More information about Playgroups. What, When, Where and most of all Who

I recently received few emails expressing interest in creating Playgroups in one place or another, I would like to answer these questions and make some clarity about:

• Playgroups in general, any language
• English Playgroups
• Where can you find a Playgroup
• How to start a new Playgroup

Warning, I’ll cover some general concepts but practically speaking at present we operate in Italy only.

PLAYGROUPS IN GENERAL, ANY LANGUAGE
Playgroups’ primary objective is to provide a social context for the minority language, so that the child associates the language to other children and a playful dimension as well as perceiving the need to speak it in a context where the majority language is banned. So Playgroups are designed for children who already know the language, i.e. who understand it and possibly speak it, or at least use some words actively.
For most languages this concept is easy to grasp and works perfectly. Children who attend the Playgroups are indeed bilingual, although they might master the language differently depending on age, personality, family circumstances, etc. When it comes to English though, it’s a different story…

ENGLISH PLAYGROUPS
Parents feel a very strong need to make sure their children learn English, so they really want to put their children in a Playgroup with other children who are English native speakers. Except the parents of these children are obviously concerned, they want to help their children to speak their own language, not turn them into English teachers for other children…
Let’s try to rationalize. Children who attend English Playgroups are divided into three groups:

• Native speakers
• Italian Children who are taught English at home
• Italian Children whose parents would like them to learn English

For children who have English as a mothertongue there are of course Playgroups for bilingual children, who are the classic Bilingual For Fun’s Playgroups.
For Italian children who do not speak any English we have specific Playgroups, based on the method Hocus & Lotus, which has been developed by University La Sapienza (Rome) and has been extensively implemented and tested across Europe. These Playgroups can be run only by someone who has been trained on the Hocus&Lotus method AND has a very good command of English. In practice, I personally run these Playgroups in Verona, but I don’t expect to be able to offer them in other cities in the short term.

With regards to Italian children who are consistently taught English at home, in general they understand it quite well but don’t speak it. Some of these children may very well join the group of native speakers, it will obviously dependon their command of the language and how much exposure they already get, bearing in mind that in a Playgroup for bilingual children there should be max about 3 children who are not native speakers. As an alternative, wherever possible a specific Playgroup can be created for these children, which will be very similar to the native speakers’ Playgroups.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND A PLAYGROUP
As Shakespeare put it ”There is no world without Verona walls, but purgatory, torture, hell itself” (Romeo and Juliet). That is to say that Bilingual For Fun was born in Verona and here we have Playgroups in English (both for native speaker and Italian children), in German and soon also in French.
From September on we are planning to start Playgroups in other cities. We are currently talking about English (native speakers) Playgroups in Perugia and German and French Playgroups in Rome. If you are interested please let us know. We also hope to add more soon.

HOW TO START A NEW PLAYGROUP
Playgroups are not language courses, they are rather opportunities to play and have fun. That said, Bilingual For Fun’s Playgroups are run in a very professional way:

• They have a fixed time and place, usually once a week
• The premises must be suitable for children from 0 to 6 years and be organized and equipped to promote play and some specific activities, and also to facilitate interaction between parents and children
• Some activities’ are proposed each time in the same way, to motivate children to talk without even if realizing they do…
• The person who runs the Playgroup makes sure that all the necessary material and equipment is available

That is to say that the Playgroups are not improvised but are planned and designed with care, however providing instructions are followed it is not difficult to manage a Playgroup, also because we offer constant support.  Playgroups in fact can, and indeed should, be managed by a parent (not necessarily a mom).
Finally, last but not least, Playgroups are obviously not free (prices will be decided at local level, taking also the costs in consideration), otherwise it would not be possible to achieve this level of organization, necessary to guarantee a positive experience for children and parents from all points of view:

• Opportunities to meet in a serene and enjoyable environment where everybody is at ease
• Motivation for children to speak the minority language
• Support for parents, who often feel very isolated in their experience of bilingualism

So if you are growing your children bilingual why not starting a Playgroup in your area? Call me and we can talk about it: 320 1156419. Trust me, it’s fun and not difficult at all, above all it’s a way to create yourself the opportunities that you would like to offer to your children.

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