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La Maternelle

(Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten)

La Maternelle serves children ages 3-6 years. There are many benefits to grouping children in multi-age classrooms. In France, public school begins at 2 1/2 years old, with a structured curriculum providing the foundations to prepare students for elementary school.

The French School System & The Concept of Cycles:

The French Académie follows the educational structure of the French Ministry of Education, which divides each class from the nursery school to grade 5 into 3 cycles. La Maternelle is Cycle 1 and is structured as follows:

  • TPS - Toute Petite Section (Nursery School: 18 months - 3 years)

  • PS - Petite Section de Maternelle (Preschool: 3 years old)

  • MS - Moyenne Section de Maternelle (Pre-Kindergarten: 4 years old)

  • GS - Grande Section de Maternelle (Kindergarten: 5 years old)

But what does it mean? That we do not enclose the students in one class level with specific objectives to reach at the end of their grade level, but rather gather all the objectives of each Maternelle level and expect the skills to be mastered by the end of the Grande Section (Kindergarten).

In other words, this Cycle system allows us to respect the different rhythms of each child, giving them the time needed to learn and also challenging them to the next steps when they are ready. Children are challenged based on their needs rather than on the grade level they belong. This means that we could tackle Kindergarten level with some students through the school year, or even higher grades!

AUTONOMY

The very purpose of cycle 1 is to guide the children to become independent. What does that mean? They can independently accomplish daily tasks: put on their shoes, pour water in a cup to drink, set up lunch, choose an activity...

French School Autonomy.jpg

What will my child learn?

At The French Académie, we are passionate and dedicated to providing students with the highest quality, research-based education.

 

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the capacity to perceive, split and play with syllables and phonemes. Our young students will start a long journey to understand that to be able to write “renard” (fox), they have to step away from the idea that they have of the animal and concentrate only on the sound code (ʁənaʁ) in French or (fɒks) in English. In our Maternelle class, we do many activities to develop this phonological consciousness.

 

Everything starts in preschool when we start to isolate the sounds that surround us, then through the songs and fingerplays (our comptines), we are able to discover the sounds of phonemes and play with them! In pre-kindergarten we learn to identify and manipulate the syllables and to identify the phonemes. It is only when one masters that skill that a student can find the right letter to decode the right sound. And the path to reading is wide open!

 

In our classroom, we have a rich collection of phonological activities to teach not only the right pronunciation from French native speakers but also to be able to write and read. Many studies show that early phonological interventions prevent difficulties in learning how to read. Guiding a child on the reading path in one language is offering them the freedom to continue to grow with that language, at their own speed, even though it is not spoken at home. 

Handwriting Development

At The French Académie, our students are guided through four research-based stages of writing development: markings, drawings, graphisme, and geste d'écriture. Here is an overview from our recent spring exhibit of that writing progression. If you have any questions about our original and unique approach to developing the motor skills necessary to write, please ask!

 

Counting & Numbers

Different activities are offered daily to the children so they can learn the sequence of numbers : nursery rhymes, counting one by one, and then counting the students present and absent.

 

Counting skills start by knowing the sequence for learning the numbers “one, two, three, four, five, six…” but that is just the beginning!

 

Our objective in Maternelle goes way beyond. Indeed, numbers are much more powerful than a list like the alphabet song. Numbers allow us to anticipate the result of the action; this is what we call calculus. Understanding that 25 comes after 24 is very limited and insignificant knowledge. 25 is also two dozen and 5 units, but it is also 5 groups of 5 or a quarter of 100. The students who will succeed in mathematics in elementary school and then in middle school the pens who are able to make these links between quantities. Studies show that these skills have to be implemented as students make their very first steps in the amazing world of numbers.

 

It is this capacity to perceive relationships between numbers that we work toward in our class. This way our students are exposed to math problems involving small quantities that get larger and larger based on their individual progress. Of course, our learning experience is hiding behind a magical and fun approach for our little ones. You might hear them talk about the monster who had to choose between flying carpets, rabbits in their heers or board games such as Halli Galli!

Music

We practice music daily in the classroom. We explore music through our voices, songs, musical instruments, rhythm, pitches, and all musical components including musical pieces. Each year, the Maternelle class takes a field trip to the Kinder Konzert Experience to listen to a musical performance and explore instruments in their Sound Factory.

Cooking

Gastronomy is at the heart of our French culture, and particularly accessible to very young children who are discovering the world through their senses. Our pedagogical project is articulated around cooking workshops. Every day, a group of children cooks for the daily snack. In the kitchen, children develop the following competences: fine motor skills, matematics, language, reading, and cooperation.

