French Program

Summary

Bilingual Junior and Senior Kindergarten Programs - 3 to 6 Years

Montessori is a philosophy of education with the fundamental tenet that a child learns best within a social environment that supports each individual's unique development. Dr. Maria Montessori, creator of "The Montessori Method of Education", based this new education on her scientific observations of young children's behavior. As the first woman physician to graduate from the University of Rome, Dr. Montessori became involved with education while treating children labeled as slow learners.

As a bilingual school the children are fortunate to have a bilingual Montessori teacher interacting with them on a daily basis.

RMPS incorporates second language instruction during a French circle following Maria Montessori's philosophy. Here is how we proceed:

Children are free to choose whether to participate in the French Language group activity when the French circle commences
We use as many hands-on activities, sing along songs, small objects, finger-plays, bingo and vocabulary and matching cards (and other manipulatives)
Audio- tape books and bilingual storytelling are inviting to the children as well.
We have a space dedicated in the classroom to display the lessons presented to the children, such as our French language shelf or listening centre table for children to use at any time of the day and practice the vocabulary introduced in a group.

Approaches in the field taken from research into language acquisition, stress the view that language is primarily a tool of communication, in this context, a language is learned through real communication. French is introduced on a conversational basis and children learn through various themes to identify objects in their environment. The vocabulary includes introductions, expressing one’s needs/feelings, various vocabulary: animals, colours, the days of the week, months, seasons, weather, and the date.

Students develop their vocabulary by playing games, through story time, singing and dancing, viewing videos, miming and a variety of other activities to motivate children.

Rhymes/Poetry
Short and simple (easy to understand) –cultural enrichment
Help the children acquire linguistic knowledge naturally and spontaneously as well as improving orally their pronunciation.
Songs
Songs serve to teach linguistic content in a lively manner and help pupils to improve their accent and rhythm of their speech
Songs also encourage a positive attitude about French
Picture Stories
These stories and dialogue are heard on cassette, through flash cards and short stories
Texts are short and simple
Purpose of pictures: To simplify the introduction of structures and vocabulary To develop comprehension and to invite reaction, verbal or otherwise from the child
Role Playing
In these activities, the children are encouraged to act out a story, a rhyme, a poem or song; to play a certain character or to invent a brief dialogue. This allows them to express emotion, to speak more naturally.
* often group activities = learn to work with others
Social Games
Children are invited to play familiar games:
Memory games
Bingo
Classifying vocabulary cards
Group games using action words
These activities provide entertaining and stimulating way of using language in a meaningful context.
Themes
Themes help clarify concepts and to make learning relevant. Themes are organized by integrating poetry, literature, art, music, social studies, math, etc.
Evaluation
Children are evaluated in an informal setting. At the end of each month there will be a small oral evaluation. The following topics will be covered this school year.

Montessori Bilingual Program

Curriculum description

The focus of the bilingual program is to have the children hear both official languages throughout the day.

Teachers are bilingual and the program consists of an afternoon French session for 1 hour on a daily basis related to various themes and lessons. French as a Second Language curriculum is to develop students' abilities to communicate in basic French as well as to develop their understanding of the nature of language. Students will also acquire a greater respect and appreciation for the French culture. It offers students an opportunity to practice and refine their communication skills in the areas of listening and speaking, and prepares students to expand their oral communication skills through daily conversation with French-speaking people.

Why learn a second language for young children?

Children have an innate ability to acquire multiple languages. They are curious. They are able to imitate sounds perfectly.

They are open-minded. Unlike adolescents, they are not self-conscious about making new sounds. They are not concerned about appearing silly while participating actively. This natural ability diminishes with age.

Early second language study also: