Gianluca’s Story

Gianluca next to his portrait, drawn by children

Hello! I am Gianluca from Italy. I am one of 3 foreign volunteers in the Kindergarten 176 and I work with the group of 6 years old children. From my first week of working in the kindergarten I am very impressed with kids. They are very smart, curious and always ready to learn something new. My group enjoys the learning process a lot, especially with games and fun activities. Another surprising thing for me was the workplace: almost nobody speaks English fluently, but everyone is very kind and always willing to help (as far as possible with a “foreign newcomer“). Our kindergarten is quite new, warm and full of good utilites for children. There is also a theater and gym located in the building.

Through this project I am discovering a new “me”. When I was in Italy, I made up my mind to become a teacher and work in high school. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how working with children of such a young age would turn out. But I am enjoying it so far!

I have been working with children for a week now and I mostly help with “sport stuff”. Because of challenges with spoken Polish, currently I am assisting only one teacher. However, I hope that soon I’ll be able to overcome the language barriers and add more input into the whole team work. With time I want to get more comfortable and confident to express my ideas, as for now I show a very little part of my potential.  Fortunately, body language, a glance or gesture is mostly enough to communicate with children. I want my students to perceive me as a friend and someone who can take them into a new world of different thinking, approaches and points of view. 

Daily activities

I will try to show my students and colleagues many things connected to my home Italy: its culture, language, history, cuisine and folklore. At the same time, I am aiming to gain more experience in teaching and working with children. I have to admit, that this experience is very new and exciting for me. I am trying to grow personally everyday and choose the best possible methods for that. As this EVS project will last only for 9 months, I will try to use this time wisely and learn as much as I can. I am the first Italian volunteer for the group 4, therefore I want the kids to gain a full understanding of my background and create unforgettable memories together.

The team

Marzena, the teacher

This year we are very happy and pleased to have 3 volunteers in our kindergarten. Gianluca is our first volunteer from Italy, so children’s dream to learn the Italian language is coming true! Just during one week of having Gianluca with us we have learnt the numbers and colours in Italian. He is very enthusiastic and grasps the methodology of education very quickly. He is very creative and uses a lot of different games and quizzes with kids. We have outdoor activities and he is always counting and keeping an eye on children. I hope that soon Gianluca will learn some Polish words and phrases, so the communication with kids will become easier for him. For the next months we arre planning different meetings and events, involving volunteers and parents at our kindergarten. Hopefully, during his stay in Poland Gianluca will experience various aspects of our culture, music, dances and cuisine.