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  • Ex pushing for French school board

    My ex informed me yesterday that she has booked an appointment for today with a french board school to have my 6 year old assessed for possible enrolment.

    This is a very last minute decision considering french board starts school tomorrow.

    Neither my ex nor I speak french and every person I have spoken to has told me that this will be very difficult for my 6 year old. He is a very smart child and I really don't want to hurt his confidence. In JK and SK his current school alternated between 1 week of french and 1 week of english but his french is still limited at best. I am not sure why my ex has suddenly decided to go this route when the original plan was for him to start immersion in his current school in grade 4. Just a guess but her and her new partner are both pushing for this very hard (he is french), and

    I am going in to hear what the school has to say but I think my son needs to learn the basics in english (math, reading etc). in grades 1-3 and THEN start immersion in grade 4.

    Also, after reading the criteria for acceptance to the french board, we don't meet any of the requirements.

    Basically I am looking for informed comments from people who have kids in the french board and deal with the teachers and curriculum on a regular basis.

    Thanks in advance!

  • #2
    I have spoken to parents who have kids in the french board as well as a couple of teachers and no one thinks he should go directly into the french board without parents who are competent in french.

    I fully support a french education but it has to be under the right conditions. I think my son needs to learn his first language skills first.

    My ex and I have joint custody of our son so I have to be on board with a move of schools before she can proceed.

    Comment


    • #3
      My daughter is enrolled at a French school. And as far as I know, atleast one parent has to be French. I do know they make exceptions though as we don't speak French either. The earlier a child starts to learn a new language the easier it is. Really the only way to become fluent in a language is to be imersed in it every day. French immersion programs at school will never give the same level of fluency as a French school will.
      Becoming fluent in another language will only benefit your son.

      As for your ex just having an interview now, she may have been told that they were full. As school draws closer, often times there is alot of moving around and a space opened up.

      Comment


      • #4
        There are other ways to learn French, there is some french taught in English public schools and they assess kids to see wehter they think they should be places in late immersion at Grade 7. My daughter was recommended for this but chose not to go.

        Comment


        • #5
          Same here in NB...

          We have "A" french school in the district I am in, in order to qualify the child must be considered "fluent" to start off there. (ie. one of the parents needs to be french, or the kid has to be some sort of prodigy)

          We then have "early immersion" (in grade 4) and "late immersion" (starting in grade 6).

          I have 3 children that have gone through this thus far...in 2 cases where we went with Immersion we leveraged it for the Grade 6 year (late immersion) with no adverse effects.

          I agree with you Teddie...the child should learn their first language skills first, and IF they are doing well then you review the possibility of immersion when it becomes available via the regular school system.

          If the kid is struggling with his first language, he'll be impossibly lost with a secondary one. No sense killing the desire to learn by making the challenges frustrating and disheartening.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by NBDad View Post
            Same here in NB...

            We have "A" french school in the district I am in, in order to qualify the child must be considered "fluent" to start off there. (ie. one of the parents needs to be french, or the kid has to be some sort of prodigy)

            We then have "early immersion" (in grade 4) and "late immersion" (starting in grade 6).

            I have 3 children that have gone through this thus far...in 2 cases where we went with Immersion we leveraged it for the Grade 6 year (late immersion) with no adverse effects.

            I agree with you Teddie...the child should learn their first language skills first, and IF they are doing well then you review the possibility of immersion when it becomes available via the regular school system.

            If the kid is struggling with his first language, he'll be impossibly lost with a secondary one. No sense killing the desire to learn by making the challenges frustrating and disheartening.
            I agree with your last comment. My son is so enthusiastic about learning and loves his current school. I can't picture putting him in a school where right off the bat he is behind the other kids and can't understand the teacher. I will find out more today but I don't imagine the teachers taking the time to assist him when he is having trouble understanding simple directions in french.

            Comment


            • #7
              [QUOTE=NBDad;145775]
              I agree with you Teddie...the child should learn their first language skills first, and IF they are doing well then you review the possibility of immersion when it becomes available via the regular school system.
              QUOTE]


              Many many studies suggest that this isn't the case. Younger children pick up multiple languages at the same time and speak both proficiently. Its really the best way to become fully bilingual.

              My daughter who never spoke anything but English was dropped into an Arabic school at the age of 4. She picked it up so quickly and not that I could judge but was told that her pronounciation was perfect.
              Fast forward a few years later, she was placed in a French school and again, she just picked it up. Kids at that age are like little sponges, they just soak it all up.
              She's currently in a gifted program. I truly believe its because of the other languages. Just some food for thought. I will tell you though, the arabic school was a struggle, as her father was always away for work and it was difficult getting homework done. But we did manage.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by oink View Post
                Then there are other options as :

                1. moving to a new country and immersing yourself.

                2. Rosetta stone

                3. paying for a private tutor

                I'll rather have a child who is SOLID in academia, volunteers and sports, than one that can speak a myriad of languages but struggles with school work or extra curricular activities.

