LEARNING AT SIEF

 

DUAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION

SIEF International School is a dual-lingual school, where children and parents are exposed to both Italian and English. Families and students do not need to be exposed to the Italian language before coming to SIEF, and our goal is to have them become—over time—fully bilingual, biliterate and bicultural.

It is shown that being bilingual supports cognitive and social development, but most importantly, it develops intercultural competencies, which are much needed in our global society.

Our goal is for our children to achieve a bilingual, biliteracy and bicultural proficiency: we would love for them to be equally competent in both languages in interpersonal communication as well as in academic skills.

In their everyday life at school, students are exposed to—and are deeply imbued with—Italian culture. We also explore and celebrate holidays and Italian school norms like Befana and Carnevale. We share meals in the way of an Italian family, understanding that the joy shared in a meal is also critical for development and wellness. SIEF is an inclusive international environment, teaching students to embrace their own cultures and traditions as well. Teachers invite families to share culture and traditions that are important to them as we converse and commune over the many ways of thinking, feeling, celebrating, and being.


ITALIAN CAMPS and LANGUAGE CLASSES

ITALIAN SUMMER CAMPS at SIEF’s 1510 N CLAREMONT CAMPUS

Join us in 2024 for three, six, or nine consecutive weeks of summer fun at our beautiful and child centric “Claremont campus” in Wicker Park.

LINK TO ENROLL: https://form.jotform.com/240306018597153

Scuola Italiana Enrico Fermi, 1510 N Claremont Avenue (and LaMoyne), Wicker Park, Chicago
Italian Arts Summer Camps: Fine, Performing, and Culinary Arts
Ages 4-8 years old

Immerse in a Reggio Emilia informed summer as we explore fine, performing, and culinary arts. We will study Italian cuisine, artistic masters and movements, and the work of inventors and builders--starting in Italy and then connecting to the world. Students will attend a weekly field trip off site to deepen and enrich their studies and further fuel their personal curiosities. We will enjoy summer weather, water play, and outdoor time daily at our beautiful, child centric Claremont Avenue scuola. A delightful balance of indoor and outdoor play, inquiry, learning, and study with project work sharing time the final day of each session. All language levels are welcomed and planned for. This is an intimate group and will fill fast. Please reach out if questions — limited number of placements available.

Session One: June 17 - July 3
Fee: $1630
Note: No classes July 4 and 5, 2024
Session Two: July 8 - July 26
Fee: $1730
Session Three: July 29 - August 16
Fee: $1730
Drop off: 8:30am Pick up: 3:00pm - fee includes Aftercare until 5:45pm daily as needed

What to Bring:
-BYO nut free lunch daily (two organic snacks provided daily)
-Sunscreen and sun hat for everyday use
-Refillable water bottle
-Full change of clothing
-Clothing for outdoor water play including footwear that can get wet
-A sweatshirt in case AC is too cold
-Kindly label all camp items with your child's name

-Organic snacks, camp art journal, camp tshirts provided
-Bussing and fees for all off site field trips included
-Daily Aftercare option included
-? to director@siefchicago.org

ITALIAN WORLD CAMP at Lycée Français de Chicago

Join us in 2024 for three or all six consecutive weeks of summer fun at the beautiful Lycée Français de Chicago campus on the north side—we will soak up Italian language, culture, e amici nuovi! This is a larger grouping in a dynamic environment.

REGISTRATION is OPEN and limited so please sign up now. This program runs through Lycée Français de Chicago with the leadership of SIEF’s Angela Gloninger. https://www.lyceeworldcamp.org/

with SIEF Community Outreach Coordinator, Annalisa Schifano and returning co-teachers, maestra Giulia Picariello Signori (Tuesdays) and Megan Rensing (Saturdays)

ITALIAN LANGUAGE PLAYGROUPS & CLASSES

Tuesdays and Saturdays:

FULL INFO/Spring Registration HERE

Enrollment for the 2024 “Il Nido” Italian playgroups and “Giochiamo Insieme” Italian language classes IS OPEN.

