My daughters are enrolled in a very unique school. It's a French public school that includes a large international section...actually, it has a total of nine international sections including Japanese, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, and the largest by far, English. The goal of the school is to take students of different nationalities and integrate them as rapidly as possible into the French education system. How do they accomplish this? For students like my daughters, who know very little of the French language, it's not an easy task. They have a very customized schedule comprised of French lessons, specialized math (back to the basics, but all in French), and a few courses in English (Literature, Language, History and Geography). Lindsey, who is in "college" (don't be impressed, it's just their term for middle school) also has P.E., art, and music. These classes are integrated with kids from France as well as all the other international departments, and are of course taught entirely in French. Lori's "lycée"(high school) curriculum doesn't include these electives, but she does have to take another foreign language, so she's learning Spanish as well as French!
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| Lori & Lindsey's new school: 5 stories, over 2,000 students, and 10 different languages |
The most challenging part is all the "holes" in their schedules. Until our daughters achieve a level of French fluency, they are held back from a full class load. For example, they won't attend science classes until their French teacher thinks they are ready to understand what's going on in class (the school doesn't offer science in English). So, instead of science they just have a study hall period. Usually it's not a big deal, but on Fridays, Lori has a class at 8:00 and then nothing until 3:30! Luckily for her, lycee kids can leave campus, so she gets to come home between classes.
I admit, I cried one day last week trying to figure out the itineraries and all the French paperwork which was sent home and had to be signed. I actually set up a white board in the living room to try to make sense of it all. But despite the wacky schedules and the cold, utilitarian building, I love this school. It's exciting to see the girls making friends with kids from Ireland and Japan and Haiti and Brazil. The administrators and teachers are firm, yet immensely helpful. The English department staff is awesome, and the Anglophone classes offer outlets for creativity that can't be found in a typical French school. I'm thrilled that the girls will be learning tons of French in an immersion setting, which they wouldn't have the opportunity to do if we'd enrolled them in the expensive private international school down the road.
I'm also glad that the girls are treated like capable, mature students. They definitely aren't babied. There's no hand-holding; they have to be responsible for themselves from the moment they walk out the door. They ride public transportation to and from school, and when they arrive, they have to consult their schedules and navigate through the five-story building (among 2,000 other students) to find the correct classrooms. They have to listen to instructions in French, and when they don't understand, they are on their own to find someone who can help. In the long run, I believe that this system will serve them well in life. So although "la rentree" was chaotic, well, so is life at times. They'll be prepared!
Enjoyed your explanation of the classes the girls were taking. I had misunderstood you when we last skyped--I thought the girls were taking literature, etc. in French. You must have been overwhelmed when they first went to school!
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Wow, what a schedule ! I teach at a private school but it's bilingual rather than international, and most of the students are French. As it's a primary school, there's more of a set routine but I have to agree with you that it's the anglophone side that allows time for the creative pursuits ! Hope everyone is settling in :-)
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