French Schools Follow-Up: Summarizing My Children's Immersion Experiences

September 16, 2015 by Michele Cherie in French Culture, Travel, Education, French Language Learning

This week marks the third week my children have attended school here in France, with my preschooler attending public school and my elementary-age child attending a private school. I'm extremely grateful that they've had this opportunity, and yet we're all glad that we will return to homeschooling (back in the U.S.) by next month. The flexibility and individualization allowed by homeschooling is wonderful, but we still feel that our time here in Lyon is wrapping up too quickly!

Daddy Doesn't Speak French: How He (Still) Supports Our Bilingual Children

June 19, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Education, Reflections on Parenting, French Language Learning

My husband grew up speaking Thai at home, but he's most comfortable speaking English because he was raised in the U.S. (This comfort factor is why he chose to speak English to our children.) His French knowledge is limited to what he's learned in hearing me speak it with our kids, and yet he still manages to support our children's French acquisition in ways I truly appreciate. Here are five awesome ways he supports our children's bilingual development:

Teaching Reading in French: Our Homeschooling Plan

April 24, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Education, French Language Learning, French Resources, Learning Resources, Teaching French

My daughter is a witty five year old who adores books, so I think she's on the cusp of learning to read. But beyond our daily habit of reading together and occasionally reviewing alphabet sounds (in French and English), I haven't pushed her to learn to read (and my two-year-old son has several years before he reaches this milestone). Yet unless our family moves closer to one of the French immersion schools in Oregon, we'll most likely be homeschooling this fall. Read on for more about how we'll approach learning to read in French and the resources we'll use.