Part-time French preschool
Hello,
I've been researching French immersion or French-American preschools lately. Most only seem to offer full-day schedules, which seem a bit much for a 3-year-old. Whether it's Ecole Bilingue, Les Petits Francophones or ISTP, none offer a partial time schedule (for instance mornings). The only one I've found is Jeu d'Enfant in Los Altos (https://www.mademoiselleanne.com/jeu-d-enfant), which operates 3 days a week from 9 am to 12 am. Has anybody had any experience with that preschool, or know of another that offers a partial time program?
Thank you for any suggestion you may have
Sep 7, 2018
Parent Replies
Oo-la-la! Unless you live pretty close to this pre-school, it doesn't make sense to send your child there, given how long the drive times would be from Berkeley/Oakland.
You might do just as well to hire a French-speaking college student for some childcare and do things like singing French songs and looking at children's books in French. Supplement with some children's programming from French-speaking Canada or France, and make a French meal together once a week, even if it's just croissants and omelets.
Have you considered a home-based preschool? You didn't say where you live but there are a number of small French-speaking daycare/preschools in the East Bay - use the search on BPN - choose Language=French https://www.berkeleyparentsnetwork.org/daycares-preschools
I would recommend Ecole Bilingue! I would talk to them, the program they have never seemed like too much for the kids.
Ecole Bilingue goes from 8:45am to 3:15pm (with extended care available until 6). The kids nap after lunch sometimes up for 2 hours. The day goes by fast and pretty soon your little one will want to stay past the official pick up time! They can totally handle it.