Schools - day care - Communities
The French Academy provides a high quality French program to day cares, children centers, community centers, pre-schools, kindergarten, elementary and middle schools. Our curricula are tailor-made to your needs, offering you fun before or after school classes, or solid French programs following ACTFL standards.
French Immersion Classes at your school/ center
1- French as before or after school program: one hour weekly or bi-weekly.
During this fun hour of French children will be immersed in the language though interactive activities, songs, games, and more. Role playing (buying an item at the market, giving directions, going to the doctor) will make speaking French really fun! Generally the group is quite diverse with children from different ages and sometimes even some children who already know some French. Therefore while learning basics (days of the week, month, colors, animal names, sports...), we make sure that more advanced children are more challenged with some written activities or more complex conversations.
2- French Classes as part of the school curriculum: our experienced French teachers can implement your French program.
3-Workshops and learning clubs:
- We can do a 1.5 or 2 hour thematic Workshop at your school/ community: for example about Carnaval, Valentines Day, French Christmas, Fairy tales, Musik party etc…
- Our learning clubs feature 5 hours of reading club (we discover a book together) or conversation (with role playing) or French cooking (crèpes, Madeleines, Omelettes).
4-Holidays and Summer Camps: we offer day or week long camps at your school for all level of proficiency: beginner, elementary to very advanced or French speaking children.
Material and bonus
- We prepare a curriculum based on the class and the level of the children.
- After class your child will have a vocabulary or activity sheet.
- We do regular evaluations.
- We provide you with online resources (vocabulary, internet games, songs etc..) to reinforce the learning from school at home.
- You can already benefit from our online resources with vocabulary sheets, crafts ideas and coloring sheets.
Teachers and Organization
- Our teachers are dedicated and highly qualified native speakers who are passionate about their work.
You'll find here more info about how we recruit our teachers.
- Our small size allows us to be flexible to your requests and assure a constant quality of the teaching. Our teachers and organization team will listen to your expectations and make sure our classes fulfill your needs.
- We pay attention to every little detail from punctuality, preparation, to passion for whatever we do.
Our team will help set up the class and communicate with parents (about curriculum, methodology, schedule, teachers etc..)
- The class can be paid by the school as part of the normal French curriculum or it can be organized by the parents / PTA as an enrichment program (before or after school).
Hands-on curricula
With more than 20 years of teaching experience our team develops curricula to build up strong language proficiency with a natural and fun methodology.
- Natural learning means that we learn through action in the interaction with others. These conversation skills are taught through dialogues, games, interaction with puppets.
- Listening aspects:
Songs are used to build up vocabulary because they are a good way to memorize. In many schools children sing songs, learn them by heart, but don’t understand at all what it is about. At the French Academy we used songs with a special methodology: each song is chosen carefully according to the learning goal of the day, a particular theme, for example: snow and cold, animals, body parts, fruits etc… The songs help to put the lesson into scene. We also work with authentic audio-visual material to strengthen the understanding skills of the children.
- Visual aspects:
We use pictures, objects (toys, fruit and vegetables toys etc.) to trigger the visual sense in the children and to explain words without having to translate them. Each visual help is part of a game or a fun task. It would be much too boring to study flash cards and repeat words like a parrot…
Working according to the ACTFL standards
ACTFL standards | With the French Academy for Schools |
---|---|
Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. |
** Through our task methodology the children have to engage in conversation with the teacher and others. They learn how to ask questions to get the information they need. Task examples for beginners/ elementary: - Have to present yourself, what you like and dislike, your hobbies and sports, your animals to the class - Have to present a friend, your family to the classHave to order food or buy items in role playing - Have to invite friends to your party (make a invitation card, call your friends to invite them over the phone)Ask for directions and be able to locate a place. Task examples for intermediate: - Have to choose a movie for a common movie night with other friends. - Have to give an advise to a friend (about health, sport, a book etc..). - Have to write a letter to a friend to tell about the last holidays. Of course since we work in complete immersion everything we do in class will engage the children in conversation from asking to go to the bathroom to borrowing a pen, scissors or glue. |
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. |
** In every lesson your child will not only interact with the group, he/she will also work with authentic French materials: educational books, cards, comics, advertisements, newspapers and videos to make sure he /she understands the spoken and written language. The goal is to develop not only the oral production skills but also the written and oral understanding. Example for beginners: - Being able to understand French students presenting themselves (audio track or video). - Being able to understand mailbox messages from a school, a museum, a library etc.. explaining the opening hours. - Being able to understand the weather forecast on Internet or on a newspaper Example for elementary/ intermediate: - Being able to understand a cultural program (exhibition flyer, synopsis of a movie…). - Being able to understand a conversation between two. |
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. |
** To fulfill this standard we work on the oral or written production of the children. For example, they have to present their family to the group, their favorite food. They write a post card to a friend, or a newspaper article to present their favorite book. |
Cultures - Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures. - Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture. - Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home & Around the World. |
** Our teachers are all native French speakers. They share their culture with students, especially during thematic workshops (like Christmas in France, or French food etc..) or because the will do a song or activity for a special holiday (Poissons d’Avril for April 1st, Carnaval for Mardi Gras etc..). Our mission is to help children become global citizens! |
Learning a foreign language is the key to opening a world of discoveries, meeting new cultures and being a better world citizen.
Set up your special school activity now!