In just over 10 days, my daughter will be starting school. I'm a bit worried since I don't know how she is going to react. And there are some diffences between schools here and in the US. I'm not familiar with all of them, but a couple do stand out.
For example, a lot of kids start school by the age of 2. They go école maternelle for ages 2 to 6. You don't have to enroll your child by the age of 2, but it's mandatory by age 5. However, most people in France tend send their kids off to school as soon as they are 2 years old.
Potty training is also a very big deal. Your child must be "propre" (clean - aka potty trained) before he or she is allowed to go to school. If not, chances are your kid will not be accepted until they are able to go on their own.
A typical elementary school week is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Wednesdays and weekends off! Yes!
What to do for lunch? Having a lunchbox or brown bag lunch is NOT the cool thing to do. Most kids eat school lunch. Though this sample menu doesn't look half bad!
My daughter is 3 1/2 years old, at this age she can go in for just half a school day. So she will be going from 8:30am to 11:30am. I am excited for her because she will learn new things and make new friends. She's pretty excited about starting school too!
The only fear I have, is her becoming an outcast. I shouldn't have to worry about that at her age, but she's bilingual and speaks English just as well (and as often) as she speaks French. Some parents and their kids already heard us speak when we attended a meeting at the school a month ago. We got some stares, and that was only a 2 hour meeting! I also have a friend who's American, and our girls will be in the same class. Our girls are good friends and only speak English to each other. I just hope that their English speaking won't cause other kids to think they're weird! Kids can be mean! Maybe our girls will end up speaking French to each other....who knows?!
We'll see what happens. Let the countdown begin!
3 comments:
You'll want to put her in for a full day pretty soon. Trust me. ;-)
You are back!
Thanks for the info...my little boy is only 14 months but it's good knowledge for the future (I'm sure it will come too soon).
You live in Lille right? We have some good friends there with a 1 year old. Haven't been there yet (but it looks beautiful - Medieval style right?)
I would encourage the girls to speak French in school. And to also to make new friends but I think that comes naturally with kids. Just don't let her hear your concerns so she is not nervous. I'm sure she will do GREAT!
I can't wait to hear about how school goes for her. Keep us updated as I am really curious too. My hubby is from France and I'm sure he knows what Ecole Maternelle is like...but like you I have no clue. Do they color, learn their ABC's en Francais, numbers etc...like in regular Pre-K? Curious to know.
Thanks!
It sounds similar to the States in that kids start pre-school or mothers day out programs at age 2-3. Good luck! I'm sure she'll love it and you will love having a few hours to run errands with out a little one in tow.
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