Anyone know about the french school system???

[blossom2]

DD1 has just started Maternelle and i wondered if there are any mothers out there who know about what happens during the day there...

I dont speak french and so cant communicate with the teachers and find it all really confusing and tearful to say the least.

i picked her up today and found her in the class with 2 other girls, whilst all the other kids were sitting outside on the benchs. when asked if millie was okay, the teacher just said yes. i'm finding it all really stressful and tearful...

[Nightynight]

hi blossom
yes, 3 of my 4 are in school in France, and there are others here too!
The maternelle is usually divided into 3 sections, Petit, Moyen and Grand. They basically do preparing to read and write and count, and by the end of Grand, they can write printing and count. Serious stuff like joined up writing and adding/subtracting is done in the CP, which is age 6-7, the first year of real school.
You can expect lots of exercises like "colour in the 2 identical pictures of the cat" and "Complete the stripey pattern on the egg" they also do singing (in french, german, english and the local dialect in our school) and lots of painting and making things. Oh, and playing with toys.

when they're naughty, the teacher gives a red spot in our school. If they are very good, she takes it away again. ds1 ended up with a big spot deficit, I am sorry to say.

your DD will soon be totally fluent in French, don't worry. My children also managed to teach the others some English words too!