Grow, explore, connect, and THRIVE with us this springtime! We are meeting at SIEF International School, 1510 N. Claremont Avenue, free parking in lot. You must please enter through SIEF's entry (not the Parish)--we will be in Classe Bosco on Saturdays, and our 3rd floor classroom on Tuesdays. La primavera "Il Nido" and "Giochiamo insieme" dates (Tuesdays AND Saturdays or just sign up for one or the other) APRIL 20, 23, 27, 30 MAY 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28 and JUNE 1, 4, 8, 11. Bring your own SIEF COMMUNITY PICNIC at Holstein Park on June 15 from 9:00-11:00am. We will have l'autunno 2024 offerings as well--evviva! Cost:  $120 for 8 sessions--incontriamoci con altri genitori e bambini per chiacchierare, giocare e divertirci insieme! Don't miss out, classes fill fast; prior participation is not required, just jump in and have a great time! Questions? aschifano@siefchicago.org CLICK LINK ABOVE TO SEE ALL INFO AND REGISTER

 

ATELIER PROGRAMS for SIEF Studenti

  • Gordon Method Music Appreciation

    A SIEF winter favorite with maestro Tommaso Moretti

    Winter becomes fun and harmonious when maestro Tommasso returns each year to SIEF! His “Music ABC” class is a full immersion in “song language”; instead of talking, we sing and use rhythm patterns and tones to communicate; our hands, bodies, feet, and instruments help us tell a musical story! This offering will start to activate your child’s musical thinking (audiation). Interacting exclusively in a musical way, the teacher and the studenti investigate the essential elements of music and discover the emotions hidden inside of those. Short tonal and rhythmic songs—extracted from the classical, jazz, and folk repertories of the world—capture the students’ imaginations as explored through playful activities and body movements.

    ABOUT TOMMASO:

    Tommaso Moretti is a musician, educator, and composer born and raised in Macerata, Italy who relocated to Chicago in 2013.
    In 2001, Tommaso moved to Rome to study Political Science at "Università La Sapienza" where he graduated in 2006.
    Between 2005-2013 he released albums and toured internationally with four different bands from Rome: Thrangh, Tribraco, The Orange Man Theory, Underdog.
    In 2007, Tommaso attended the basic level, the advanced level, and the specialization workshop of the national training course, "The Child's Musical Education from 0 to 6 Years Old According to the Music Learning Theory of E.E. Gordon" conducted by Andrea Apostoli, president of the Italian Association Of Musical Learning (A.I.G.A.M). Maestro Tommaso successfully passed the final exam.
    Immediately after obtaining his certification as an early childhood music educator, he began working in many different daycare centers and Kindergartens in Rome and also started teaching drums in two different local, private music schools.
    Since relocating to Chicago, Tommaso has become active in the city's vibrant music scene, performing nationally/internationally and releasing albums with bands and artists such as: Ben Lamar Gay, Rob Fry's Exoplanet, Eric Hines's Pan Dulce, Chicago Samba. In 2017 he released his first album as a leader: "SemoComesemo" for the local music label Amalgam.
    Tommaso is currently employed as an early childhood music teacher at Scuola Italiana Enrico Fermi in Chicago and he works as drum kit educator at Music House, a local music school.

  • Teaching Artist, classe Finestre

    Natalja Aicardi

    “We imagine new spaces, explore our body and voice, play and improvise individually and with the group.”

    The “atelier of the body” is an embrace of play, motion, kinesiology, theatre, and truly being present with children. Led by Natalja Aicardi, students are engaged to use their bodies and inherent artistry to deepen play, explorations, and investigations.

    In addition to “atelier of the body”, and as a diversely experienced performer, educator, and creative, maestra Natalja works alongside Finestre colleague Roberta Garufi and SIEF Atelierista, Chiara Calci, to deepen the progettazione emerging from the classroom. Project work “re-launches” throughout the school year, culminating in a public showcase or performance to bring SIEF to the community and the community to SIEF. We journey WITH our studenti at SIEF.

  • Aftercare Atelier

    At SIEF’s Aftercare Atelier program, children explore many methods, mediums, and forms of artistic expression.

    As the year progresses, professional painter and SIEF Teaching Artist, Harper Veresiuk, and SIEF early childhood educator, Tim McGinty, introduce students to new artists and movements—Vincent Van Gogh’s expressionistic palette, Andy Warhol and Pop Art, Mondrian’s geometric abstraction, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s close observation of nature.

    The students observe the Teaching Artist, modeling the artist’s techniques, and then use provided materials to repeat, improve upon, and benefit. Students are taught about and invited to explore different types of brushes, papers, paints, and other high-quality art materials, and are given agency to express themselves as artists, without constraint.

    While working on projects or individual pieces, the students are encouraged to practice again, “positive peer critique”––a technique used in all of SIEF’s classrooms, to reflect together and speak concisely and kindly about others' work. Children learn to communicate in artistic terms and apply this knowledge in daily life. Open daily to every enrolled SIEF student, the Aftercare Atelier works toward a final student showcase in May.

“The artistic languages and poetic languages allow the other subject matters and disciplines to develop in a terrain that’s very fertile for development of a more human kind of knowledge where rationality, expressiveness, and emotion are all linked.”

Vea Vecchi, curriculum consultant, Reggio Children