When I first heard about CouCou, the East London based French club for babies and toddlers, I wanted to pack our bags and upsticks.
Why, oh why is all the good stuff in London????
Well...for those of you lucky enough to live in the Big Smoke, I just want to wax lyrical a little about this great club and hopefully, you will have the chance to go and check it out for yourselves. If you do go, please come back and leave a comment here to tell me how it was.
You may have already seen the posters for the group round and about with their catchy tag "Chante avec moi" (Sing with me).
The group itself was the brainchild of a group of four non-native French speaking mothers of children ranging from 6 months to 2 years in age. When the singing group that these mamans had been going to suddenly closed its doors, they put their heads together to come up with a plan for creating an environment where francophone babies and toddlers and their mamans could go to indulge in a little singing, storytime, games and activites all in French. Thus, Coucou was born.
Each session has the same format, with a welcome song "J'ai un nom" where the group sing hello to each child one by one, followed by songs, nursery rhymes, games and activities based around a different theme each week and then, five more songs (which are the same each week to help the children learn through repetition). Each session ends with a story and a goodbye song.
Previous themes have included :- Parmi les oiseaux, les voyages, à la ferme, le corps, les nombres and un voyage à la campagne (which included singing 'Promenons nous dans les bois', il court, il court le furet', 'dans la fôret lointaine and a countryside walk where the children had to keep their eyes out for Monsieur Le Lapin).
Sessions take place every Monday at 10 am in the Childrens' Room at Dalston C.L.R. James Library, Dalston Square, London E8 3BQ.
Check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/coucouhackney .
Poppette would love it, of that I am sure!!!
Showing posts with label French playgroup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French playgroup. Show all posts
Monday, 6 August 2012
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
French Saturday Club
A couple of weekends ago, Papa and I took Poppette to a French Saturday club that we had found in a neighbouring city. We had been wanting to go along for a goodwhile but had had to wait for La Rentrée (beginning of the new school year).
The club had originally been set up by a group of francophone parents who wanted their children to be able to play and learn in French alongside other French speaking children. It has grown and grown and now offers a playgroup for the babies and younger children and a structured school setting for children aged from 4 upwards. Here children, who are schooled in the English school system during the week, are able to learn to read and write in French.
I am so happy to have found the school. My only regret is that it is not closer to home. With a drive of anywhere between an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half each way dependent upon traffic, it is quite commitment. That said, it is well worth it.
So... first impressions. Well, Papa and I were impressed. The playgroup kicked off with all the parents taking it in turns to introduce themselves and their child(ren). I have to say, I had been nervous for the whole drive over and sitting there waiting for my turn to speak up I could feel the butterflies in my tummy. My French friend who we had gone along with (her son is one month younger than Poppette), gave me a wink to help quell my nerves. Some of the parents seemed a little surprised that both Papa and I were English and had taken on such a gargantuan task as to bring up our baby bilingual, but there was none of the negativity I had feared. All of the other families had at least one French native as a part of the parental mix.
Talking to some of the parents, it was really clear that even for a native speaker, there can still be many bumps in the road when trying to raise your child to speak a minority language in a majority language country.
After the introductions we sang loads of Comptines (nursery rhymes). I surprised myself by knowing far more of the words than I would have previously given myself credit for. It seems that the never ending stream of CD's and books are paying off...
Following the nursery rhyme session the babies all played together with toys whilst their parents chatted and sipped coffee. The older children all participated in an adult led activity - making masks. It looked great fun.
Before attending the playgroup, the question Papa and I had been asking ourselves was just how much Poppette would get out of it attending at her current age. Well, I don't think that the benefits of group play and seeing different faces and scenery can be underestimated, but she may not get any real language benefit for a few months yet.
Poppette herself voted with her feet.... or more accurately, her eyelids which were firmly shut as soon as the nursery rhymes had finished and remained so for the next hour and a half until the playgroup session ended...
Hilarious.
That said, I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time in an environment where both children and adults were chattering away in French and am really pleased to say that I was fully accepted into the fold. It really does seem that my fears that people think we are odd for speaking French to our English daughter is more of a figment of my imagination than a reality and that actually people think that it’s really something quite admirable.
