We moved to Le Marche for 1 year in the summer with our 10-year-old daughter. We have a house in the country. Our daughter is extremely homesick and is begging us to return to IReland. We had family visiting all summer so she had company until 2 weeks ago. She starts school in Italy on 11 September. She really has nobody her own age to play with until she starts school.
We now feel we maybe did the wrong thing by her in moving here. I doin't know whether to encourage her to stick it out until next summer or to go back to Ireland. Problem is we have rented ourt house in Ireland out until next July so it would not be that simple to go back.

Are there after school activities she can enroll in? My neighbors' granddaughters are always swimming, playing team sports, horseback riding, skiing, studying dance, etc. It wears me out just hearing about it- when do they get to rest?

Hello Linda,
I can empathise with you and your daughter.
Try to keep her very busy untill the 11th September, put yourself out and do much more with her than you would usually do to keep her stimulated. When she starts at school she will find new friends soon enough and i feel that she will fall in love with her new life given time.

goodluck

My son was similarly lonely in Trieste, and we were living in the middle of the city. He is not experiencing that at all here in Torino even though he has not started school yet, and I think it has to do with us having lots of other friends. I second the motion to try to get her involved in some extracurricular activities and keep her busy with outings, etc..., but would add, what about making friends with neighbors? One thing I have noticed about many Italians I meet is that they are very concerned about the well being of children (all children) and maybe if you already have some friends/acquaintances you can explain your daughter's loneliness and they may respond with some invitations, suggestions on nearby parks with lots of kids, etc... I was tempted to send my son home last year with my mom, but we did stick it out, so I know what a difficult decision this must be for you! Too bad we don't live closer to you, my son does enjoy some English speaking company.

Which part of the Marche?
I have a 10 year old daughter who speaks English.
We live in the province of Ancona - near Fabriano.

I also know an Irish family with children in this area.

We live near Amandola. I asked the school if she could join in any activities but there aren't any! My husband and I have to work (freelance translators) so she has to come to the office with us from 8.30 to 5 pm. Pity you don't live closer and we could arrange a play date. I feel so sorry for her - she is experiencing a real culture shock and is missing her friends badly. Thanks for all your ideas!

I'd wait until school starts to find out about activities. There may be things that the other kids do that aren't official "school" activities.

It took me a while to find out about the local activities for kids, and even now, more than a year later, there's lots I still haven't heard about. Dance lessons, swim lessons, music lessons, scouting, drama, calligraphy are just a few of the options available to the kids in and around my small village. You need to keep your eyes and ears open, read the local paper and keep talking to the other parents. Before long she'll be busy. How's her Italian? If it's poor and she's shy that may hold her back for a while. Best of luck!

Check at the local library (I hope there is one) for things happening in town, nearby, Good luck, the first months are hard for everyone, especially children .

I just wanted to add (I am not a child psychologist or anything), that from my experience peers start to become extremely important and central in children's lives around the age of 9, so the move around this time is difficult because they miss their friends on many different levels. I hear my son saying things like, Micky (his best friend back in the U.S.) would love this place... something I don't remember him saying at age 6. One thing that has really helped us is making the extra effort to keep in email, Skype and Facebook contact with his friends back "home".