Tuesday, April 14, 2009

French schooling...


I'm sure that I never used to get homework until I was eleven and at secondary school. Even then I had a million and one excuses why I couldn't hand it in to the teachers.

It's not like that out here. The two girls are set homework every night and Holly (10) regularly spends 45 minutes or more conjugating verbs and practicing her multiplication. I often think it's too much after a long school day and encourage her to run through it speedily and go cartwheel down the garden like her sister.

Now I read that 86% of Charente pupils passed the Bac last year. This seems to me like a pretty decent success rate. The schooling system here isn't perfect but our experience over the last five years has been an excellent one. Caring and proficient teachers, strict rules sympathetically enforced and happy children.

With College (secondary school) looming on the horizon I hope this positive start to the girls education continues.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello for the first time:)
It is great to hear that you have had a good experience. We have too. I hear lots of moans about the French education system. It is not perfect, often lacking in creativity I find, but my boys are quite happy and that is what counts.
Great blog by the way.
Yours
Lydia