The following post was written by my friend, Yvonne, from Mixminder.com. Yvonne lives an exciting and adventurous life in France, however, she just got back from a visit to Ireland. Lucky here!! Here is more information about the education of students in France.
School in France is even different in regards to what they teach the children. There are some different techniques that are used here that I remember my teachers used with me, but are not used any more in the United States, at least where I taught before. Most of the time at school is spent on math and language arts skills and foreign language is started in 1st or 2nd grade equivalent. They do teach social studies, science and other subjects.
The following are some classic examples of the homework and classwork that my children have in school.
Dictation - Both of my children (1st grade and 3rd grade) take dictations during class. Often times they are given a text to study and then the teacher will recite it and they will have to write down what they hear. Because many words sound similar in French we try to study some of the more tricky words that are in the texts.
Memorizing Poetry - I remember when I did this in school as a young girl. My children learn poems almost daily in their classes. They have to learn 2 to 4 lines every day over a period of 2 to 4 weeks. Then they recite the whole poem in front of the class.
Conjugations - I remember the first time my son came home and had to write conjugations. I asked, "Oh, did you have to do this because you're learning French?" He replied, "No, everyone has to do it." He has to practice conjugations and have tests on many different words in many different tenses. It's actually really great for him because there is no such thing as "French as a Second Language" classes where my children go to school.
Handwriting - When we first moved to France, my son knew how to write in cursive a little through homeschooling. It was the middle of his 2nd grade year. He was ahead of the game, in my mind. However, when we moved here, we learned that you learn cursive in kindergarten. They don't even teach manuscript writing in most schools and they just straight to cursive when teaching children how to write.
Those are just a few of the differences of the French school system as compared to the USA. If you'd like to read why we decided to move here, check out this post: http://mixminder.com/five-reasons-why-we-moved-our-family-abroad/
Also, here is a Freebie you might find interesting - Mathbooking France Journal.
If you're interested in teaching your students or children more about different countries check out these copywork and activities booklets:
Have a great week,
School in France is even different in regards to what they teach the children. There are some different techniques that are used here that I remember my teachers used with me, but are not used any more in the United States, at least where I taught before. Most of the time at school is spent on math and language arts skills and foreign language is started in 1st or 2nd grade equivalent. They do teach social studies, science and other subjects.
The following are some classic examples of the homework and classwork that my children have in school.
Dictation - Both of my children (1st grade and 3rd grade) take dictations during class. Often times they are given a text to study and then the teacher will recite it and they will have to write down what they hear. Because many words sound similar in French we try to study some of the more tricky words that are in the texts.
Memorizing Poetry - I remember when I did this in school as a young girl. My children learn poems almost daily in their classes. They have to learn 2 to 4 lines every day over a period of 2 to 4 weeks. Then they recite the whole poem in front of the class.
Conjugations - I remember the first time my son came home and had to write conjugations. I asked, "Oh, did you have to do this because you're learning French?" He replied, "No, everyone has to do it." He has to practice conjugations and have tests on many different words in many different tenses. It's actually really great for him because there is no such thing as "French as a Second Language" classes where my children go to school.
Handwriting - When we first moved to France, my son knew how to write in cursive a little through homeschooling. It was the middle of his 2nd grade year. He was ahead of the game, in my mind. However, when we moved here, we learned that you learn cursive in kindergarten. They don't even teach manuscript writing in most schools and they just straight to cursive when teaching children how to write.
Those are just a few of the differences of the French school system as compared to the USA. If you'd like to read why we decided to move here, check out this post: http://mixminder.com/five-reasons-why-we-moved-our-family-abroad/
Also, here is a Freebie you might find interesting - Mathbooking France Journal.
If you're interested in teaching your students or children more about different countries check out these copywork and activities booklets:
Have a great week,
I teach in Lebanon and the schools here are following the French system of education exactly as you described it:)
ReplyDeleteLusine
Enjoy Teaching English