What age did your kids go to Maternelle?

Hi she’s just turned 2 and isn’t 3 until April next year. We’re in Herault too. I’m trying to potty train her at the moment but I’ve had 5 puddles so far today, each followed by look mummy shall I sit on my potty (thru gritted teeth reply yes sweetie perhaps before u do pee pee next time?)

I’m sure she’ll be dry by next year. I think the mornings only sounds like a good idea from September 2012 as she really likes her afternoon siesta and sleeps for a good 2 hours each day. My 7.5m old however only has a 45min nap so I reckon she’ll be ready for Maternelle about the same time as No 1 is ready!

I have a 2 yr old and a 6 yr old. Both born here with a French daddy / English mum.

The 2 yr old turns 3 in September and starts maternelle petite section this September, I’m going to put her in mornings only as I did her big sister… she sleeps well in the afternoon and in the petite section they do take a nap.
So question is really when does your 2 yr old turn 3? as if it’s after December this year she won’t be due to start until next year anyway - I don’t know about where you are but the passarelle sections in my area (Herault / Gard) have all been cancelled now.

Maternelle isn’t mandatory no, but EVERYBODY goes… it’s fun and more like kindergarten really…
Also is she out of nappies? as they won’t take her 'til she is…

my eldest went to maternelle at 3 but started about a month after all the other children as we were moving regions at the time, which in retrospect was no bad thing as he avoided all the other children’s crying. Our previous school didn’t take them before 3. He has been full time since day one (and for several months including cantine). Our current school does offer the toute petite section but only in the mornings. we chose not to put the second child until petite section as otherwise he would have been in the same class as his brother and we wanted him to make his own way. In petite section they have a nap in the afternoon, but from moyen section they rest their heads on the desk. Even if it is centered around play there is still a defined curriculum for the different maternelle ages and it is all leading towards CP and school. Both my children have survived, with no problems although the eldest found the no nap difficult at the beginning of MS. I have a (french) friend who only sent her daughter to school in the mornings during PS but the teacher - although she can’t force her strongly suggested that she should go all day in MS. From MS they do a lot of pre-writing skills and counting, and in GS they do a lot of pre-reading activities. my eldest has just finished CP and I think he would have been at a great disadvantage if he had not done the whole of maternelle - if for nothing else than the vocab. The teacher’s comments for the whole of my youngest’s first year was that he thought he was in club med!! Many schools have stopped taking the TPs (one of the Government’s ways of reducing the number of fonctionnaires) and they do have to be nappy-free… To sum up y children love it (it is also a small village school of 4 classes including maternelle) and are looking forward to CE1 and being a papillon respectively…

They were staggered but both started at 2 and a half ish two mornings a week in the UK and were both very ready for it by then.
Max started in France, 4 mornings with me bringing him home for lunch. He was too tired to eat though so the teachers suggested I leave him to eat at school so that he would keep going and then collapse after lunch at home. That worked fine and I was quite happy with it but after nearly a term they asked me to be ‘mummy helper’ at swimming one afternoon for the older ones - I was happy to do so but had to leave Max there so he had a siesta with the others and then started going full time, as it seemed daft to bring him home to sleep if he could do that at school and I could collect all three at the same time.

We moved here when Ed was almost 4 and he went into Maternelle (Moyenne) section a month later. Most kids in the school were there all day from day one, but we collected him at lunchtime for the first half-term, which coincided with his birthday. This gave him 2 full years to learn the language before starting primaire and having to learn to read and write in it! Most of maternelle is structured play, so great for finding friends and learning French. Congrats on new bump!

Thanks Catharine, Did No 1&2 go at the same time or were they staggered?

No 1 and 2 did Uk pre-school and the thought of sending them full time at that age was completely beyond me.
No 3 was shoved through the door aged 2 and a bit as I was desperate by then!

I think it depends on the child and the school but generally in a small Maternelle they will be fine - or at least I’ve had very good experiences of mixed age groups in small schools.