Kitty

I haven't had a problem with AOL today but I did notice that, earlier, Joanna's voice wasn't working.  I just thought that I didn't have the sound on but then realised that she wasn't talking to me today.

[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="Cathy"]  I had a professional career before accidentally becoming a guardian to a lot of children and it was far easier.  . [/quote]Crikey, Cathy, that's some accident you had. [:-))][:-))][/quote] A very long story, Coops, for the next itchy feet tour.  I am much better now and nothing will stop me from joining your next pit stop. [quote user="Daft Doctor"]Now then Cathy.......who said I was a she??  [;-)][/quote] Mmmm.  The advantage of being a doctor, perhaps?  I have often wondered what it is like to be called Chris or Robbie or Marion or Charlie or Leslie/Lesley or all those names that are uni-sex. OK, Daft Doctor, so you might be a bloke but your son is still lucky to have you.  [Www]

I ought to clarify that I don't think that doing a year again is a problem at all, but only if it is done for reasons other than the child is 'foreign'.  I have two examples in my immediate family when family members re-took one year for different reasons and I agree that it did not do them any harm. I think that, in particular, if a child is not ready for secondary school, it is really useful to be able to stay in primary school. However, if the only problem is that a child has not mastered French, I think that making him or her repeat a year is inequitable.  They continue to learn French year by year and by the end of the third year, they will be more-or-less on a par with French children. Crickey, being a mother is hard.  I had a professional career before accidentally becoming a guardian to a lot of children and it was far easier.  We all do our best.  Sometimes I think that French teachers don't take into account the "guilt process" that mothers (or fathers) go through when making decisions about health and education for their children. Well done to Daft Doctor for trying to make sense of a system in advance and taking steps to make it easier for her son - he is a lucky boy.

I have educated a number of my children/charges in France, one of them is a son who started in CE2.  My thoughts are that there would be little difference, socially or acadamically, between a September start or an April start, unless it is the beginning of a new school for everyone e.g. the start of 6eme in a secondary school (when it is better to start at the same time as everyone else). Starting at the summer term does have the advantage that it is a short term with lots of bank holidays - May Day (in 2012, a Tuesday), VE Day (also a Tuesday in 2012), Easter (Monday), Pentecost (Monday) and Ascension Day (always a Thursday).  Remember that in primary school, your son gets Wednesdays off and so he will have several short weeks if he starts in April 2012.  The term finishes at the end of June.  Not a bad way to 'break' into French schooling. As for tips, there is very little that you can do other than be there for support when he comes home.  Although tough for him, don't forget that it is a secret of desire of most children to be able to speak another language (remember speaking double Dutch when you were little?).  So the will to succeed will be inside him.  I have been amazed how my brood have adapted to being immersed into French schools.  One of my children has severe learning difficulties and even she is excited about speaking another language. You mention about taking the CM2 year again (redouble). My advice is to resist this, if possible, should the reason just be because he is British.  French teachers hold regular conseil de classe where they all get together and take decisions about your child.  I find that, because most teachers have limited experience of teaching 'foreign' children, they can be negative about their progress.  An example of this is one of my daughter was refused entry to a Bacc even though she had 13.9 out of 20 for her Brevet.  I fought against this very strongly (PM me if you want to know how) and the Head overturned the decision of the teachers.  She has succeeded in her Bacc. It is very hard standing by and watching your children go to French school.  Your involvement will be more restricted than in the UK (French parents are left very firmly at the school gate compared to the UK) but the reward is a fully bilingual child with far greater opportunites than he would usually have.  You will have read the posts on this Forum from some parents, who have been disillusioned by French education.  I am not one of them.  I have had my moments but now that some of my children are coming out of the system with bilingual (and trilingual) skills, I am pleased.  It is not for the faint-hearted.  Bon courage.

Moneycorp are always knowledgeable about this sort of thing.

[quote user="Clarkkent"]But Wooly, it's from the Daily Mail...[/quote] ... so it's got to be right.

[quote user="JohnRoss"]Do you mean these? http://www.flickr.com/photos/obsolete_odds/4508072053/ They are thinking of starting it up again I gather............................JR[/quote] Spot on.  Thanks for the memories, JR.

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="frexpt"]... Ribena (made from British blackcurrants)...[/quote] Ah, well, that definitely makes all the difference! [:P] [/quote] ... and I was one of the ones who picked them.  [6]  I used to go blackcurrant picking on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire for the Ribena factory when I was young.  We used to be payed by the bucket (£2 sticks in my mind but I can't remember exactly) and so it didn't matter what age you were.  It was such hard work that at night, I would dream of blackcurrants hanging like swags over the plants. So ever since, I haven't been able to drink Creme de Cassis.  (I can drink Creme de Menthe, Creme de Mure, Creme de Cacao... so I am not too worried. [:D]  ) 

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]I do tend to keep it switched on because of the lovely German bird who does the voices......[:-))] [/quote] I have chosen to be spoken to by a gentle female Irish burr.  When she says the word "rrrrowndabowt", I try to mimic her unsuccessfully.  My choice was influenced by her being called Cathy. [Www] I love my TT for showing me around the short cuts of Bordeaux until my namesake takes me across the huge and congested Aquitaine Bridge and straight back over it again to get from Bordeaux Centre to Blanquefort.  I have fallen for that trick of hers not once but twice.

No double yellow lines in any of the photographs ... One of the benefits of France.

Our dog's nails need clipping all the time because he is on either grass or sand here.  The vet did them a couple of times during a routine visit and other times, it was the toilettage (grooming parlour).

