about our school

Italian School of Portland (La Scuola Italiana di Portland) is a Reggio Emilia inspired pre-school with an emphasis on the Italian language for 3-4 year olds.

The Italian School is also an Italian language and cultural enrichment program that expands students’ language abilities and cultural perspectives in a fun, creative environment. We offer beginner, intermediate and advanced classes for children ages 3 through 12.

La Scuola, a 501-(c)3 non-profit organization, has grown from a small group of dedicated families to a thriving children’s language program with more than 30 students. If you have a love of the Italian culture or simply the desire for you or your kids to discover the richness of learning a second language, we invite you to join us.

about our preschool program

The program consists of different projects, which is a flexible planning style encouraging our students to learn in a multilevel and multimodal way, including content-based Italian classes.

1) NATURE PROJECT:

How is the natural world changing each season? We discover how the natural world is changing through direct observations and taking pictures of these changes, then registering each change with drawings and notes.

2) ART PROJECT:

“Making Art” is a spontaneous way for a child to express himself and communicate his/her own personal experience to other people. With this project the children will find the way to express themselves through a different communicative language: visual literacy.

3) CULTURE PROJECT:

The meeting between American and Italian cultures in our classroom presents an opportunity for an authentic diversity experience which will permit the students to focus their attention on other realities, both near and far from them. We will teach our students about the most important Italian festivals, using constructive methods including short interactive stories, dance, folkloric music, and songs.

4) READING PROJECT:

“Stories – said C. Lewis – are like a gift of love, they do not ask anything in return”. Children love to listen to the voice of an adult that is reading a story. We will use Italian childhood literature to help the students build an affectionate relationship with the Italian language.

5) MUSIC PROJECT:

Counting, lullabies, limericks, a little poetry in rhyme and children’s songs will be part of our musical project. The perception of rhythm and the musical sounds- the melody of a foreign language, helps students to feel comfortable with a new language.

6) BODY LANGUAGE AND PLAY PROJECT:

Movement games are important to build a positive relationship between the body and a language. These games not only reinforce the target language, but are also useful for the development of his/her personality. One of our objectives will be to create a comfortable learning environment, where the children can feel trust and happiness, therefore lowering their affective filters and allowing them to express themselves in a natural and spontaneous way.

contact info:

phone:  971-270-0470

email:  info@scuola.us

web: http://www.scuola.us

open house times:

By appointment