In early 2014, we took our family, including our two school-age boys, to live in France for three months.
Probably the single biggest factor in our desire to live in France was to give the boys a French school experience.
It’s also the aspect of the trip that most people we know – and many of those we don’t – have wanted to know more about.
Read more in the full article as published on www.stuff.co.nz/travel/kiwi-traveller
Well done you, and well done your boys. Our experience of French schooling is only second hand, via a couple of English friends whose children were ‘in the system’, and some older children who would come to us for help with English lessons. Our impression became rather negative. Teachers everywhere have their good and bad points, but we formed an impression of a highly regimented system which the child had to fit into. Language teaching in particular seemed highly academic, with written work being valued above oral. Above all it was the sheer quantity of homework imposed on chidren after a long school day that seems unreasonable (Wheeled trollies to carry back your homework when you’re under 10 years old? Really?). Some of our friends were ex-teachers, and clearly motivated and caring. But even more than in the UK, they seemed slaves to the ‘system’. I’m glad your boys had such a positive experience, thanks to your careful preparation and what seems to have been a good school.
What a wonderful gift you have given your children. Living here for three months must have been so difficult when it came time to leave. When I first visited France it was with a rail pass, my backpack and a return flight in six weeks. It nearly broke my heart to go. I flew back to San Francisco more determined that ever to sell my house and return permanently to France. The village of Quillian is not that far from my home in the Corbières. You must have had some wonderful adventures. Since I just discovered your blog when you visited one of mine, I will have to spend more time exploring.
Thank you for choosing to follow one of my blogs. I do hope you continue to enjoy the posts. Léa