Forest School

It is through play and discovery that every children learns, about themselves, about others, and about the environemnt in which they live. Every child grows up experiencing, with his senses stimulated, his body trained... However, nowadays, children spend more and more time indoors. This is why we decided to set up "Ecole en forêt" at The French Académie. Every Tuesday morning, we go to a local park to stimulate playing, discovering and learning in a different way, thanks to the natural environment.

Related Article: Forest School Benefits in Early Childhood

Library

Language is stimulated at every occasion in our school, both oral and written. Going to our library is another level to stimulate interest in words, stories, and books. Even if you cannot read French, spending time looking at pictures, having a conversation about the book is a wonderful way to increase the chances that your child will be eager to learn about reading and writing.

Board Games

Board games have a strong pedagogical potential on different subjects like math or language. But more than that, they can reinforce concentration, memorization, logic, and last but not least, the capacity to learn how to cooperate with others. What skills are cultivated when we practice board games?

  • Respect for the rules: the child has to respect the rules of the game, like taking turns for instance.

  • Listening to others: you must be attentive to win the memory game for example

  • Emotional regulation: patience, impatience, frustration - when we lose, we have to learn to let go because we don’t always win and it is still fun!

  • Communication: some games require expression of oneself in front of others.

  • Collaboration: to succeed, we learn that we need the help and input of others.

Social Emotional Learning

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) gives children the tools to develop empathy, understand their feelings, and others feelings, develop respect, and solve problems.

Becoming A Student

Throughout the school year, each child will develop skills that will make them mature and become in charge of their own attitude to learning. They will mature alongside their peers and will develop a thirst for knowledge as well as a frame of mind taht will facilitate understanding and learning of new skills.

La Maternelle Curriculum Highlights

Mobilizing Language

Nursery rhymes, tongue twisters, alphas method introduction, Montessori, Kim's game, graphic activities (circle, line...)

Math

Counting box, beads, construction, Montessori activities like cylinders, puzzles, tangrams

Art & Music

Music Together, nursery rhymes, songs, explore paints and tools, discover artists through their artwork

Exploring the world

Learning centers about specific actions, water table, plant growth, animal environments

Physical Activity

Organized recreational sports and activities in collaboration with others

Evaluations

We use "Je valide," a detailed report card developed by a French teacher and easy to read and understand so you can follow your child's progress. we evaluate the students skills using the benchmarks of the French educational system along witht he ECIP's (Early Childhood Indicators of Progress).

No grading in Maternelle.

Preschool (Petite Section) Schedule

Time
Activity
8:45 AM
Morning Greeting
9:10 AM
Circle Time
9:20 AM
Large Muscle Activities
10:00 AM
Bathroom
10:15 AM
Recess
10:45 AM
Workshops, directed activities
11:15 AM
Circle Time
11h30 AM
Morning students leave, Bathroom
11:45 AM
Lunch
12:15 PM
Bathroom
12:30 PM
Nap, rest, Montessori workshops
2:15 PM
Bathroom
2:30 PM
Recess
3:00 PM
Workshops, directed activities
3:20 PM
Circle Time
3:30 PM
Goodbye

Pre-K & Kindergarten
(Moyenne & Grande Section) Schedule

Time
Mon/Thurs
Tues
Wed
Fri
8:45 AM
Greetings
Greetings
Greetings
Greetings
9:15 AM
Group Time: phonology, calculations, date
Forest School
Group Time: phonology, calculations, date
Group Time: phonology, calculations, date
9:30 AM
Bathroom, Snack
Forest School
Bathroom, Snack
Bathroom, Snack
10:00 AM
Recess
Forest School
Recess
Recess
10:45 AM
Language or Math
Forest School
Cooking
Library
11:30 AM
Morning students leave
Morning students leave
Morning students leave
Morning students leave
11:30 AM
Group Time
Group Time
Group Time
Group Time
11:45 AM
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
12:30 PM
Quiet Activities
Quiet Activities
Quiet Activities
Quiet Activities
1:15 PM
Sport
Sport
Sport
Sport
2:00 PM
Group Time & Singing
Group Time & Singing
Group Time & Singing
Group Time & Singing
2:45 PM
Language or Math
Language or Math
Language or Math
Language or Math
3:20 PM
Group Time, Reading
Group Time, Reading
Group Time, Reading
Group Time, Reading
3:30 PM
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye

Exhibit 1: Welcome to Spring | Bienvenue au Printemps

Description

This project was inspired by a piece of art exhibited at the Walker Center for the Arts.

 

Full color pictures of these four different representations of nature and Spring and their black and white version were first presented to the students.

