optimum time to transition?

[Twflyer]

We are planning a move to France from the US. Our 9 year old daughter, now in US 3rd grade, speaks French with fluency (she does need work in reading and writing).

My question revolves around when is the better of two possible terms for her to begin in France. Our choices are either the last year of Primary or the first year of secondary. I hear that the transition from the primary to secondary is a tough one for those already in the system. My thought is that either year will be a hard transition into France anyway, so why not have her go straight into secondary, 6eme, and therefore not have back to back years of hardship.

Any thoughts on the validity of this plan?
Would there be any benefits to start her first year in CM2?
Are there any benefits to starting her first in 6eme?

thank you,

andy

[Mistral]

This is just my personal opinion, but I think it would probably be best to start with her in CM2. That way she will have sorted out the changing countries and school systems part before she has to deal with the transition to collge.

Primary schools tend to be smaller structures so she will be more 'protected' if she is CM2 and she will be faced with just the one teacher. In 6eme she will have up to 9 different teachers and some collges have 1,000 pupils. On the other hand there are less FLE (francais langue etrangere) teachers in primary schools (not that there are many in secondaries. That will depend a lot on where you live)although if she speaks good French already, she won't need one.

I haven't personally experienced this situation because my kids have always been in the French system (the eldest is 9 too) But I'm a collge teacher so I've seen how children adapt to 6eme. It varies a lot depending on the child, but it's best to be careful.

HTH

[Laine]

I agree with Mistral. Our children came here at 10 and 12 and we think in retrospect that the time spent in the primary school was very beneficial. My daughter (12) only had a short time there and my son stayed for an extra year, but both appreciated the more relaxed family atmosphere, where time can be spent on making a child feel 'at home'. In the college this is not the priority and the change is rather brutal, even for the French kids!
I'm sure all will be well after a very short time - kids are amazing (ours didn't have the advantage of speaking French either).
Good luck.

Regards,

Laine