Learning Italian the Summer Camp Way

It's about 10 a.m. on a Thursday morning, and a group of eight mostly 4- and 5-year olds are wearing paper chef hats as they spread sauce over individual pieces of dough, making their own pizza.

They learn pomodoro (tomato) and basilico (basil) and of course, la pizza.

The ragazzi, as instructor Leslie Poole Petit calls them, are campers at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center's summer camp, Girotondo, which immerses the young kids in all things Italian.

"They not only learn the language, they learn the culture and that's our main goal," says Patrizia Calce, the program administrator at the Center, "To have them love the culture and the language associated with the culture."

The camp, which wraps up this week, is now in its second season. Meeting three times a week for two hours a day, kids participate in many of the traditional camp activities, including arts and crafts, sing-a-longs, and reading sessions. But there's one main difference: They are spoken to mostly in Italian. 

And while campers are not required to have any knowledge of Italian beforehand, Calce notes that in the course of the five-week program, they become more and more comfortable with the language.

"By the end of the five weeks, not only are they able to understand the questions we'll ask them, but they come up with their own answers using the words that have been used throughout the session," she explains.

Poole Petit, who has doctorate in applied linguistics from Columbia University, has been teaching classes at the Center since it first opened.

"I really try to speak in Italian," she says, "I want to also make it as fun as possible."

In the large classroom upstairs, Poole Petit, a Crestwood resident, uses Italian teaching materials—many of which she translates herself. On the day the kids made their own pizza, there is an easel displaying a story in Italian about the food. Kids also sing and dance to songs, such as the camps namesake, Girotondo, sung to the tune of Ring Around the Rosie. 

This year, Poole Petit centered the camp curriculum on the season and the months—for the winter, kids learned neve, or snow and in June they were taught, La Festa Del Papa, or Father's Day.

To her, part of the importance of teaching the language to younger children is to maintain the culture and the language for generations to come.

And for many, this is just the beginning of their language training. Some campers will return in the fall for the Center's language classes, which are offered to children ages 2 1/2 to 12.

And parent's reactions have been positive as well.

"It's amazing," says Bronxville resident Cathy Rodriguez, whose son Matthew attends the camp, "[It's] full of opportunity to learn and play and have fun."

Calce echoes that sentiment. "Our main objective is to have them love what they do," she says, "Not stressing them out with grammar or specific requirements, but if they love coming and they have a great time – which they always do – then they love the language and they'll come back and they want to learn."