indiebird

Well spoke to the lady who runs our language school. She also ran the lesson for us last night and based it on a couple of psychological games to help us all with the issues of living in a strange place and she got the kids involved too which I think really helped ds as he is often better at relating to adults than other kids. As one of my friends says he should just miss out the childhood bit and go straight into being an adult. Trouble is that a lot of adults can't cope with kids like this as they have their own opinion and many still hold the view that kids should be seen and not heard and certainly not address a grown up as though you are equals!! (me too sometimes -especially when he has a valid point I don't want to hear )

Anyway after the lesson she grabbed me and told me she had spoken with a couple of teacher friends who know my sons school (the school her kids go to is under the same Presida) She said that they were shocked but not totally surprised but one has offered, in conjunction with the school psychologist for the area, to come into our language school as from January and the teacher will offer babysitting and play for all of the kids of students (there are quite a few now with kids) whilst the psychologist is going to help with any issues that are there with kids. She even thanked me for highlighting a problem with the immigrant kids and for giving her the idea to offer this!!

We've also been invited by a Romanian woman with kids here to go to a Saturday morning kids club aimed at integrating kids both italian and foreign. Not sure oh is that keen but I've decided to do it anyway as I think it will be good for my kids to mix a bit more and in different circles. The trouble with us is that we don't quite fit in here as we're foreign but we also don't fit at the language school because a lot of them are illegals or suffer really badly cos they are Romanian or Albanian and the italians want them here even less than us. We're also off round the house of a girl in my son's class after school today. I really, struggle to understand the mum and she is a bit negative about everything, but our kids seem to be really friendly at the moment and so both of us are willing to make the effort I think.

37100

Great Indie. I'm sure it will help you help ds cope, though as he only has a few more months, he won't be reaping the full benefit, but you can tell him, "look what you made happen".

Not sure about the kid's get together. It could turn into a major 'let's all moan about it together'. Not I think, what you (or ds) need.

Must get on and do my ironing now. It's raining so I won't be doing much else.

indiebird

No you could well be right, but I do want him to make friends and the two little girls are really nice. The mum is from an old piemontese family, she lives in a building with her parents downstairs and her inlaws across the road!! and therefore she does what she wants as the family has social standing. If she thinks theres too much homework the kids don't do it etc. and she never goes to the school. They can come to her if there's a problem!! I will try and say as little as possible as it probably isn't helpful to anyone if I keep going on and on about the same old thing....


Happy ironing by the way.... I probably should follow your lead really....

TestaRossa

So, can anyone tell me if this is just my school or a general, let's save soap and kitchen towel-type of thing! My daughter has recently stopped washing her hands after going to the loo.....this it totally disgusting to the rest of the family and NOT how she has been brought up! On further questioning it turns out it has come from one of her classroom teachers!! Apparently you only need to wash your hands before eating!! I told my dd that this is not the case and you can get very sick or make other people very sick by not doing - my OH had a very bad case of food poisoning - we had Health and Safety around in the UK to document it as it was confirmed by tests, it was from a buffet in Chinatown in London. The strain he caught is caused by fecal matter getting into the cooked or raw food. Yuk! So we are pretty hot on hand washing!! She told the teacher yesterday that she now has to wash her hands every time she goes to the loo - the reply was "but you aren't eating now!!" How unusual is this in a time of H1N1 among other things which is also spread by hand to hand contact?! I've told her she still has to wash them!!!!

indiebird

Are they trying to save soap?? I kinda do understand it in that it probably doesn't fit in with their 'routine' i.e. all kids go into the bathroom and as they do the teacher controls the soap and gives them one squirt each to wash their hands with. As far as I know, well here at least, no soap is left in the toilets as each class teacher controls it. When the kids go for their loo breaks one bottle of soap goes on the sink in the girls loo and one in the boy's loo.

However, their routine is very, very wrong! I always insist that my kids wash their hands each time after going to the toilet for the same reasons as you TR, plus before they eat and if people are sniffly here or one of us is poorly then I suggest washing hands a whole lot more. You could try having a word with the teachers and explaining your reasoning as to why it is important, but don't know how good your italian is TR.... anything like mine and you might struggle to get your point across.

TestaRossa

Yeah, I'm trying to get hold of an English friend who has her son in Antonia's class. Her OH is a restaurant manager so I think they will be hot on it too! He's Italian but worked in New York for a long time before heading back here and I know the US is hot on these things!

They do all go in first thing in the morning and then before lunch, so I'm assuming because it is such a big class they don't wash in the a.m. pee break! Luckily Antonia has normally already gone, so she doesn't need this one. But she does go to the loo alot just generally so I'm hoping she carries on washing her hands then!! Not great though!

Having just come back from mega-paranoid Britain, where H1N1 is concerned it is a polar opposite reaction! Everywhere is selling germ killing hand washes etc and every toilet has signs bigger than usual about washing hands!!

37100

Finished. Still raining.

Yeah, know the type of family. Hopefully, see next week.

37100

Yuck! Slip her some ammuchina wet wipes in her bag for emergencies! Doesn't surprise me. Heard and seen it before. My hubby had a run in lasting 10 long months with salmonella. The usl investigated and check us all out. He had to take a trip 3x a week to the local usl with a sample and they kept him of work for six weeks until they were satisfied he wasn't a health threat for his colleagues.

clint

really strange never heard of this before about soap not been available at all times in the schools toilete and a teacher saying that

TestaRossa

Why I'm thinking it must just be our school. We had noticed she wasn't always washing her hands from since before summer, but just assumed it was laziness/forgetfulness on her part, being only 5, never expected it could've come from her teacher!! We take in two liquid soaps in September, but if they needed more it really wouldn't be a problem! We also take in 2 kitchen rolls every month for them to wipe their hands on, which should be more than enough..I think the wet wipes is a good idea - I was thinking the same this morning!

Lorna at Vicenza

The materna here alway has one of the bidelle around and kids don't go to the loo by themselves. This is beacuse they were forever wasting the liquid soap and paper towels.

Chloe says the elementare has soap dispensers above the sinks and there are paper towels but a note was sent out this year at the start of term asking parents to provide a small hand towel for the kids. Chloe says hardly anybody has one and most use the paper towels.

TestaRossa

Tbh, after a pee I don't have a problem with her not using soap if it isn't before a meal, but not washing or drying at all I do! I think they must be running out of soap because Antonia was filling up her liquid soap in her bathroom with water because that was what the teachers do at school!!

Lorna at Vicenza

Hang on a minute, I'm lost.
How can the school be running out of soap for Antonia to use if you're the one that buys it for her and takes it to school for her?

indiebird

They normally stockpile it and use one at a time for all the kids, or they do here. As I say, at the school here 'the stash' is held by the class teachers and they take the soap into the toilets when they all go for their loo break. I also don't think all of the parents bring in all the stuff asked for TR... that is part of the problem here and it seems that it is unenforceable too.... they can make your kid's life a misery for it for the whole year but what are they going to do? Chuck the kid out??

Must admit, that I have noticed that an awful lot of people here don't seem to wash their hands after the loo, but I insist, especially in some of the public loos A lot of women will come out, redo their makeup and then leave Never understood that....

TestaRossa

Yes, the soap is given to the teachers at the start of the year. Ours are persistent with us, the parents, about getting it rather than the kids, so I think most people do bring it but there is no uniformity in size and type so they get big and small bottles. Esselunga was doing a twofer in September so I got those for them!!

I have noticed this too Indie. What is this all about?! In a country where the cold kills you and sweating makes you ill why the lack of basic hygiene?? Unbelievable!