Homeschooling? and 3 year olds at school

The teachers will be doing their bit but why do you expect them to meet you halfway? It really isn’t that straightforward.

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Hiya,
Just wanted to say ignore some of the negative comments you have been getting - certain posters ( and admin are more than aware of who) like to pile in on almost any subject with their own peculiar brand of negativity.
If you want some practical ‘been there, done that, got the T-shirt’ advice from those of us whose kids are in / have been through the French system, take on board what those posts say and ignore the rest. @vero is our resident expert, she has loads of kids and experience and is a teacher so will be looking at it from both sides of the coin - and when it comes to French Education, Vero is basically God :slight_smile:
Good luck, it will get better and your kids will be fine!
From another mum xx

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Thank u Cat!! I will do just that…was starting to get a lil frustrated but i wont allow those negatives to distract me from whats very vital! Im very encouraged by the positive feed back and input! It helped me write my letter and the kids come home learning more french!
No tears yesterday!! So thats major progress! And the English teachers have even asked my kids for help with the English class! So today i look forward to hear their accomplishments!
Thank u again Cat!

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I’ve read through this thread and really can’t find any negative posts, quite the opposite in fact plus a few reminders of the reality of the situation.

That’s really great news if they’ve got teachers who want to get them involved - it will give the kids a bit of a boost self-confidence wise too!
Also I really do agree with whoever it was that said they should be learning Spanish, latin etc - they will be on a level playing field here ( well at least more level!!) and could well turn out to be top of the class given a bit of time. And yeah, the cafeteria is a big scary linguistic challenge, but they will get there - how old are your kids by the way? If they are lycée age you will probably find some parents are desperate for their kids to have some conversational English so you could think about doing / organising some informal swapping / teaching and…it will really help you and your kids improve your French too!

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As your kids are 12, 13, and 15 they are coming up to important years (Brevet and going into the high school or last three years leading to the baccalaureate) so some important changes and and choices. YES, redoing the year is a great idea and in the end will make no difference to their progress through the French system. Are you planning on staying here for university? Or sending them back to the states? This will make a difference to your expectations for their final exams.

By the way what years are they in now? I would have said 5eme, 4eme and 2nde ? Am I right?

Yes totally agree with redoing the years! Mine didn’t and as a result and due to have stupid Christmas Eve and Boxing Day birthdays went off / will go off to uni at a ridiculously young age - sniff!

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Great ideas!!! And fantastic news today…my 2 younger ones in the college will get french classes by one of the teachers! And my daughter in the lycee is having an aide assigned to her! All kids came home in much better spirits…so grateful to all the ones who gave me positive sound advice!!!
Many hugs!!:roll_eyes:

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That is brilliant news… now, you can get yourself organized… perhaps there are classes nearby that you can go to… to keep you abreast of the kids … :relaxed:

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Id love to take classes if i was close to the town…but for now its online study for me!

Whatever you do… it will be a step in the right direction… good for you… keep at it… :relaxed::relaxed::relaxed:

You may be able to get French lessons via the GRETA, probably in your local Lycée professionnel. You should also look into getting a validation des acquis professionnels for yourself so that you hit the ground running when your French is operational.

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I will definitely ask!!! Thank u for great advice!!! Happy lil mama right now!

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Thank you, too kind :blush:

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You know me and my girl crush! :slight_smile: Nearly referred to you as a cross between God / Bono and the Dalaï Lama…

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Can you unpack GRETA please, Véro, as I see that Google lists it as concerned with human trafficking? :thinking:

Just want to say I’m thinking of you all…If I were to attend a French school now based on my level of French language ability then I’d probably be in first year infants…and the little ones would probably still be correcting me…x :smile

LOL :grinning: Helen, the same is possibly true of me, as I ‘weigh above my punch’ when it comes to claims to competence in French, especially conversational French, as I don’t get much opportunity for brins de causette locally, except with my elderly male neighbour, or an occasional old lady out shopping who seems pleased to be greeted and exchanges a few words about the weather with me.

There aren’t many local clubs that my wife would be happy to go to for face-to-face learning, as she doesn’t speak French and clearly feels left out in conversations, and somerimes suspicious of what I’m telling other about her/us that might be indiscrret or injurious. She had weekly individual lessons and made very good progress as I could help her with her homework which was professionally planned and quite intensive, and we both enjoyed it, and chuckled a lot. But the ten lessons cost 400 euros, and we simply couldn’t afford to keep them up. There aren’t any local language groups or private tutors.

But we’ve got to work on it, and we do. Your kind thoughts are most welcome, but don’t allow yourself to imagine you’re in the slow lane, I’m still working out how to open my road map, and plan a route​:thinking::confused::grin:

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It is the bit of the Education Nationale that provides tuition for adults:

GRETA

Les Greta sont les structures de l’éducation nationale qui organisent des formations pour adultes dans la plupart des métiers. On peut aussi bien y préparer un diplôme du CAP au BTS que suivre un simple module de formation. En Aquitaine, les Greta proposent des formations pour adultes dans un grand nombre de domaines professionnels.

Le GRETA c’est quoi ?

Les groupements d’établissements (Greta) sont les structures de l’éducation nationale qui organisent des formations pour adultes dans pratiquement tous les domaines professionnels. Les Greta ont 40 ans en 2014 dans un contexte nouveau. Ils ont été recréés par la loi pour la refondation de l’École de la République. Le principal réseau de formation continue pour adultes, qui offre des formations à 500 000 personnes chaque année, est préservé et conforté.

Well that’s a remarkable, and - on the face of it - wholly admirable institution. Why, oh why, don’t the British have an equivalent? That’s just a rhetorical question to which I already know the dismal answer. Thanks Véronique!