No postcards today as it's a bank holiday here in France.
I thought you might like to hear something about the children to whom you're sending the cards.
There are in fact currently 3 Ptit Clubs. St Nolff where you're sending the cards is the newest and is 18 months old. We have 35 children aged from 10 weeks to about 3.5 years.
We have a lovely setting with a beautiful garden in quite a rural location. The children are regularly entertained by a tractor in the fields opposite the creche. Once a week a bin lorry goes past and this creates immense excitement. Nowadays the drivers know how to play to their audience with lots of beeping and flashing lights.
We are about 10 minutes from the small city of Vannes and of course the sea. Pre covid we would take the bus and visit the market and the port. We also visited an old people's home, which was wonderful and various other places.
I was one of the original employees for the English bilingual project 5 years ago. At the beginning nobody really knew how it would shape out but it's turned into something quite wonderful. Our babies and children hear English on a daily basis and equally with French in the creche. If they learn the word for something first in english then that becomes their go to word.
By the time they are 2.5 and are ready for school their English comprehension is superb. I forget I'm speaking to french children. A lot of them reply in English and we sometimes have funny little conversations where I speak English, they speak French.
Their favourite english books are My Mum and My Dad by Anthony Browne and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Their absolute favourite is called We All Go Travelling By or as the children call it the bus or the beep beep book.
Current favourite songs are I Hear Thunder since Storm Alex, but old McDonalds Farm and Row Your Boat get a good response. We've currently been singing Baby Shark but I just do that because it annoys my boss.
I think we are quite a progressive creche and have been featured on french national early evening news. They put subtitles for me when I spoke in French (and I thought I'd done so well).
We have a different theme each year and this year because of covid it's the World hence he postcards. Next week is Canada where we will dress in red and white, eat Canadian food and do canadian themed activities.
To advance out English project I'd like to form a link with an English nursery where we can share pictures, songs, stories etc. Sort of like a creche/nursery twinning thing. If you know of a nursery who might be interested please do not hesitate to drop me a line.
Thanks again for the postcards, we're looking forward to the postie's visit tomorrow.