PROUD PARENT ALERT! (Feel free to leave;))
The kids have done really well settling into school and although they’ve had a few little issues here and there, they have stuck in and got on with it.
There’s been little in the way of homework compared to the UK and the French way – at least here in the mountains – seems to be to get them out and about and playing in nature outside of school hours.
After being lulled into a false sense of complacency, we were jolted back into action when last Friday, Iz presented us with a French poem that she needed to learn by Tuesday!
Wow! Even I’d feel anxious having to learn that and understandably, she was. We thought this was a good opportunity to show her how something seemingly insurmountable could be overcome by lots of practice and hopefully she’d feel great when she finally did it.
First job was to find out what the heck it all meant so we translated as much as we could ourselves and enlisted the help of our old friend Google Translate for the rest. We think it’s something like this:
Mr Spring
The month of March has a secret
That I will tell to you.
He’s preparing us gently
For the arrival of Mr Spring
–
Mr Winter is no longer King,
Mother Nature is reclaiming her rights.
The flowers are appearing in the fields
To greet Mr Spring.
–
The Sun is rewarming with it’s rays
The fragile wings of the butterflies.
Everything slowly coming back to life
Thanks to the benevolent Mr Spring.
–
Karine Persillet
We then wrote it out as it sounds phonetically and started going over it. We even recorded Nina saying it on video so that Iz could keep listening to it in the background. I’ll spare Nina the embarrassment of posting that vid on here!
As it started to sink in, she got more and more confident and by the end of the weekend we all knew it. It was imprinted on our brains… Even T (4) could recite the first verse and a half!
The week started and every day she came home and a few kids had done it but not her. On Thursday after pick up and general chat about the day we asked “No poem today then?”
“Yes!” She said, “I did it! I was shaking and I could hear my heart beating in my head but I did it and I didn’t hesitate.”
She said “When I finished, all the class were chanting “Dix! Dix! Dix!” and I was the first person to get 10/10!”
She was so proud and so were we! I’m pretty sure she’ll remember that poem and that experience for the rest of her life. Well done Iz! x
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