CP1, CE2, C3P0, R2D2...What grade is that?!

Week of May 20-26:  Ideas to help us all promote French language learning this week, including Washington, D.C. area French-language and cultural events for kids and families.  Please share any other ideas by commenting below or posting to Bonjour Mama's Facebook page!  Bonne semaine! (Scroll down to FRENCH THIS WEEK for the list )

I am still waiting to hear back from Montgomery County PS to know if we will have a spot in the French immersion program, which I am even more anxious to get into after this past weekend: 

On Saturday at the Gaithersburg Book Festival I met several families with kids in local immersion schools and I was astounded at the level of French I heard. I met two kids in second grade who spoke so effortlessly and fluently it gave me pause; for all my exertion over the past five years speaking and exposing Zach to French, it seems like my results pale in comparison. Although he is very competent in his French, he is by no means at the level of these kids, most of whom I'm sure had much less, if any, French before they entered Kindergarten!

If we don't get into the immersion program, I'm going to have to seriously think about how I can get his French to the next level without exhausting myself in the process. Whether this happens through immersion summer camps, the Alliance Française, or at least a weekly intensive immersion class like Language Stars, what's clear to me is that it can't be all up to me anymore (and my husband who often happily pitches in to speak/play en français). We need to be institutionalized! (in a good way)

As I mention "institution" and think of schools it occurs to me that for pretty much my entire French-speaking life I have never really understood the French equivalents of the U.S. grade levels. Since Zach was born, I have met many French Moms whose kids attend the Lycée Rochambeau. In the first few minutes of any conversation we ask the ages of our kids, where they go to school, and what "grade" they are in. If the child is at least three or four years old the French Moms' answers usually begin with Ecole Maternelle then petite/moyenne/grande section or if they are older, it's a CE or CP followed by a number. At this point in the conversation I tend to just tune out because I don't know what it means and haven't ever taken the time to figure it out. I make sure I know the age of the child and then think of what grade it equates to but I'm never sure.

Finally, I just googled "French equivalent of first grade" and pulled the below list together based on what I found in various places. I finally have the tools to understand and relate!  

Age	France	USA
3-4	Maternelle - Petite Section	Nursery
4-5	Maternelle – Moyenne Section	Pre-K
5-6	Maternelle Grande Section	Kindergarten (U.S. kids begin Elementary school this year)

Age	Ecole Primaire	Elementary School
6-7	Cours Preparatoire (C.P.)	1st Grade
7-8	Cours Elementaire (C.E). 1	2nd Grade
8-9	C.E. 2	3rd Grade
9-10	C.M. 1	4th Grade
10-11	C.M. 2	5th Grade

Age	Collège	Middle School
11-12	6ème	6th Grade
12-13	5ème	7th Grade
13-14	4ème	8th Grade
14-15	3ème	9th Grade (U.S. kids begin high school this year)

Age	Lycée	High School
15-16	2nde	10th Grade
16-17	1ère	11th Grade
17-18	Terminale	12th Grade

Cher Google, within a few seconds of typing you tell me the hourly weather forecast, how to unclog my "In-sinkerator" disposal, and now have ended my longstanding ignorance of U.S.-French educational equivalents. Je t'aime:-)

FRENCH THIS WEEK

Out and About

As there are so few new- at least on a weekly basis -- French-themed events for families (unless I am missing something!) I have decided unless there are at least a few  new and unique items to include here to stop including a daily schedule and instead, provide a link to the calendar and highlight anything else that is unique here.

The main attraction I see this week is the book sale at the Alliance Française which goes through June 15th. The last time I went (before I began selling books myself!) I found a very nice selection from Gallimard Montréal and bought one of my favorites to this day: C'est un Livre by Lane Smith (which as of next week I will have for sale on the bookstore!)

At Home

Play Le jeu des dinosaures with your sofa cushions (or anything that can be piled or layered on the ground). After I vetoed the 100th session of "la bataille en français" (see previous post for details) I told Zach he needed to come up with another game. He said: "on va chercher des os de dinosaures."  Each layer of pillows had to be dug through "creuse, creuse creuse!" in search of buried fossils. "J'ai trouvé un fossile"! Ça c'est la tete du tyrannosaure. Ça c'est son pied!". Très fun.

