Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Just how many times in one week can one girl sing Head and Shoulders?  Way too many to count for someone who's musically challenged...Needless to say I started teaching last week and despite my lack of musical talent I think it went pretty well!

I am really happy with my work schedule.  Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday are split between les écoles maternelles et l’école élémentaire, I have Wednesday off, and Friday is spent at l'école maternelle.  When I work a full day I eat lunch with the other teachers and staff, which is really great for my French because in the classroom it's all English all the time.  This is also a great opportunity to learn and see in action the cultural differences between the United States and France.  For example the "lunch hour" is more like two hours and eating actually takes this long because of the conversation.  In France a meal is not complete without a well thought out and informed argument.  Lately the teachers are focused on school on Wednesdays.  Now for all my American readers I'm sure you're thinking, what's the big deal?  School on Wednesday, why is that such a hot topic of debate?  This is the first year that Sainte Luce and many other French schools have had class on Wednesday.  It is only half a day and many of the les écoles maternelles teachers feel as though very little gets accomplished in three hours and by Friday their students are exhausted from being in school for five days straight (keep in mind that these children, including 3-5 year olds, are in school from 8:45 to 4).  This is just one of the many reforms that the Ministry of Education is putting into place this year.

Other than lively lunchtime debates I have been singing nonstop and everyone's favorite is Head and Shoulders because it's active and easy to remember.  As soon as I started the song everyone joined in, including the 3 year olds.  It is astounding how quickly children learn and remember a language!  This is the third year of English for the oldest classes at the écoles maternelles  and I can't believe how quickly they remember songs, counting, and colors.  Living in Europe has shown me how important it is to start learning a language at the age of 3, even if it's just listening to songs or playing an American or English game.

My week of work ended in the best way possible: a huge meal with the assistants to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  There were about 25 of us and plenty of food (and of course wine) to go around.  And yes we did indeed have a turkey :) Bisous et à bientôt

My vegetarian Thanksgiving plate.