 

Focusing on the overall images and also on the details, students gained the understanding of the different components of a picture: the shapes, the colors, the emotions brought up by the images.

 

Instructions given:

Choisis des gommettes de 2 couleurs différentes, et de 2 tailles différentes. Colle les gommettes sur les bourgeons, les branches, les fleurs et les tiges.

Choose dots of two different colors and two different sizes. Place the dots onto the buds, the branches, the flowers and the stems.

 

The students were very quiet during this activity, giving their full attention to their artwork, following the directions given and using their fine motor skills to place the tiny dots in the places of their liking.

Exhibit 2: Discovering Bees | Les Abeilles

Description

As part of our theme about spring, the children learned about bees. Together, we looked at books and discovered that bees collect nectar from flowers and make honey inside their beehive. We also learned lots of new words to talk about bees and the work of beekeepers. As we were all very interested, we got to look at real pollen during circle time, and we were so impressed to see some real pollen! We all took a turn to smell it and look at it. We shared our impressions about what it looked and smelled like. The children said that it looked like little yellow and orange pebbles. They also said that it smelled like pumpkin, popcorn, mango, butter and even ice cream!

 

As the interest about bees did not fade, the children joined together to print bubble wrap onto the outline of a beehive. Then, they painted the background such as some flowers and some trees. And finally, they drew some bees with felt tips. As they were participating to this project, the children were commenting and were saying things such as: “look, I made a carrot, now I’m going to made some blueberries!”, “ I made two suns”, “I made a tree”, “ça, c’est la reine”, “ça, c’est le miel”. The children were very engaged and showed that they really understood what the bees needed to be happy! 

 

Finally, after having spent a few weeks talking about bees, we decided to create a beehive for our wooden bees. First of all, we painted all the loo rolls with yellow paint, then, once they were dry we stuck them together and finally we stuck the honeycomb inside a large box. When the beehive was ready, the children were eager to decorate it so the bees would enjoy it! The children said: “moi fait une abeille”, “un arc-en-ciel”, “ un bouquet de tulipes”, “des fruits”, “ pour Les Abeilles, du pollen”. The children really thought about what the bees would enjoy and use! They also used the real pollen to feed the bees!

 

Objectives:

  • Develop understanding of bees: what they are, what they do and why they are important

  • Develop language

  • Name body parts of the bees

  • Develop fine motor skills

  • Work as part of a group

  • Develop artistic skills

  • Develop understanding of the world

  • Develop hand-eye coordination

  • Develop spatial awareness

  • Develop one to one correspondence

Exhibit 3: Snails | Les Escargot

Description

After a few group discussions with the children about a class mascot, we decided that getting a couple of snails would be a great idea! Together, we discussed what our future snails might need to be happy and stay healthy. After writing a list together, we asked Madame Liebmann to place an order for us. We were so excited for our snails to arrive through the post! Everyday, we were looking out the window to see whether the postman would bring us our little friends. Every morning, we counted the days until we would finally get them!

 

After 29 days, they arrived, at last! Before meeting our snails, we got their home ready but putting some soil and some moss inside the tank. Then, we all gathered up and opened our precious parcel….

What did we discovered inside? Three escargots!! They were hibernating so we had to wake them up gently with warm water. Then, we put them in their new home and gave them some banana to eat (after their long journey, they were hungry!) We spent the day observing them and learning how to handle them. Of course, we made sure to thoroughly wash our hands afterwards. We had a wonderful day discovering them, looking at their shells and reading stories about snails!

 

After a week of having fun with our snails, we cleaned our snails' house and it made us realize that our snails depend on us for their health and well-being, so we have to take care of them properly! We took time to empty the old soil to replace it with clean soil. Then, we added some fresh moss and finally we sprayed our snails with water to make them happy. After all this, we decided to take the game “Snail race” out to work on our math skills and the game took on a whole new meaning! Two of our snails started climbing up the windows of their house and seemed to be racing up! We had lots of fun looking at them and debating who would be first to arrive to the top!

 

Objectives:

  • Develop language

  • Caring for a being other than ourselves

  • Develop awareness of different types of lives

  • Name body parts of the snail

  • Understand the physiology of the snail

  • Develop counting skills

  • Become responsible

  • Understand different types of habitat

  • Understand the concept of hibernation and seasons

As part of our school's Reggio Emilia inspiration, our teachers keep documentation of the different classrooms explorations they discover with their students. This documentation, which is shared daily with our parent community on our private school "Bloomz" app, allows our students, parents, and teachers alike to see the beauty in the children's learning, through natural exploration and discovery. Below are just a few examples of how our students learn and explore.

La Maternelle Project Gallery