Should I put non-French speaking kinds into local maternelle?

[movingtoparis]

Hi,

I've been told that kids as young as ours, 5 and 3, would be fine in a local maternelle (even if we still want to put them in an International primary school). However, would we (i.e., parents) be ok without speaking French? will there be homework that we'll struggle with?

Or should we really insist on an English-speaking maternelle?

any advice really welcome...as we're likely to move in January 15 and we've done nothing on the school front!

Absoulety put them in - it is a great way for you to learn the language as well.
If they are not going to live in a bubble they need to learn as soon as possible the language of the country they are living in.
It's hard at first but they will come on leaps and bounds and your French will improve rapidly as well.

Good luck

Put them in, it will be fine and a great way of learning the language. Mine were both 3 when they started in maternelle. They won't really get any homework until they get to CP anyhow and then it will just be a bit of reading, some spellings and learning a poem by heart.

I think the kids will be fine -- my son went to maternelle at 3 despite not really knowing much French.

I think it might be trickier for you though -- do you speak any French at all? does anyone at the maternelle speak English? It might be fine once they are settled and everything is ticking over but getting them sorted at the beginning and learning the right away about things will definitely be tricky without some help.

They'll be fine :)

I went to a French-speaking maternelle at the age your DC are. I don't even remember learning French - I was fluent in no time! They'll be fine.

I put my 10 year old into a francophone school 6 years ago.
This Summer he had to get through both francophone exams and sat 4 IGCSEs as an external candidate, with very little advance preparation and NO out of school English. He got A* 98% for French and passed his English too. His younger siblings have found it far easier, they started age 3 and 6, they would detest having to go back into English now. Social media, texting, reading books, it all keeps up their English language skills.

I have helped 100s of families over the last 6 years choose local and international schools. Age is one factor for NOT choosing French, but I've learned the anxiety of parents is crucial, I can usually predict which parents will opt for international or will put their children into French and have a hard time. Of course it makes it easier if the parents speak French, but so long as you learn too and can eventually hold a conversation in French, if you enter maternelle with a positive attitude and choose a maternelle you're happy with, there is no reason why you or your child should struggle.

Like a few other people on here. I went to a French maternelle (in Brussels in fact) when I was 3 and spoke French fluently after a few months. Never thought anything about it. I don't really remember it, or remember not speaking the language now.
Although I'll be honest, I'm now planning on doing the same with my little ones (who only speak English), and agree it's quite daunting. They seem so small and it feels like a double whammy of sending them off to a new school and in a language they don't speak. But I think it's less stressful for them, then it is for us, if you know what I mean.

You'll be doing your dc a great favour if you do!

[[http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/language/articles/2008/the-bilingual-brain/ here]

Sorry, will repeat that link again here

There are recognised cognitive benefits to learning more than one language, particularly from an early age.

There should be very little (if any) formal hwk in maternelle.

You'll be fine!

Do it. It will be so good for them.

They may be quiet initially esp the five year old but they will catch up quickly.

I have seen quite a few non French speaking friends put their children in the French system and it worked well.

Thank you ladies, it's been very insipiring and useful... we'll continue on our research and see where it gets us.

merci!!!

We have a small mn fb group for mners in France btw. Search MNers Lost in France

I have found this thread very cheering. Last week the new French school year started and two of my kids went into CE1, CP and my youngest into Moyenne Section (4yrs) of Maternelle. They currently don't speak French.

The kids have been amazing, but I won't lie, it has been tough. Seeing your child overwhelmed and insecure is never going to fill you with joy. There have, of course, been the occasional tears (and some of those were mine, in secret, after school drop-off!). However, I'm telling myself that in 6 months they should be in the swing of things and the posts from others that say that they entered Maternelle and found it a positive experience give me the boost I need!

I do speak French to a reasonably high standard, but I'd agree that getting a handle of the school system is the bit at the beginning that takes a while to get your head round - that's where mumsnet can come in handy if the language barrier gets too much.

Good luck!

My brother and I were dropped off at French-speaking Belgian school aged 5 and 3, having just arrived in Brussels from the UK - straight in at the deep end! The first couple of weeks were a bit hairy - I remember clutching the piece of paper my mum had written out a few key phrases on for me ('I need to go to the toilet' etc!) and handing it miserably to the teacher as required. There were certainly some teary mornings at drop-off, that I do remember very clearly! Sink or swim, though - three months later we were more or less fluent, according to my parents - certainly so by 6 months What a gift for life - fluency in French has been a huge bonus for us both, even though we transferred to a European school for secondary. Go for it!

I agree that it is better to put your kids into French schools (unless you are only planning on being here short term), HOWEVER do not (contrary to what you hear from others) expect your kids to start speaking fluent French in a short time.

It takes time for kids to start learning a second language even if they are fully immersed. They can also go through a 'silent period' where they are processing the new language, so focussing on understanding/storing it rather than producing it.

I just don't believe all that 'they picked it up in two months' malarkey. Unless you're dealing with a naturally gifted linguist.

My kids were born here (both DH and I are British but speak French fluently). The eldest is now in the last year of maternelle and there is NO WAY she is bilingual yet, in fact by a long shot. English is definitely her primary language although she can understand French (not all as far I can tell) and she can speak a bit (I hear her talking to her friends) BUT some is just pidgin. My second child (totally different personality type - which is a factor) will probably speak French more easily - she has spent more time from a younger age in childcare and has had the benefit of mixing with more French children due to her older sibling's friends.

My dc all went to Croiligean (Gaelic nursery) then educated in Gaelic - neither dh nor I speak it. All now bilingual and never seemed to have a problem in picking it up, though it was slow to start.

Fwiw most schools now I think are used to dealing with non-French-speaking parents, as a lot of kids will speak Chinese/Berber/Bambara/Slovene or whatever at home. There are special schools in Paris for recent immigrant kidss who speak no French but they're for older children.

I think if it is maternelle there is no reason to worry. DD started PS last year in Paris with neither her nor me speaking any French. She was already bilingual English/Arabic and was following the class within a month and speaking well by the February half term. At home she started using French phrases around Christmas time. There was a boy in her class with a moderate speech delay and they became firm friends and developed a communication system between themselves. Several other classmates started using English phrases at home which their mothers were very pleased about.

French mums can be a bit intimidating but I actually found them to be lovely and most desperate to practice English. I got a friendly reception from mums and staff alike despite being an appallingly dressed heavily pregnant headscarf wearing woman with really bad French so I honestly think you will be fine! I do wish I had made more of an effort sooner though as DD started to see friends outside school and be invited to parties just a couple of months before we left.

Good luck! I definitely think that you will find it harder than they will. Maternelle is fun, not like starting school in the UK at all. It is mostly iust learning how to behave in a group, singing and fine motor stuff.