The mutual help society

Copyright@Catherine Rodgers Giussani

I am often asked what it is like to raise a child in Italy. What would you like to know reader? Write your question in the comment box below and I'll try to answer and provide here an overview. 

Walking by the  "Mutual Help Society" recently I was struck by the fact that it was a dance hall. Tango wafted out the windows and inside couples of all ages were couple dancing. Much like this, raising a child in Italy requires great coordination, orchestration and dramatic use public facilities. 

Sometimes you get lucky and there is a fair balance between the public space and basic services. My nine-year old's elementary school is in two 1930's saffron yellow buildings connected by a second floor glass tunnel next to a park full of magnolia,  oak, maple and plane trees.  As long as families provide all the paper products, yes, including toilet paper, all runs fairly smoothly and everyone shows up for the two PTA meetings a year. 

I still find it unacceptable that the report cards have to be picked up in person on at a specific time and place which always seems to fall on a date when we are not in town. I also find it crazy at then end of the school year the teachers do not know what date school starts in the fall given that the administrative council decides over the summer. 

The grades were to be online this year but some teachers refused to learn the new system. Compliance is always questioned and questionable in Italy but there is hope for next year. As far as the start date, we'll continue to book around the date of the previous year's start date. Change is coming but it's taking the slow boat to China!

The adjacent park is beautiful until school let's out and it is overpopulated by hundreds of children fighting to swing, slide, jungle gym and just play.  This forces you to come up with alternate activities away from school either with schoolmates or other friends.  So far we have tried swimming, piano, ballet and Latin dance, golf, tennis and windsurfing, and skiing. In essence the savings from public school after paying for lunch, about $800 a year, is applied to extracurricular activities. Courses are anywhere from $6-60 an hour.

Children stay with the same teacher for all five years of elementary and a second teacher may or may not given several circumstances such as contractual disputes or qualifications.  In two years the team of teachers changed five times in my child's class.  The math teacher moved from first to fifth grade, the second one was murdered, the third moved to another school and the fourth walked off the job after a contract dispute, the fifth one remains.   Even though her Italian Bachelor plus Master equivalent, the laurea, a five year degree program, is a specialization in Italian literature, she teaches math and science. One teacher is of Southern Italian origin and close to retirement, the other of Northern Italian background and just starting. 

The teaching method is teacher-centered and the atmosphere is competitive. Tests are both written and oral and not announced. Not only do I not know when the tests will be, day to day it is hard to know what subject is taught as the teachers alternate so one can come in the morning one day and the afternoon the next. Although my experience as a teacher for many years in the United States makes be cry a rebel yell at this method and management I also know my child will have no trouble with complex schedules and impromptu tests for information from here on out. 

How do you find out what your grades are? What class you prepare for? What test is next? People in Italy speak up and ask.  The mutual help society can come to your aid.

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