Les vacances!
Even though vacation is upon us, your child can keep having fun with French at home. Be sure to check out the French links on my Resources page. There are all kinds of fun songs, games and so much more. You might even enjoy sitting with your child to explore these sites together.
Amusez-vous bien!
C’est avril!
It was all about “les poussins” (chicks) and les canards (ducks) today. What fun we had!
Every class, we keep working on answers to “Comment ça va?” Some children give the thumbs up and say, “Ça va bien.” Some tilt their hand from side to side and say, “Comme-ci, comme-ça.” Others show a thumbs down and say, “Ça va mal.” Most of the time, it’s the thumbs up, which is a good thing. 
We looked at eight different “poussins” each its own unique color. We practiced saying the colors and then we counted them. Some of the children are starting to recognize their colors and numbers. C’est super!
Using a ball with pictures of animals all over it, they each took a turn to “roule la balle” to a friend. Then, I would name a French animal and the child had to find the picture of it on the ball. They really seemed to enjoy this.
We also acted out a little song about a duck, leading other ducks. I had a feather boa for the lead duck to wear and then everyone else played follow the leader. Most of them helped me to say, “coin, coin, coin,” the sound of a French duck. I also had quite a few volunteers to be the leader.
We ended by reading a wonderful story by Mercer Mayer, “Il y a un alligator sous mon lit.” A few of the children had already read this in English, so they really appreciated it. The others figured out the story by looking at the pictures as I read in French.
I’ll see everyone in May. It’s hard to believe that the year is already coming to an end. Ça va trop vite!
Merci et à la prochaine…
le 3 avril
C’est une autre belle journée! Le soleil brille. It felt great to see everyone on this beautiful April day. I really missed everyone last week, but trust me, you wouldn’t have wanted my family’s germs near your children.
HALF HOUR
We had some more fun learning about size, petit and grand. We looked at the height of different shapes. Each child got a picture, either it was short (petit) or tall (grand). They then had to match it up with the word on the work rug. They had to listen very carefully because I also included color with size. They did a wonderful job figuring out where their shape went.
To have some fun with size, we sang a song to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Using our bodies and standing tall and then short, we sang: Nous sommes grands et nous sommes petits (2 times) Then, motioning with our fingers, we sang: Grands, petits, grands, petits (2 times) We ended with our bodies again, singing: Nous sommes grands et nous sommes petits. (2 times) They caught on very quickly to this and really seemed to have a good time.
We then did a review of clothes by playing Bingo. This is always a big hit. Working in pairs, they had to mark the spot for each piece of clothing that I said. C’était bien amusant!
I hope you all enjoy your Spring tea next week and then vacation the week after. I’ll look forward to seeing everyone again at the end of April.
EXTENDED DAY
In the afternoon, we started out by being artists, creating a sun and some clouds for our play. While they worked, we practiced singing our songs. C’était fantastique!
We also ran through the lines from start to finish. That’s a lot of hard work, but they’re doing a beautiful job. Starting at the end of April, we will be putting all of the parts together with props and using the “stage.” I am so proud of these extended day students. They have worked hard and it’s all coming together nicely.
Merci et à la prochaine…
C’est mars!
We’ve been learning all about animals this month at Joy of Learning. What a great place to be!
We focused on: le canard (the duck), la poule (the chicken), le mouton (the sheep), le cochon (the pig), le chien (the dog), le chat (the cat), le cheval (the horse), and la vache (the cow). They all had the chance to tell me which one was their “favori.” There were a lot of chiens and chats. We played some repeating and memory games to help them learn the words. C’était fantastique!
We tried a couple of different songs, “Chez le vieux fermier MacDonald” is one that you all know quite well. They all had a lot of fun singing “a-i-a-i-o.” It’s a little different than “e-i-e-i-o.” We also did a little song where you repeat the animals name several times, make the sound and act like the animal. They really liked that one.
The story this month was “Les trois petits cochons.” They were wonderful listeners even though I spoke only in French. If you’d like to watch a French clip of it with your child, click here.
We continued to review colors, too. We played a matching game with colored ribbons. They really enjoyed that. We even tried doing the color song that they do with Joy in English. It was fun to watch them make the French to English connection of debout (stand up), sautez (jump), tournez (turn), and asseyez vous (sit down).
We also worked on answering the question, “Comment ça va?” Some of them are comfortable answering with words. Many of them still prefer to show me the thumbs up, thumbs down or in-between sign.
I’ll look forward to seeing everyone again in “avril.”
Merci et à la prochaine…
le 20 mars
C’est le printemps! Quelle belle journée! Mes petits amis avaient beaucoup d’énergie. C’était fantastique! There is something truly wonderful about spring. Everyone was really budding with excitement.
HALF HOUR
This morning, we continued looking at size. There was a large bowl filled with 2 different sizes of beads. Some were small, some were large. When the child came to the work rug, they picked up one of the beads with a spoon. They then had to decide if it was “petit” or “gros” and put it in either the small bowl, marked “petit” or the large bowl, marked “GROS”. While they did this, they said the French word. They really seemed to enjoy this activity.