The club had originally been set up by a group of francophone parents who wanted their children to be able to play and learn in French alongside other French speaking children. It has grown and grown and now offers a playgroup for the babies and younger children and a structured school setting for children aged from 4 upwards. Here children, who are schooled in the English school system during the week, are able to learn to read and write in French.
I am so happy to have found the school. My only regret is that it is not closer to home. With a drive of anywhere between an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half each way dependent upon traffic, it is quite commitment. That said, it is well worth it.
So... first impressions. Well, Papa and I were impressed. The playgroup kicked off with all the parents taking it in turns to introduce themselves and their child(ren). I have to say, I had been nervous for the whole drive over and sitting there waiting for my turn to speak up I could feel the butterflies in my tummy. My French friend who we had gone along with (her son is one month younger than Poppette), gave me a wink to help quell my nerves. Some of the parents seemed a little surprised that both Papa and I were English and had taken on such a gargantuan task as to bring up our baby bilingual, but there was none of the negativity I had feared. All of the other families had at least one French native as a part of the parental mix.
Talking to some of the parents, it was really clear that even for a native speaker, there can still be many bumps in the road when trying to raise your child to speak a minority language in a majority language country.
After the introductions we sang loads of Comptines (nursery rhymes). I surprised myself by knowing far more of the words than I would have previously given myself credit for. It seems that the never ending stream of CD's and books are paying off...
Following the nursery rhyme session the babies all played together with toys whilst their parents chatted and sipped coffee. The older children all participated in an adult led activity - making masks. It looked great fun.
Before attending the playgroup, the question Papa and I had been asking ourselves was just how much Poppette would get out of it attending at her current age. Well, I don't think that the benefits of group play and seeing different faces and scenery can be underestimated, but she may not get any real language benefit for a few months yet.
Poppette herself voted with her feet.... or more accurately, her eyelids which were firmly shut as soon as the nursery rhymes had finished and remained so for the next hour and a half until the playgroup session ended...
Hilarious.
That said, I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time in an environment where both children and adults were chattering away in French and am really pleased to say that I was fully accepted into the fold. It really does seem that my fears that people think we are odd for speaking French to our English daughter is more of a figment of my imagination than a reality and that actually people think that it’s really something quite admirable.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Winning the (Language Swap) Lottery
A few months ago in a bid to increase both mine and Poppette's exposure to the French language, I came up with two ideas:-
1) find or set up a French playgroup; and
2) arrange a language swap i.e. find someone who wants to learn, practice or improve their English and help them in exchange for them doing likewise for me.
So far, the issue of the playgroup has been a little frustrating. I had several people contact me initially only to vanish into thin air. This could definitely take a whole lot of effort and patience on my part if it's ever going to happen. Good job i started thinking about it now whilst Poppette is still so young.
The language swap has been a whole different kettle of fish. I had started to think this was a non-starter when, three months after placing my ad, the only approach I had had was from some guy living in a different city who wanted to get to know me better via webcam . . . Hmmm
Then out of the blue I received an email from a woman wanting to know if i was still looking for a language swap. We met last week and I feel like I have won the language swap lottery. Not only have I found a swap but I think I may also have found a new friend. We got on instantly and she loved Poppette too ( naturally :-) ).
1) find or set up a French playgroup; and
2) arrange a language swap i.e. find someone who wants to learn, practice or improve their English and help them in exchange for them doing likewise for me.
So far, the issue of the playgroup has been a little frustrating. I had several people contact me initially only to vanish into thin air. This could definitely take a whole lot of effort and patience on my part if it's ever going to happen. Good job i started thinking about it now whilst Poppette is still so young.
The language swap has been a whole different kettle of fish. I had started to think this was a non-starter when, three months after placing my ad, the only approach I had had was from some guy living in a different city who wanted to get to know me better via webcam . . . Hmmm
Then out of the blue I received an email from a woman wanting to know if i was still looking for a language swap. We met last week and I feel like I have won the language swap lottery. Not only have I found a swap but I think I may also have found a new friend. We got on instantly and she loved Poppette too ( naturally :-) ).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)