Jeff Goes To School In France

His lifelong adventure begins !

One of the biggest benefits in coming to live in France is that Jeff and Connor will get to go to school in France and pick up the language and culture. Since most every countries kids score better than American kids we think this is a good thing. In France the kids start school early, at 3 years old, which is how old Jeff is. They start in a school called a Maternelle, which is very much like a cross between kindergarten and preschool.

We visited several schools here and they are all very nice, clean, well kept, and have great play yards for the kids. Unfortunately, very few, if any, public schools in the US compare to how nice the schools are here. So once we settled in Mandelieu it was time to get Jeff enrolled in school. Unfortunately, the school nearest us had no room for Jeff, so he ended up going to school all the way across town. But, hey, this is Mandelieu-la-Napoule. Across town is not very far !

We were worried for the little fella since he had never gone to school before, just day care, and now he was going to a formal school. And to make things more difficult for him, he can't speak much French yet and all the other kids speak French and the teacher does as well. His teachers name is Mademoiselle Sabine, and she does speak English well, and that is how she addresses Jeff. But we will want her to start using French soon. So we were afraid Jeff would end up scared on his first day, cry, make a big scene, and generally fall apart and hate school for life.

So, because of all this, we spent alot of time building up the experience for him and telling him how much he would love school and he would get to paint, color, and play. We told him how much fun it would be, and he was a big boy now and mom and dad would not be able to stay in the classroom with him.

So, the first day arrived and Jeff is very excited. Everything is going well, he gets up on time, dressed, eats, and is ready to go. It's his first day so it's a big family affair. We all go, and we take all kinds of pictures ! Jeff does really well. He eagerly goes into the class room and starts getting acquainted with the place. But as Patti and I go to leave he does begin to cry. So we have to hurriedly leave and let Sabine take care of the problem.

Here are some pictures of the big event. The first one is leaving the house. The other two are outside the school.

Jeff is in school everyday from 8:30 till 11:45. So I go to pick him up at 11:45 and he gets a very good report card from his teacher ! He quit crying pretty quickly and settled in and played with the toys and some of the other kids. Sabine reports that he doesn't talk much, which I find hard to believe. If you've ever spent any time with Jeff you'd know he just doesn't stop talking about anything, anywhere, anytime. But as he gets to know more kids she won't be able to keep him quiet. Jeff also gets a good report on his beginning French. Sabine says that he says Merci very well, without an accent even !

The good beginning with school has continued and Jeff enjoys going every day. He now has his own coat hook for his jacket and every morning (I drop him off on my way to work) he pulls me into the hallway, shows me his space, and hangs up his jacket. He has his name and picture above the coat hook. Here are some pictures.

I couldn't be more proud of the little fella. He is a brave sole and doesn't let things stand in his way. He's off to school in France as if it was no big deal.

Jeff's school had a little party one Friday to celebrate Carnaval. The kids get dressed up just like it was Halloween. But it's a little more sedate than New Orleans. Jeff went in this Halloween costume, which was a Knight as you can see from the Halloween pages. Here he is with his teacher, Madame Sabine.

Jeff got to go with his classmates to the zoo in St. Jean Cap Ferrat. He was very excited about going and seeing monkeys, zebra, lions, and alligators. The alligators were his favorite. The school asked for them all to wear a hat and bring a lunch. Here is just waving goodbye as he heads off to school that day.

Jeff's school finished up on June 29th. Here is a picture of Jeff on his last day playing a game with some of the other kids. The second photo is a goodbye photo with his teacher, Sabine. Next year Jeff transfers to the school closer to our house and will have a different teacher.

See how Jeff's second year of school progresses. To see his third year click here.

Updated Tue Sep 3, 2002 23:40 CET