French Immersion Parents - esp. non-French speaking

[Limabean1975]

My son will be starting French Immersion Senior Kindergarten soon. DH & I have very weak French.

I guess I'm just reaching out for tips, thoughts about FI, etc. I'm considering taking an French as a second language course at a local college so I can keep up with what he is doing a bit better.

W're trying this out - if it doesn't work out, fine. But right now I am not looking for "don't do it!" warnings, please.

[whatsnextmom]

My DS is in Spanish Immersion not French but we too, don't speak the language. Well, DS can speak some. I can speak a little and a little French. I told myself I was going to take a class to "keep up." Well, 6 weeks in, he surpassed both Dh and I. There is no "keeping up." Kids take to language much easier than us adults. Then life happened and we never got to those adult classes that were never timed well. I'm not saying not to try only that our DS is going into 5th grade, fluent in Spanish and working on his 3rd language of Mandarin and our lack of language has never once been an issue.

Do expect your child to be WIPED the first few weeks. It takes them so much focus in the beginning that they can be unusually exhausted. We've only known a tiny handful of kids who rejected the new language so don't worry there. Continue reading with your child in English. It makes a big difference down the road. When the time comes for testing, don't stress even though they test in English and your child may not have had any formal instruction at that point. It's normal for 2nd graders to test below their non-immersion peers. By 3rd, they pretty much catch up. By 4th and 5th, they statistically test about 30 percent higher. Still volunteer if you can. I wasn't much help in the classroom in the beginning so I made copies and such. Now I can help with the English portions. Oh, and don't be surprised if you rarely hear them use their new language at home. This is totally typical. They think extra hard in school, they want to come home and relax in their native language. I rarely hear my DS's Spanish and am always surprised at how easily and fluently he breaks into it with my fluent mother or people in the community.

Our only complaint was in 4th grade. We felt there wasn't enough English writing going on (English or Spanish.) Having already been through 4th grade once with my eldest, I did feel my DS was behind a bit in this reguard. This summer, we did "paragraph of the week" and he quickly bumped right up to where I'd expect him to be.

I will say that we have loved, loved, LOVED immersion school and only wish it'd been an option for our eldest (this school is new in our community... the immersion schools in other communities are heavily sought after and almost impossible to get in.) Good-luck to your family!

[Limabean1975]

Thank you so much, whatsnextmom! Great insights & thoughts.

[GuildJenn]

Just wanted to share that I went through FI in the 70s/80s and my parents were Americans with NO french capacity and it was never really an issue. Except on a family trip to Quebec when my dad kept trying to muddle through things while I would be trying to jump in.

[mtm]

My oldest is doing french immersion, gr 3, my middle is starting fi this fall (senior kindy). My dh has no french at all, I have some from ages ago. It starts off slow enough that you can pick it up as your kids learn fairly easily. Its been great for my oldest.

[_ktg_]

Oh I'm excited to find this thread!! DS1 just started k4 at FI and I speak a little French but DH has none.

When we took a tour of the school - they told us almost exactly what Whatnextmom said! We have a friend who is in the German program and they love it, their DS loves it and often muddles through stuff while speaking in German at home, like little phrases and thoughts. He's not even aware he's not speaking in English.

As for increasing my learning the language I'm looking Rosetta Stone and I know our school offers a "boot camp" for parents so we'll be doing that too.

[hergrace]

In general, Canadian French Immersion classes introduce the language very slowly at first in order to accommodate families where the parents have no French. And, the schools expect that even parents with a reasonable amount of French won't keep up with the kids after a year or two.

In fact, the language is introduced so slowly that DS1 was frustrated by the pace. Where we are, French Immersion doesn't start until grade 1 - my guess is that DS1 would have done better if he started FI in JK before he was reading fluently in English.

I was functional in conversational French and reading good literature when I last took classes - 20 years ago - but haven't used it since. I have found it useful to have a background in French to help DS1 advance faster than his class. If he were happy with the pace of the class, he wouldn't have needed my help at all.

