One Melbourne early learning centre has incorporated Greek lessons as part of its extracurricular programs.
Elles Belles, founded by Elena Gorozidis and co-owned with Jimmy Gorozidis, has introduced the Greek culture to its children through literacy and numeracy as well as music, food and language.
These lessons take place weekly at the two centres in Ormond and Cheltenham, and are held by Jimmy, who combines his passion as an educator and Greek heritage.
Jimmy told Neos Kosmos that it’s rewarding to see the smile on children’s faces during his lessons.
“It’s the best part of my day being able to go in and teach my Greek lessons,” he said.
“It’s also given me the opportunity to connect with the children, because it’s one thing to connect with the families when they come and drop off the children and you say hello and goodbye, but I really wanted to connect with the children.
“I thought what better way than to actually be the Greek teacher.”
Not only does the centre want to build strong connections and relationships with the children in the classrooms but they also want to support the children’s awareness towards Greece.
The lessons aim to be entertaining for the children with the themes based on the children’s interests and projects of the month.
Jimmy does three lessons a week at each centre for various age groups.
Some of the things he’s incorporated in the lessons include a Greek letter of the week, teaching kids different words beginning with that letter.
For the younger kids, like the two-year-old’s, it will be a theme of the month, like fruit for example. Jimmy will wear a chef’s hat and have a bowl of toy fruits and teach the kids what each fruit is called in Greek.
It could be space themed, and they learn about the Greek names for the planets in the solar system. Themes could be clothing, numeracy and so on.
“It’s mostly about language, but every so often I’ll throw in some Greek dancing,” Jimmy said.
“I’ll get them to hold hands and initially just practice walking around in a circle. I’ll then play the music and incorporate the dance steps.”
He added that he hopes to incorporate more food in his lessons too.
“I also want to work together with our chef here and teach them how to make spanakopita or tzatziki. It’s an ever-evolving curriculum.”
Passion for Greek
Jimmy was born in Australia, but when he was about three-years-old, his mother took him to Greece for several months.
Upon returning he was speaking Greek fluently and effortlessly, where even his older siblings, who understood Greek, couldn’t keep up.
Greek was really his first language, and he continued Greek school all the way through Year 12. He even did Greek dancing at a local dance school.
Now he loves to see the young children garnering interest in Greek, including those who don’t have a Greek background.
“We’re a very multicultural childcare centre and it’s amazing when you see the children who are both Greek and non-Greek strongly engage in the lesson that is being taught,” Jimmy said.
“It’s extremely rewarding when you have the parents coming up to me and telling me that their children absolutely love the Greek lessons.
“It’s pretty amazing and imagine if they remember it when they grow up to be adults.”
He said that there’s times where he’ll read them an English book, and when he asks what a word is in Greek, like the clothing, the kids remember and answer him.
Jimmy also agrees that this can be a launchpad for kids to learn Greek once they go to primary school, having already built a base to start with.
You can find out more about Elles Belles Early Learning through their website.
