- Julie Coda Barnes is a 36-year-old mom of three who lives in Vicenza, Italy.
- She has had children in kindergarten in both Italy and the US.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Julie Coda Barnes. It has been edited for length and clarity.
My husband and I have lived in Vicenza, Italy, twice since 2015, with him being stationed here for work in the military. Our second move was in 2022 from Kansas with our three children, ages 10, 6, and 4.
Our oldest two attend Department of Defense schools on the base, but our youngest attends a local Asilo, a school for children ages 3 to 6. It's essentially a preschool that becomes a kindergarten from age 5.
Even though our kids have been happy in both American and Italian kindergartens, we absolutely love the Italian kindergartens. I wouldn't say one was better than the other, but if I had to choose, we definitely prefer the Italian system.
Here are the differences between American and Italian kindergartens.
Transition into kindergarten
Once a child gets to their last year in Asilo, which is equivalent to kindergarten, they will have been with the same group of children and teachers for two years. The class continues to move up with each other. Kids have continuity of who they're with for each new school year.
Children don't have to relearn new rules at the start of the year but just slot into what they'd grown accustomed to the previous year. They come back to what they know.
Since preschools aren't standardized in America, the transition into kindergarten is a big deal. It's a huge learning curve when you have to adjust to a new school, new kids, new routines, and new teachers.
My kids had more playtime in Italy
In Italian kindergartens, there is a lot of play. In the mornings, they sing songs, do crafts, and listen to stories. After lunch, they have some sort of special class like gymnastics, English, or music. In between, there are hours of outside free play. If it's raining, they use a huge room full of toys to let children explore what they want.
The teacher-to-child ratio is much lower, so it often feels quite chaotic in the classes. But the teachers don't interfere or try to quiet the children much because they want them to learn how to interact with their peers and environment.
American kindergartens typically stay in one classroom for most of the day, with two 20-minute recess plays and a 20-minute lunch.
It seems there is much more emphasis on academics in the US. I remember when my daughter, who had been in Asilo in Italy for kindergarten, repeated kindergarten in America; she didn't know all of her alphabet like the other children. However, she knew how to be in school; she was able to follow directions and to get along socially.
The food my kids eat in Italy is more elaborate
Lunchtime in Italian kindergartens is a four-course meal with bread, pasta, soup or rice, meat or cheese, and fruit. There are no packed lunches. Each child eats the meals prepared fresh by a cook, either in the school's kitchen or brought in by a caterer.
All the food is geared for young children. There are vegetable purees and tiny pasta shapes because children find those easier to eat.
They have morning and afternoon snacks, which could consist of a combination of fruit, yogurt, and crackers.
The food offered to children in kindergartens in America varies depending on the state. When we lived in Virginia, there was a great variety of meals like teriyaki chicken and fresh pizza. In Kansas, the kids were offered a large variety of fried foods. Lots of kids, including my own, brought packed lunches.
I love that in Italy, I know the kids have had a hot, nutritious main meal at lunch. It means I don't have to think too much about our evening meal, a lifesaver as I'm typically on my own with the kids.
However, one of my youngest sons has allergies. While American schools have to accommodate allergies, Asilo doesn't. We have had to research and pay a bit extra to put him in an Asilo that would make sure his allergies were taken into account at snack and meal times.
I pay $2,500 a year for pre-K
Many public kindergartens in America are free, whereas you pay a relatively small price for kindergarten in Italy.
For the Asilo we use now, the cost is about $2,500 a year. In America, the price of full-day preschool was so high that I decided to stay at home and not send them to preschool.
There are no guns in schools in Italy
All schools feel much safer here in Italy. There aren't school shootings because no one has guns. Even on the military base, people aren't allowed just to carry guns around. Our kids don't need drills about what to do if someone enters the premises armed.
When we were in America, we grappled with the reality that shootings were a risk when we sent our children to school.