La Petite French School, a French immersion preschool, plans to open on the Upper East Side in the fall.
The “working area” at La Petite French School creates a fun, interactive environment for children to play and learn.
La Petite French School, a French immersion preschool program plans to open on the Upper East Side in September. The unique curriculum integrates all disciplines into its instruction and immersion in the French language, from math and science to pre-reading and art. Half-day classes will be held Monday through Thursday, and may be extended to Fridays. Call to schedule an appointment to visit the classroom and meet with founder and teacher Valerie Vasques.
Vasques maintains small class sizes—two to four students—to ensure that all children receive adequate attention and instruction. She encourages students to complete projects independently and begin to develop a sense of self, and believes learning should be ludique, or playful. “[Kids] need to become happy to come to school and to learn things,” Vasques says.
By beginning language instruction at an early age, children develop greater fluency and a love of learning. “Your mind is shaped a bit differently when you learn a second language,” Vasques says. “You learn more quickly and become more reactive.”
Vasques is a certified teacher through the French Board of Education, Education Nationale, and has experience teaching all subjects in French. “I combine everything,” she says. “For example, I’m going to work on Goldie Locks and The Three Bears. From that story we will work on everything, mathematics [numbers and sizes]. We will work on cycles, how to draw a bear, and of course on the reading and the writing. Everything is combined.”