I have not been taking any formal classes, but I have been trying to improve my active French. I have found reading kids books with him has been great for my vocabulary. And, to review the grammar, I have found books aimed at helping grade 4 and 5 students with Core French have been useful. For speaking practice, we do very little, but I try to have a few exchanges with him in French every couple of days.

We have found reading translations of books we know in English incredibly valuable. We also do a reasonable amount of media in our house and watch French language kids television. Also, watching familiar movies with French sub-titles or using the French soundtrack and English subtitles has made learning fun for both of us. Your school or public library might have a Tumblebooks account and they have French language books read aloud. Our public library has great resources for kids in French.

I hope it is a great year!

[Limabean1975]

Thanks everyone, just hearing all of your thoughts is really helpful.

Hergrace, I missed out on the French Immersion info night, so I may have the wrong idea, but I thought they started out hardcore to really "immerse" them in it. We're meeting the teacher next week (but not starting till the 15th), so I'll be asking her all about that.

Our library does have Tumblebooks, thanks for pointing me to it!

[_ktg_]

Our immersion program is all french all day long starting in October. This first month (in k4) is in english only to help the kids learn the routines, and rules of the classroom. I think for different programs its a different level of immersion. A good friend of mine teaches at an immersion school in Seattle, and they have I think a 1/2 & 1/2 program

So anyways after the first month then its French only until 2nd grade where they will start to have english again as a subject for a brief time in the day.

[hergrace]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

Hergrace, I missed out on the French Immersion info night, so I may have the wrong idea, but I thought they started out hardcore to really "immerse" them in it. We're meeting the teacher next week (but not starting till the 15th), so I'll be asking her all about that.

For DS1, there was an increasing amount of French from the beginning of the year. DS1's teacher was particularly slow and didn't get to full immersion until Christmas. The other teacher was there by mid-October. But, there is a lot of repetition in the early days, so even when it was all French, there wasn't enough new material to keep my guy interested.

ETA: And, all the homework that a parent was expected to help with was clearly explained in English.

[sanguine_speed]

My oldest have been in french immersion since kindy, and are now going into grade 4 and grade 1. There was no real adjustment period over and above regular english JK. We almost never need any french to help, though sometimes it's useful if the kids want help with some assignment or other. Teachers generally provide regular information to parents, in English, about what the kids are working on. It's been a very smooth transition for us, and we'd definitely NOT tell you not to do it. Our kids are at a huge advantage learning french so fully and at such as early age. I'm happy that they have the opportunity.

[Cujobunny]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

Thanks everyone, just hearing all of your thoughts is really helpful.

Hergrace, I missed out on the French Immersion info night, so I may have the wrong idea, but I thought they started out hardcore to really "immerse" them in it. We're meeting the teacher next week (but not starting till the 15th), so I'll be asking her all about that.

Our library does have Tumblebooks, thanks for pointing me to it!

Ds is starting French Immersion SK next week. It's 100% french language in the class. On the FI info night the teacher did about a five minute long example of how a class would go. I understood everything she said, dh didn't. I did well in French in school though (but that was a long time ago) and also spent close to a year in a French community when I was 19. I would definitely not call myself fluent or conversational though.

The teacher spoke very slowly, there was lots of repetition and lots of actions to go along with what she was saying i.e. if she was telling them in French to hang up their jacket, she would mimic hanging up a jacket.

As the kids get older and have homework they encourage kids to call on each other for help and find that they often do, even on their own, they will call a friend at home and get their advice on the assignment.

[Limabean1975]

Interesting, Cujobunny. I will definitely have to get clarification from the teacher as to how it will be handled.

Thanks for the continued insights, everyone. Just the handful of posts in this thread has already made me feel more confident about this whole thing...no doubt I'll be back here for support after the first few weeks!

