Real school starts for Connor in September, 2002 ! In France, the kids start their formal education young, at the age of 3. They start in the Petite Maternelle. This means that Jeff and Connor go to the same school now. For the young ones, the morning is the time for the learning, and if your kid goes back to school, the afternoon is for a nap and play time. Connor did not return in the afternoon at first, but we have just started to get him going back. He cried a bit at first when we would drop him off in the morning, but now he loves going to school and has no problems. Here are a few pictures.

Here we are arriving at school in our Renault Clio. For some reason the boys just love going in my red car.

Here we all are arriving at the front gate of the school for the 2002-2003 school year.

This is Connor's classroom. When he arrives he takes a red card with his photo on it, red because he is on the red team, and puts it in the slot to show he is here. Then he goes into the back room and hangs up his jacket on the peg with his picture over it. He gets quite upset when his dad hangs his coat on the wrong peg. Then he runs back into the main room and starts to play.

Here is where they take their nap upon returning in the afternoon.

See how happy he is in his new class ? He even has a girlfriend now.

July, 2002 Update: Connor has graduated from the garderie !! See the diploma below. He finally got comfortable enough that he didn't cry when dropped off anymore and he actually seemed to have fun. His teachers loved him. In September, 2002, he will start at the Maternelle Petite, at the same school Jeff attends.

This year we decided to get Connor going on the school bandwagon. In France, they have something very much like a preschool called a Garderie. It is very inexpensive, the equivalent of about $1.40 an hour. He can go up to three times a week for a maximum of 10 hours a week. Right now, he cries a bit when we drop him off and he says "No" when we drive up. But his teachers say that he stops crying pretty quickly, settles down, and has fun playing. He is always happy when we go to pick him up. Here are some pictures of Connor and his school.

These pictures were all taken at the Christmas party Connor's school put on. It featured Santa handing out gifts and quite a nice spread of tasty treats. Here Connor is getting in the mood with his Santa hat.

Here is Connor with Santa. Connor is still in the stage where he cries whenever he sits in Santa's lap. The one woman in front of Connor is one of his teachers, and the young woman in the foreground on the left is the teachers assistant, Sandrine. Lucky Connor.

Here is the same teacher, Martine, again with Connor.

This is Connor's other teacher, Bridgette.

Here Jeff, Connor, and Steve sit in the crowd waiting for Santa to hand out Connor's gift. Turns out it was a book about all the different animals and how they go to the bathroom. How did they know ???

Updated Thu Jan 10, 2002 22:27 CET