Watch (and play along!) Boowa et Kwala playing the school version of Jean Dit (Simon Says): La Maitresse a dit.

Plan a playdate with other French-speaking parents and kids!  If you are in the DC Metro area, join or suggest an event on Bonjour Mama’s facebook page, Le Petit Groupe Français, or Les Mamans Autour de DC!

Cet Été: French Immersion Theatre Camp (and other options!)

I totally missed the boat in compiling the camp options for Spring Break, so I was determined to do a round-up for French-language summer camps.  

Attendez:  I know all the organized Moms are laughing at me for even attempting this barely two weeks before summer starts, but since I’m only disorganized moi, this is the best I can do for now. I hope to do better next time (vraiment!). So, below is the list of the places I know that are offering French summer camp sessions with links to the details on their web site.  All of these programs still had spots open for at least some one- or two-week sessions when I checked. But...that was several days ago so I apologize if they are full up by now.

Organization / School

Alliance Française - DC

Caterpillar Preschool - DC
French Maternal School -DC
Washington International School - DC

Communikids - VA, DC 

Miniliguists - MD

Language Stars - MD, VA

Yang Academy - MD
Global Enrichment - MD

My original goal was to compile all the key information like prices, dates, et cetera (which I did gather for most), but at this point if I wait to finish the list it will be time to plan for winter break. 

Now, have to highlight something that hopefully makes this post worthwhile despite it being late and incomplete:

A few weeks ago I got a postcard in the mail from a company called "Minilinguists" out of Potomac advertising immersion summer theatre camp in French and Spanish. I did a double-take because this just sounded too amazing to be true. I cannot imagine anything better for us: My Zach, who is incessantly making up and acting out stories and LOVES his after-pre-school drama "lunch bunch" having a chance to do a theatre camp in FRENCH?

I spent a long time on the web site and was amazed. Here is just a small excerpt from the program description: 

Minilinguists uses all those things that children love: games, sports, science experiments, cooking, music, crafts and theatre. Counselors and teachers are taught to focus on each group and what they do well and where they need help. A mixture of fun, arts, activities and a focus on grammar and fundamental vocabulary will help your child advance in speaking ability. If he/she is studying the language in school, their should be some evidence of academic progress as well.

The company used to be called "Le Petit Centre Francophone" and has a long history in our area. In addition to the camp, they offer lots of language teaching options year-round for all ages.

I was so excited I actually picked up the phone (as I am increasingly addicted to typed communication, this is rare) and spoke for at least 20 minutes to the Director, a woman named Kaaren Agnez with an impressive resume that includes 27 years of teaching French to children of all ages as well as theatre training. 

Unfortunately for us, the camp doesn't take kids under six (it is designed for "Rising First Graders through Sixth Graders"). While I'm disappointed not to be able to participate this year, I am very happy to know about this program for the future.  And for those of you with kids in first-through-sixth grade, they still had spots when I spoke to Kaaren, but they were filling up quickly! Details for Miniliguists, including dates and fees for the camp can be found here.

If you are aware of other French-language camps or ways to keep up with French this summer, please share! 


Merci!

French Book Sale, Storytime and FREE Children’s Book Raffle on Saturday May 18th at the Gaithersburg Book Festival!

Bonjour Mama is having a big book sale this Saturday, May 18^th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Gaithersburg Book Festival! 

Our friends at Language Stars have generously offered to share their tent with us so please stop by to shop our growing collection of French and bilingual books. We have many new titles and characters, including Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and other Disney favorites in French! 

Also, please also join us for a French story time at 10:00 a.m. in the festival storytime tent (in the children’s village).  The book is a surprise, but it is an absolute favorite of ours so I hope you will like it too! I will be doing a FREE book raffle for everyone who attends, and three winners will be announced at the end of story time (10:20 a.m.). Each winner gets a FREE book(s) of their choice of up to $10 in value!