[pianojazzgirl]

My dd is not in French Immersion, but in a truly Francophone school (in Quebec). Both dh and I are anglophones who speak French at a conversational level. We spoke pretty much only English with dd before she started school in pre-maternelle (junior kindergarten). Since her class was francophone there was no easing in to the french language... it was just full immersion from day one. I'd say it took dd about a month to get fully comfortable (this is also taking into consideration that not only did she have to get comfortable with French, but also that she had never been in daycare or preschool before and this was a full-day program). They soak up languages so insanely easily at this age. I'm seriously jealous! Now, 2 yrs later, dd is starting premiere annee (first grade) and is totally fluent. She has a bigger vocabulary than me, and I am definitely somewhat challenged to understand some of the reading material that she brings home.... well... I can understand it, but I have to really concentrate, while if I was reading the same thing in English I'd be able to get what was happening just by scanning it. TBH I'm pretty nervous about how I'll help her with her homework when she's in the later grades (highschool essays??? EEK!). I'm going to be enrolling in a french class this fall. Hopefully that'll help boost my level a bit.

[Cujobunny]

French Immersion Kindergarten Curriculum Handbook for Parents

I read this today and found it very interesting and helpful. It's from Alberta and I'm in Ontario but I think the curriculum sounds similar. It helped me out, ds is all of a sudden having some anxiety about the French. He's wanted to learn French since he was about 2.5yo and he still very much wants to, he is just afraid that he won't understand what's going on in the class. I explained to him that only the teacher will be speaking French, all the other kids are going to be English speaking, just like him, and we went over the few French words he knows and I think he's ok with it.

He does have a perfectionist streak so I think that's where his anxiety is coming from. I reminded him of last year when he was afraid to draw a picture of his family because it wouldn't be good but we worked out some solutions and he tried his best. Also that school is for learning, he's not expected to already know the stuff and his teacher is there to help him learn. I hope he likes it, I know he'll do well.

I also took him to the school today and we got a peek at his classroom and met his teacher, saw the playground & where the bus will drop him off & pick him up. We also talked about the school work he will do and I told him I'm excited to see what work he will bring home & how he can explain it to me. That put a smile on his face.

[swisscanmom]

Both my kids are in French Immersion, my dd is going into 2nd grade, and my ds into 4th. We LOVE the program. Here it is 100% French for SK and Grade 1, and 10% English is introduced in Grade 2 and increases to about 50% by grade 6. My ds is virtually fluent, and my dd speaks really well also. We have no issues with homework, even though my French is very limited.

[Limabean1975]

That Alberta pamphlet is very helpful.

[RomanGoddess]

Originally Posted by swisscanmom

Both my kids are in French Immersion, my dd is going into 2nd grade, and my ds into 4th. We LOVE the program. Here it is 100% French for SK and Grade 1, and 10% English is introduced in Grade 2 and increases to about 50% by grade 6. My ds is virtually fluent, and my dd speaks really well also. We have no issues with homework, even though my French is very limited.

How do you know they are fluent, given that your French is limited?

[whatsnextmom]

How do you know they are fluent, given that your French is limited?

I know this wasn't directed to me but I knew my DS was fluent in Spanish when he could converse with our relatives for whom Spanish was their 1st language on a wide range of topics and they wouldn't have guessed he wasn't also a native speaker. The teacher usually talks to you in conferences and gives you an update on the quality of their language as well. My DS is heading into 5th which is when they expect fluency. Of course, he's matched the fluency of a 9-year-old native speaking child (though his reading and comprehension skills would be considered advanced) not an adult. Obviously, like a native 9-year-old, his vocabulary is limited to his own life experiences and the subjects offered in school to date. A 9-year-old from Spain wouldn't have all the vocab neccessary to discuss high school level chemistry because they haven't learned it in school yet... same with my DS. His school also teaches Mandarin (though traditionally, not immersion.) He's been taking that for 2 years but no where near fluent or literate in the language. In fact, even if he continues with the language, they don't expect true fleuncy until end of high school! It's a much tougher language than Spanish and French.

[whatsnextmom]

ds is all of a sudden having some anxiety about the French

It might help to clue him in that his teacher DOES understand English. I know, the first few grades it's a big deal for the kids to NOT hear their teachers speak English at all (and many think their teacher's "can't" speak it.) However, a child with anxiety about it might feel better knowing that if something bad happens, they can tell their teacher in English and they will understand. I've also heard teacher's break into English to offer comfort to a kindergartener is she falls and hurts themselves, ect.