we give great importance to their considerations and their questions about what they have seen or achieved.

  • Classify various objects (leaves, stones, flowers, books, pencils, animals, etc.), repeating their names in Italian and English, and then classifying them into living and non-living;
  • Recognize and describe natural and man-made objects
  • Recognizes materials and their characteristics.
  • Describe in a cyclical transformation the transition from one state to another and recognize its causes, and the behavior of some substances.
  • The animal kingdom. Classification, Nutrition, etc.
  • Recognize the parts in the structure of plants, flowers and fruits, starting from the cell.
  • Be familiar with the various characteristics of the air.
  • The characteristics of the subsoil with various experiments (e.g. the volcano).
  • The Universe, how it was formed. The Solar System. The seasons, day and night, etc.
  • Know the different types of energy and which ones can create clean energy.
  • Know and analyze all parts of the human body.