We had more fun singing and acting out “Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds.” I think they now all know that tête means head. The extended day children have definitely mastered all of the body parts used in this song. I appreciated their leadership.
We played a new game using clothing. Using une jupe (a skirt), une robe (a dress), un pantalon (pants), un t-shirt (a t-shirt), un pull (a sweater), un chapeau (a hat), une écharpe (a skarf), des chaussures (shoes), des bottes (boots) and des shorts (shorts), we created patterns. I laid out a pattern, saying the words as I went. Then, each child had a turn to figure out what came next. When she/he placed the correct picture, she/he had to say the word in French. This is a wonderful activity because there is so much repetition. They did a fabulous job with this.
EXTENDED DAY
In the afternoon, we did a worksheet on summertime objects. This will help to reinforce what they will be saying in the play. They did a great job repeating the words as we did this.
I was very impressed with their eagerness to practice the play this afternoon. We introduced the final season, l’été. Everyone is involved in this scene, so it’s quite fun. I was especially impressed with some of my friends who made tremendous progress today. Hannah and Makenna, will you take a bow?! They really paid attention, remembered their lines and stood out this afternoon. Merci, mes amies!
We ended by reviewing all of our songs. They sound lovely! You can be proud of your children for the focus they showed in class. It was especially beautiful today, which sometimes makes it difficult to want to be inside, but they surprised me. I think this was probably the best play practice yet! I don’t want to reveal too many secrets, so I’ll leave it at that.
Hopefully your child brought home a letter about the play. We’re still in need of a few things, so please let me know if you might be able to help us.
Merci et à la prochaine…
le 13 mars
C’était une autre belle journée. The children have such a wonderful spirit. How lucky am I to teach them French every week?!
HALF HOUR
Today, the children were introduced to “le chat chapeauté.” By using these nesting figures, we learned the words, grand, petit and moyen. It was also a great way to work on basic counting: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq. I wonder if your child remembers which one was the “plus petit.”
We continued to look at articles of clothing with a family. We had la maman, le papa, la fille, le garçon and le bébé. I asked each child to put on one article of clothing and then take off a different one. We saw: une jupe (a skirt), une robe (a dress), des pantalons (pants), un t-shirt (a t-shirt), un pull (a sweater), and des shorts (shorts). Each of these had a different color, so that also helped the child pick out the correct item.
We continued to sing and act out “Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds.” The first year students are really starting to catch on from the older children. That is the beauty of Montessori where you have multi-aged classes.
I then read them, “Les trois petits cochons.” They might remember the word for pig(le cochon), wolf (le loup), house (la maison), straw (la paille), wood (le bois), brick (les briques), chimney (la cheminée) and blow (souffle). It’s always fun to do a familiar story because they know what to expect, but are hearing it in French. Click here if you’d like to watch and listen to the Disney version in French. It’s really quite cute.
EXTENDED DAY
In the afternoon, we started by talking about “j’aime” and “je n’aime pas.” These are key phrases that we will be using in the play. They did a nice job focusing on the worksheet. Their folders certainly are getting full!
At this point in the year, they mainly want to work on the play. This week we focused on le printemps with Andrew, Hannah and Makenna. Oh what fun we had! We then reworked the rest of the play. We still have a lot of work to do, but it is coming along little by little. I’m hoping that once they get used to the time change that their energy levels will be back. It certainly is difficult to focus in the afternoon when you’re tired. If you have any questions regarding the play, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Merci et à la prochaine…
le 6 mars
C’est déjà le mois de mars! How quickly this year is passing by!
HALF HOUR
We continued to look at articles of clothing today, but with a fresh twist. Have you ever seen un chat qui porte des bottes rouges (a cat wearing red boots)? or un lion qui porte des moufles vertes (a lion wearing green mittens)? or un ours qui porte un chapeau bleu (a bear wearing a blue hat)? or une girafe qui porte des pantalons oranges (a giraffe wearing orange pants)? or un lapin qui porte une veste jaune (a rabbit wearing a yellow jacket)? or un chien qui porte une écharpe rose (a rabbit wearing a pink skarf)? They had a lot of fun helping to decide which animal should wear what. They were great listeners and understood my questions which made it a very fun activity.
We continued to sing and act out “Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds.” The extended day children are real leaders in this song.
We concluded with a puppet show of “Boucle d’or et les trois ours.” Ask your child to tell you about it. Hopefully they remember Papa ours, Maman ours and Bébé ours. They were very engaged and really seemed to enjoy this story.
EXTENDED DAY
In the afternoon, we worked on another worksheet focusing on articles of clothing. This time, we looked at summer clothes. Their comprehension has come such a long way this year. C’est fantastique!
It probably comes as no surprise, but we continued to work on the play. The props are coming along nicely. Today, we focused on l’hiver, which gave Ian, Sawyer and Kaitlyn an opportunity to try their lines and act out their part. The song was beautifully sung and acted out. We then reworked l’automne from last week because we now had Charlotte. It’s very exciting to see it all come together.
I will soon be sending home a letter with simple items needed for costumes. Most of these things are probably right in your child’s closet.
Merci et à la prochaine…
