school
Transforming Kindergarten: Au Revoir
At the end of X’s first term, we agonized over whether to stay enrolled in public maternelle or transfer to a tiny, fledgling Montessori school with a more flexible pedagogical style and a higher student-teacher ratio. Neither solution removed the greatest obstacle in adapting to French school – not the language, but the cultural gap.…
Transforming Kindergarten, Part 2
The case of The French Primary Education System v. X continues, but the litigation has become convoluted, testimonies contradict one another, and eyewitnesses are scarce. As I am inclined to project every little thing onto the macrocosm of cultural differences, it’s easy for me to lose track of the fact that all that’s really happening…
Transforming Kindergarten
X’s first two weeks of maternelle, or French kindergarten, were as good as could be expected. In the mornings, he would trot into the room cheerfully enough and start fiddling with some toy or project, and he’d be happy in the afternoons, chattering and eager to show us whatever he’d drawn that day. He even…