Le Jardin des Enfants (JDE) is a program that promotes the social, emotional and cognitive well-being of children through the creative exploration of a foreign language. A few things to remember as your family /child embarks on this learning experience: Learning a language at a young age is natural for children, as they bring no inhibitions or fears to the experience. Their participation in meaningful activities will allow them to retain words and structures effortlessly. Children learn by doing, but don’t forget that learning a language is a long-term process and a lifetime experience.
We offer small, play-centered classes for children and their caregivers, as well as a preschool (coming soon!), all taught exclusively in French.
Our class philosophy:
Music, singing and rhythm are integral part of our classes. Children learn as they hear and sing our songs. Through music and singing we not only expose and reinforce the language but also build a community that shares the same vision for learning a language at an early age. We encourage participation from both children and parents. The teacher aims to teach one new song each week while constantly revisiting songs already taught. Parents will be provided with material to support learning the language at home: words for songs, links to the songs online and other resources available to facilitate the learning process.
In addition to music, movement activities also allow children to interact with each other and the language. Acknowledging the importance of young children to move their bodies through the physical world, the classes at JDE employ various games and activities that allow children to explore their bodies. Movement activities transition into quieter times and back again to stimulate a child’s attention span and keep their minds sharp for learning.
Stories also stimulate a child’s mind. Young children are naturally drawn to stories and love to revisit favorite tales as well as learn new ones. Our classes include a daily story, told with the help of visuals, puppets, props and child-participation. We will explore familiar fairy tales as well as new, original stories that will inspire a child’s imagination all while providing another platform where they can interact with language. The stories told will also provide inspiration for art, the fourth and final component of the classes at JDE. Each class will include an art project. Open-ended art activities promote self-expression and creativity, both important parts of developing language. Our classes for preschoolers will always include a creative activity related to part of the class’ activity that will serve not only to solidify new learning but allow an outlet for children to process what occurred during the session. The art will also help build community within the class as the children and caregivers work side-by-side to create something new and original to share with others.
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Ali Keech is a certified preschool and elementary school teacher in California and New York State and holds a bilingual teaching credential for French. She graduated with a Master’s of Arts in Bilingual/Bicultural Childhood Education from Columbia University in New York City and has worked in various multilingual and educational settings. Her proudest moment yet, however, has been the birth of her daughter, Cecily Grace, who, together with her husband and family and friends, is being raised to be a multilingual global citizen.
