Differences between French and American Schools

Today begins a two-week holiday for all the kids in Paris and surrounding areas. The schools here are very different than those in America. They go for 6 weeks and then have 2 weeks off and it repeats like that until summer. The reason they get so many breaks is because the time that they are in school is extremely difficult and time-consuming. They are worked hard and kept at school for long hours. My kids go at 8 in the morning and don’t get home until 5 or 6. Julien has to take tests on Saturdays because his teachers don’t want to waste “lesson time” during the week. The students are graded extremely difficult here and are often told that they will never make it. The teachers push the students a lot harder than I remember being pushed as a student. Most assignments are graded out of 20 and it is absolutely impossible to receive a 20. Even if there are no mistakes, it will likely only score a 17. Kids have hours of homework each night and on the weekends. I feel bad for the kids because it seems that they don’t have any sort of social life. I agree that it’s important to receive a good education, but I also think it’s important to have friends and to interact with them regularly outside of school. My kids here aren’t allowed to have friends over or go to a friends during the week. They can only see a friend on Saturdays. As for television, they are only allowed to watch the news during the week. They get home from school, have a snack, watch a very small amount of news and then stay in their rooms all night doing homework. They come down and eat dinner but I don’t see them after that until the next morning. And school doesn’t end when they get home. Julian has math professors and Spanish professors that come over to the house each week for more lessons and practice. I am an English tutor for some kids down the street. I go to their house each Wednesday and help them with their homework, give them vocab words, and work on their writing and speaking. Those kids have another language class on Saturdays that they have to go to as well. They really just don’t get a break. The assignments in English that I help them with are incredibly difficult for a second language. They aren’t just learning grammar and vocabulary. They are studying history, literature, science, and all the other subjects as well (in English!). I had to help a 12 year old write an essay on a Shakespeare play where the topic was asking “to what extent does a mid summer nights dream adhere to a comic play?” it was hard for me, and I can’t imagine what it was like for a 12 year old. In the USA we didn’t start reading Shakespeare until high school. I imagine it must be difficult for a non-native English speaker as the wording is very poetic and old English. There are many days where the kids come home and just cry because of a bad grade they received or just because of the stress of school. I really feel bad for them. Maybe it is just my American mindset, but I don’t know that I would want my children going to school in France. At least in the states, kids are praised for their effort, while here they are scolded if they mess up. I hate that American students don’t learn other languages sooner, but I think Europe may take it a bit too far. It does give me a new perspective on why many foreign people think that Americans are stupid or uneducated. It’s not that we are, it’s just that the standards are a lot higher in other countries.

But anyways, the 2 week break commences today and the kids are thrilled. That means that my classes are on holiday as well because Au-Pairs usually work full time if the kids aren’t in school. My friend Chandra’s host family is going on holiday to Saint-Tropez and she goes with them and looks after the kids the whole time. Most of my friends don’t get to go away, but just stay and watch the kids throughout the day which is what I get to do as well. It’s not too bad for me since I am caring for older children. The oldest two are actually going to see their cousins in England for the first week, so I will just have Manon for that time. We are going to try and do some fun things like go to the movies and go into paris. I don’t know what else we will do but we’ll think of something. Then the second week LaDonna, my roommate, will be here!!! I’m so excited. The family gave me a couple days off so I will get to spend some quality time with her. We are going to have fun. I’m sure I will post all about that with pictures later. So be looking for that.

Well, that is all for today. Thanks for all your input on my postings. I’ll try and use some of your ideas soon.