Do you remember 'Bob a Job' - the stickers were yellow with a black tick, I seem to remember?  I would call at all sorts of houses on my own and ask to do a job for a shilling.  Did anyone come to any harm?

The regulations changed last year (beginning of 2010, I believe) so that the Chambres do the paperwork and not the Prefectures.

[quote user="tj"]register as autoentrepreneur, get yourself a Carte professional ambulante, (market licence) from prefecture and your off and running[/quote] The Prefecture no longer issue market licences.  It is the Chambres de Commerce. The easiest way is to go to your local Chambre and get them to help you fill out the forms.  You will need the usual paperwork - copies of passport, recent utilities bill, photographs etc etc etc.  Give yourself plenty of time to do this as the licence (in the form of a plastic card) is posted to you after a couple of months. You can register as an autoentrepreneur at the same Chambre at the same time, which is handy. You can register as an autoentrepreneur online but the advantage of getting the Chambre to help you is that you are less likely to tick the wrong boxes. Go very early in the morning so be the first at the help desk, otherwise you will be there a long time, waiting for them to deal with everyone else.  Make sure that you have every bit of paperwork necessary.  If you have one piece of paperwork missing, you will have to go back on another day. You will also need to get a place at the markets, which is not always easy.  The placier is the person to speak to (sooner rather than later) and the successful market stalls are likely to be booked up.  If you have a small stall (for example, 2 metres), they might try to fit you in somewhere.

Welcome to the Forum, E-L.  Private lessons are possible but won't make you a fortune.  I am not convinced that it can be a principal income. First, adults.  There is a huge demand for English lessons from the French, who regret not having learned more at school.  The problem is that they start with lessons in an enthusiastic manner and give up as soon as they realise that it is difficult to learn a language, so you have to work hard to keep adult pupils for longer than a year.  However dynamic your lessons are, they drift off but there are plenty to replace them if you have a good reputation. Next children.  French parents really want their children to speak English and so there is a demand for tuition.  A lot of this is home based and you have to factor in driving time and petrol costs.

Here are some films showing their bravery. http://wn.com/Operation_Frankton

Good luck Lisa.  It is a hard time, getting them accustomed to your ways but, speaking from experience, you do get there.  You are MARVELLOUS to take on three rescued dogs - a heart of gold.  It's great that they have the company of each other.

I have just re-read the OP's original post.  I would think that a starting point for you is to get the forms from the MDPH.  One of the attachments is for your GP to fill in and you need to take it with you otherwise you will need 2 meetings.  Then you need a meeting to have a frank discussion with your doctor.  Perhaps he or she does not truly understand your difficulties?  Can you take along someone independent with you, who can explain on your behalf? What is your reason for registering?  Mine was to prove that my daughter has learning difficulties because of her long term care but also she was being admitted to a hospital and they were going to put her with adults and not children.  We weren't applying for the allowance.  Perhaps if they suspect financial reasons, they are less likely to be sympathetic?  Just an idea?  It is a minefield of difficulty and I got the impression that they deliberately make it hard. If you want to PM or email me, please do so.

I have a child who is handicappe.  After years of managing on our own, we finally decided to sign up to a system as we have to think about her long term care if we are no longer around to look after her. In France, adults and children apply to the MDPH (Maison Departmentale des Personnes Handicappe).  The form takes a long time to fill in and needs all types of attachments,  The usual such as passport, photo, recent utility bill etc but then various other things such an assessment by your doctor, a social worker etc.  There should be someone at the MDPH to help you.  It is so complicated that even the MDPH helper can get it wrong (as they did in my case but corrected it later).  Several visits are needed to MDPH - about 6 in our case. The form takes a long time to process (6 months for us) before you get a date for a medical.  Be warned, you are not allowed to cancel or postpone the medical except in very exceptional circumstances.  The medical is stringent, no doubt to weed out the miscreants.  Another wait of about one month has brought a bright coloured card in the post, stating the degree (in percentage terms) of the impairment of her disability.  This is really useful as it can be shown to all sorts of officials to prove disability. As for the OP, having been through the system, I would have thought that having one leg in an older person should result in a successful application.  But you do need a sympathetic doctor, social worker and MDPH medical and so nothing is assured.

I have rescued a lot of dogs.  I find that the ones who have come from happy homes have the most difficulty in settling into your home.  It takes a while for them to get accustomed to the new rules. I find that the only thing to do is to keep telling them off firmly about it.  They eventually learn but will revert to old behaviour if they are frightened (during a storm, for example). The problem with an animal (or child) creeping onto the bed in the middle of the night is that you are often too tired to do anything about it.  I have never had a dog do it but I have had children do it and after a couple of hours, I come to my senses and sleepily take them back to their own beds. Are the baskets big enough for them?  They are older dogs and will get cramp or pins & needles?  They may not like the noise of the baskets?  What about getting very large bean bags or duvet bags for them?  When I had four dogs (at the same time), I would always use a selection of duvet bags so that they could stretch out.  Some would share (mainly the younger ones).  The older ones would prefer to be on their own.  Just a thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQt27s6RaX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btEpF334Rtc&feature=related

So I am a Professor of English, specialising in Shakespeare.  Out damned spot, my Kingdom for a Yorrick, but lend me your Merchants, Puck! And my best friend from school was, according to Google, Miss Northern Ireland a few years ago.

Now this bad news is out of the way, there is more chance of the pound rising than falling.  The only problem is that once money starts to fall, it continues on a downward trend for a while until it is corrected. Don't forget that it is in the interests of the government and the Bank of England to have a low pound in order to encourage exports.  So don't expect miracles - yet.

The retail sales results which came out today were poor, which was a surprise, so I am told on good authority.