More about the Gaithersburg Book Festival

In case you aren’t familiar with it, this is a big event. It will be teeming with both up-and-coming (and already-arrived) authors, including one of our favorites: John Sciescza. He is the author of, among others, the fantastic Trucktown books – picture and/or early reader books for boys with big, bold text that begs to be shouted out: “SMASH! CRASH”!

There is a HUGE focus on children and young adults in addition to the grown-up author signings and workshops: the children’s village promises a “literary sea of activities, workshops and performances… designed to engage and stimulate your child’s book curiosity and interest in reading and writing.” 

The complete list of events and programs is on the web site and I am already getting that panicky feeling that there is so much to do we probably won’t be able to make it to everything.  Here are just a very few of the activities taken from the web site that look too good to miss:

• Alden Phelps delights the audience with Word Play, an interactive musical performance that bolsters language skills while entertaining and teaching children original songs and rhyming.

• Magician Mike Rose presents an entertaining and hilarious magic show which also promotes reading and library use.  

• InterAct Story Theatre combines storytelling, drama and song to explore different world cultures. Children get into the act too by participating in this educational and riveting experience.

Alors....à samedi?  Stop by the Facebook page and let us know if you plan to come!

The Wisdom of L'Oréal / La Sagesse de l'Oréal

Week of May 6 - 12, 2013:  Ideas to help us all promote French language learning this week, including Washington, D.C. area French-language and cultural events for kids and families.  Please share any other ideas by commenting below or posting to Bonjour Mama's Facebook page!  Bonne semaine!  

In honor of Mother's Day and all of us who, on top of the regular worries of motherhood, have decided to take on the additional stress (and joys!) of bilingual parenting, I looked up a few French words for the pampering we --or someone who appreciates us-- should treat ourselves to, either this Mother's day weekend or bientôt.   

By the way, I highly recommend doing the exercise I did for this post: visit French spa sites and get a virtual surge of bien-être as you luxuriate in the terminology and images of relaxation. But please report back on your REAL experience below or on the Facebook page!   As the famous l'Oréal slogan reminds us, Nous le valons bien (we're worth it)! 

Facial - soin du visage

Glycolic/chemical peel - un peeling

Mud mask - masque de boue

Highlights - mèches

Massage - massage

Manicure - Manucure

Pedicure - Pedicure

French manicure/pedicure - French (yes, you say "french manucure"!)

Ideas for speaking French this week

Out and About

Please confirm dates and times directly with event host. ($) indicates there is a cost for the event. Also, check back here or on the Bonjour Mama Facebook or Twitter pages for updates.

Tuesday 5/7

4pm: Storytime at the Alliance Française

For MAMAN/PAPA: 

7pm: AFDC Screening of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" at Bloombars ($, RSVP)

Thursday 5/9
4pm – French Storytime at the Cleveland Park Library

Saturday 5/11

10am-4pm: Passport DC Europe Open House:

• French Embassy - partnering with Embassy of Germany for a big day. To include games, French and German music, face painting and more

• Belgian Embassy - no family activities advertised, but you can sample waffles (gaufres) and chocolat (plus beer for Maman/Papa) and see a model Solar Impulse plane (avion solaire)!

10:50am - Storytime at the Alliance Française

At Home

Relax - alone or with your child-- to this soothing meditation: "Rester tranquille comme une grenouille (Stay calm like a frog - it sounds better in rhyming French)   

Create a virtual Mother's Day bouquet on Boowa and Kwala or follow directions on Teteamodeler  to make a paper one. 

Browse through the animated Mother's Day (Fete des Meres) cards on Cybercarte.com (hint if you want a bit more grown-up French practice: don't click on the link to bypass the ads!)

Read (for Maman/Papa) Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran, a lovely story of a friendship between a boy and his neighborhood grocer that transcends age, religion and culture. 

Plan a playdate with other French-speaking parents and kids!  If you are in the DC Metro area, join or suggest an event on Bonjour Mama’s facebook page, Le Petit Groupe Français, or Les Mamans Autour de DC!