"When we decided to move to France, one of the biggest decisions was where to send our kids to school. International bilingual? (Too expensive.) Private Catholic? (Too Catholic.) American Montessori? (Too American.) Public French school? (Perhaps too...French?) We opted for total immersion in our neighborhood maternelle, the French equivalent of preschool + K. And so our adventure in French schools began. What we've found has been a cultural education in itself, surprising, occasionally maddening and enlightening all at once."
"The French system is indeed rigid, disciplinarian and devoted to the teaching method envisioned by Napoleon. Kids are not so much taught as trained - to absorb information by memorization and dictation with an eye toward shaping little French citizens. Where was the individuality? Creative problem solving? These were American constructs with no place in a system with only two answers: right or wrong. Hmm."
Families can choose neighborhood maternelle for total immersion in French preschool and kindergarten at no cost. The public system emphasizes discipline, memorization, and training students to become citizens rather than prioritizing individual creativity or open-ended problem solving. State-sponsored school lunches provide multi-course, often organic menus with suggested complementary home dinners, reflecting culinary standards and planning. Alternatives like international bilingual, private Catholic, or American Montessori schools are often rejected due to cost, religious orientation, or cultural mismatch. Enrollment in public maternelle delivers both cultural education and occasional frustrations as parents adapt to different educational values.
Read at HiP Paris Blog
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