Rosie

Hello all,   Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of clubs like Scouts / Cubs /Guides etc that operate in France? We are moving to the Mayenne with our young children soon and would be interested to know if such things or similar exist in France[:)] Thanks Rosie

Thanks Tetley thats a great idea.  ive put some ads in local shops and came up with La Jolie Ronde lessons for 3-11 year olds locally, and they're quite cheap too. I think theyre a national company but my local teacher is a French lady so hopefully with half an hour each week that'll be a whole better experience than expensive Muzzy.. Cheers!

Hi..  We shall be moving over in a few months and I was wondering about purchasing the BBC Muzzy course for my 5 and 3 year old, however as its quite expensive I wasn't sure whether its worth forking out that much money.. has anyone had any experience of it and have any comments? Other than that I was going to surf the french equivalent online auction site for French kids videos to supplement the pre-scool french book I have. Or have people found it's not really to be worried about as they'll pick it all up soon enough once installed in school anyway??! Thanks, Rosie

Thanks for the ideas, Cassis! Have also been warned about the Brit explosions in the area before... hmmmmm - hopefully shall not add to their unpopularity as we plan to make as many French friends as possible over time - after all our kids will probably know only French kids, as their school is very small. Obviously its easy to see why Brits are drawn to other Brits, but thats not the reason we are moving to the Mayenne - its where the job is - so hopefully we can find a happy medium! Will check out your site too - thanks again![:)]

Hello We shall be moving to the Mayenne region  in a few months (unfortunatley not before La Rentree) and after having read all your very informative posts on the forum, I'm still a little in the dark regarding the abbreviations. My son is 4 and a half and my daughter 2 and a half - what is the process regarding which bit of the school they go in first.... what is CP and what age does that begin and end. Is that different to Ecole Maternelle? The local school they will be attending in the village of Chailland is small and Ive been told they can both start the school, and will be in the same class (for 2-6 year olds!)  Unfortunaely I can't get hold of anyone to ask as the entire village is on holiday but would really like to better understand! Is there any info available on the French early years curriculum and does it differ between ecole publique and ecole privee.. does anyone have any thoughts on whether theres a real difference at that age?   Thanks Rosie

[:D] Hello... We are a sociable young family (well, the kids are young, us not quite so....) about to move (for our job) close to a small town called Ernee, in the Mayenne (53) region, not far from Fougeres and Laval.  (I think it's officially Pays de Loire region, but most people Ive spoken to refer to it within Basse - Normandy (?)) Anyway! Would love to hear from anyone else living in the area and get the inside gossip on what it has to offer. Know little about the region, except its abundance of cows and mist. I'm sure there's more to it...................... We have a 4year old boy and 2 year old girl who will be starting the local school - ive heard mixed reports on the attitude to English kids in this area - anyone had any other tales to tell?  And also any good recommendations for family days out in the area - got to start convincing my 4 year old France will be FUN! We are quite outgoing types (more outdoorsy than sporty- anything involving adventure, camping, and general pottering around outside with friends and good food and wine) Lastly, can anyone recommend any good language schools or teachers in the area - although my French is ok -ish, my grammar is absolutely rubbish!  Look forward to hearing from fellow 53'ers![:D] Rosie