Hello,
We are an American family moving to Marseille at the end of August. We will be there for the school year, so about 9 -10 months. My daughters are 6 and 3, so my 6 year old will be in 1st grade (CP) and my 3 year old in maternelle. At this point they know a little french, basically numbers, colors, some vocab and general expressions. I am putting them in public school, so they will be fully immersed!! I know it will be tough for the first few months, but the only international school in Marseille is way out of our budget. Any basic advice on how to help them adjust to school in a new language? My 6 year old is vey bright and social, so I think overall she will do ok. My 3 year old is still learning English and can still be hard to understand in her native language, so I am a bit concerned for her. Also, her school here is only 3 hours, so she'll have a huge adjustment to such a long school day!

Also, I am now trying to decide what to pack. How do the kids dress for school in France? Do they need clothes for physical education as well?

I'm a bit concerned about trying to translate the list of school supplies we'll have to buy when we arrive!!

Thanks for any thoughts and advice you may have!
Angela

Hi Angela

Welcome to the forum. Your move to Marseilles sounds very exciting.

A couple of things I would advise you to do when you get here. In any bookstore or supermarket you will find a display of cahiers des vacances. These are little books that practice all the skills kids have learned over the school year. They are marked for kids moving from one year to the next so for your eldest, the most appropriate would be "from the grande section of maternelle to CP" - that will help her learn some of the things her classmates will have done in the last year (as they learn cursive writing in the grande). But I would also get her the other 2 younger maternelle books to help her as well, if you have time - they are very cheap.

Another good resource will be your local library - there are heaps of books about going to school for all age levels. Lily and I found a really good book about kids starting CP recently at our library, so I'm sure you''l find heaps. Also, there is a great series for preschoolers called "imagerie des tous-petits" and its got a terrific book about a day in the maternelle. It tells the whole routine and has great pictures and easy french (not sure how good your french is :)). Also dont forget that a 3 year old does not have to go to school all day (unless you want/need her too, of course). Many 3 year olds only go in the morning, especially before Christmas while they are getting used to it.

I'm sure it will be a little adjustment for them both but all I can say is we had a great experience when we arrived last year. Lily was 4 so she went into the moyenne section of maternelle. She did understand a bit of french and had started to put together a few sentences before she started but she has learned so much at school.

As for clothes, they dress their kids pretty nicely here in Annecy but I dont know if thats typical. The teachers suggest they wear clothes they can move about easily in, which makes sense of course. Lily wears lots of jeans and trousers, occasionally a dress or skirt (but she's not a huge girly girly). Lily is only in maternelle and hasnt had to take any track pants for the days they play in the gym...but if thats different in CP, I'm sure they'll tell you! In CP, they'll probably go to swimming as well.

Cant help with the school list as I have not got to that stage yet. I'm sure I've seen a translation online somewhere. Other than that you may get lucky at the papeterie and strike a helpful shop assistant. If not and you're going in August there are bound to be other mums around, you could try asking someone - a good way to practice your french and maybe meet a new friend at the same time ;).

Oh one more thing, then I'll stop, try hanging around the playground nearest to your kids school in the days before school goes back, if you have time. Most of the tourists will have gone home and you might meet some of the local kids who'll be going to you daughter's school.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

Hi Penny,
Thanks for all the great advice and book suggestions! I've been working with both girls on vocab, and basic expressions. THey are also watching some videos in French. I'm always amazed when I hear my 6 year old repeat what she has heard in the video - she has NO accent! I wish my brain were such a sponge!
I will ask at the maternelle about mornings only for the first couple of months. I do think my 3 year old could manage that.
Thanks again for your tips!
Angela

Mine are not in school yet so I don't have any advice, but wanted to wish you good luck! I lived in Marseille for a couple of summers and a year after that, a few years back, and loved
it!

You're welcome Angela. All the best with your move. Let us know how you settle in :)

Hi - as Penny suggested, try to find a stationery shop with helpful staff. The one I went to got it all ready for me and I came back half an hour later - no worries! There are some good vocabulary CDs out there which
might be helpful, even the vocab game part of Rocket French is pretty
good for young kids.

Best of luck!

Craig

I am wanting to move to Annecy at Easter with my children. They will be 9 and 11 at that point. I also have 2 older children 12 and 14 who are at boarding school in the UK. Can anyone recommend a school in Annecy for my 2 younger children - they will be in 5e and 3e?

Secondly, how do I go about enrolling them in a school?

Finally, I need to find an appartment or house to rent, ideally furnished. Is it best to do rent through an agency and does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Cari

Hi Cari,

I will try to answer some of your questions. Firstly, with an easter move you may find it difficult to get your kids into a private school. Public school they are obliged to take them.
Do they speak French? There are no English-based schools in Annecy, you have to go to Geneva for that (read very expensive...). There are, however, good schools in Annecy. My eldest (10) goes to St. Michel, which has a "bilingual program" from college (age 11). If your kids are 9 and 11 I would imagine they would be going into CM2 or sixieme and CE1 or CE2 depending on when their birthdays fall.
To enrol you would need to contact the directrice with copies of school reports, etc.
Let me know if I can offer any other advice.

Cheers,

Craig

Many thanks Craig. We are coming out for a long weekend in December and hope to make some progress both on the accommodation front and schooling. A couple more questions for you if you don't mind: Is a public school obliged to take the children if we live in the area? To enrol them, once we have found accommodation, do we contact the school or the Mairie? Finally, we don't have a track record in France, so if we took on a flat for 6 months initially and paid 6 months up front, presumably we would not have a problem renting?
Regards

Cari

Hi Cari,

Regarding the schools, I would contact some private schools before you come - you never know, they might be able to find you a place for Easter,
and if you are coming in December you might be able to meet with the
directeur/directrice. For public schools it is the Mairie you have to contact
(with your rental agreement and vaccination card up to date). Let me know if you would like any further information on where to live (schools obviously depend on catchment areas and some are better than others - if you are going down the public path then this will influence your choice of rental location).

Regarding the difficulties of renting, following the lines of normal logic you would think that paying 6 months up front would be OK, but unfortunately this is generally not the case when dealing with agencies. Finding a landlord who will rent to your privately may be easier in this respect. Check out pap.fr and the classified sites (paruvendu.fr, topannonces.fr, etc.). I don't know what your level of French is like (or your kids), but having a good level of spoken French will make it easier to find an apartment (probably goes without saying...).

If your kids need catch-up lessons in French I can recommend Butterfly and Papillon for private lessons (Val, their teacher, is expensive but very good). Bear in mind that French schools will give no extra help in French for non-native speakers, it is very much a case of sink or swim.

Send me a PM if you want my e-mail address to discuss this further.

Cheers,

Craig

sorry But no ans of that question