                I found team sports helps with making you think not just of yourself i.e. focus on others, coordination, and work ethics

                The best chance for children to pick up multiple languages starts to diminish by age four, and there are noticeable differences for those who start learning new languages at age seven or eight.
                The research shows that from about 18 months up to age three, children have a “language-making capacity” through brain maturation during which they can acquire two or more languages without much difficulty. Studies of young children in Germany who were exposed to both German and French from birth or at a very early age showed that those children easily switched between the two languages depending on the situation or context.
                On the other hand, children who started learning after the age of 7 or 8 rarely attained the level of a native speaker.

                Research shows that children exposed to two languages score higher in cognitive verbal functions like thinking more flexibly about language like understanding verbally nuanced jokes better.
                Its also been proven that children who learn multiple languages are better able to interconnect various ideas to form a concept, resulting in better creativity.
                As well, children who learn multiple languages are better at organizing, planning, setting goals, and anticipating various outcomes. This usually shows itself during adolescence.

                And bilingual adults have greater ability to concentrate and improved memory recall, thus combating the effects of aging.

                Comment


                • #9
                  My D6 has completed JK and SK in a french school. My ex is a fluent french speaker, but I have only rudiments. D6 had almost no french skills at the start and is now almost fluent, but for the first year she was pretty isolated. She has adapted well. I'd say she is of average intelligence.

                  I think it HIGHLY unlikely that the school would accept your son without having at least one french speaker at home. He will need the support of that parent.

                  Also, know that
                  - all general/broadcast info will be in french, and they will not translate it for you. Printed out, this amounted to 2" of paper for one school year.
                  - relying on another parent volunteer to translate for you has been unworkable in my case.
                  - parent council meetings conducted solely in french. If you ask a question in English, they will respond in French.
                  - report cards in french
                  - school outings give preference to french-speaking volunteers - though volunteers are often scarce, so english-speakers might be permitted
                  - be prepared for rabid french-language protectionism from school staff
                  - only one-on-one communications in english
                  - website in french only

                  In contrast, immersion programs are designed to accommodate parents who cannot speak french.
                  Last edited by dinkyface; 08-26-2013, 01:23 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by oink View Post
                    The only thing missing is the "research" in question. German and French kids...what a great representation of kids from all over the world.

                    This is up there with BS surveys like...men or women are known to do blah blah blah, conducted in the USA. How does that apply to every other man and woman from other continents considering there are things like cultures et al in play?

                    I am calling BS on your "research" which you haven't provided links for, because I speak at least 3 languages fluently, and I didn't go to a bilingual school, nor did I learn the 2nd one by age 10.

                    The one thing I'll concur with is this "organizing, planning, setting goals, and anticipating various outcomes." when I look at myself today. As you might know, some women that are less ambitious and independent, will see this as "controlling"

                    Maybe you're one of the gifted ones that can just pick up languages and speak it like a Native? :-)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Care to share this research you mention?

                      Everything I have learned states age 6-7 is the cut-off.

                      The idea of starting exposure to something earlier than the natural age of the knowledge acquisition equating to an advantage has been debunked. At the natural age, the bell curve catches up.

                      This is not to say that early exposure is not great.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        My daughter is in french school despite coming from english homes and spoke french like a native by Christmas holidays of her first year. It was tough at the beginning - her little brain was tired by the end of each day and week, but worth it.

                        Full french school (recess in french, math and gym etc in french) seems to be much more effective at producing fluently french children than immersion programs.

                        I have no research to back me up, just every day life in a bilingual neighbourhood.

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                        • #13
                          Something else to consider ...

                          French schools have a much wider catchment area, so
                          - fewer classmates will be from your neighbourhood.
                          - they may offer bussing

                          At least in central Toronto, most French immersion kids will switch schools in grade 5 or 6, because fewer schools offer middle-school french immersion (than early french immersion). That is not the case with a french-only school board.

                          Both options have a fairly high attrition rate (i.e. switching back to full-english), not sure which has the best retention though.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            This is a FANTASTIC idea, and you should be bending over backwards to help make it happen for your kid.

                            Just my opinion.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by oink View Post
                              The only thing missing is the "research" in question. German and French kids...what a great representation of kids from all over the world.

                              This is up there with BS surveys like...men or women are known to do blah blah blah, conducted in the USA. How does that apply to every other man and woman from other continents considering there are things like cultures et al in play?

                              I am calling BS on your "research" which you haven't provided links for, because I speak at least 3 languages fluently, and I didn't go to a bilingual school, nor did I learn the 2nd one by age 10.

                              The one thing I'll concur with is this "organizing, planning, setting goals, and anticipating various outcomes." when I look at myself today. As you might know, some women that are less ambitious and independent, will see this as "controlling"
                              You should take a developmental psychology course, you could learn all about it.

                              Comment

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