3.9.12

Off to School Tomorrow

(by Heather)

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the McCropder kids who will be students in the local French schools.  What an adventure this will be for Elise, Micah, Maggie, Abigail, and Anna.  Among several emotions, the kids are feeling a mixture of fear and utter excitement.

Today we toured the schools and confirmed our registrations.  Preschool begins at age 3 here in France, so Micah, Maggie, and Abi (all 3-years-old) start school for the first time.  The preschool is just a few blocks away from our apartments.  I anticipate that even after we walk the kids to school for several months, we will continue to be in awe of the picturesque views.
Upon arrival, we were startled to be greeted by a giant papier mâché rabbit welcoming us to school.
After checking in, we took a largely self-guided tour of the building, since the teachers at the schools speak little English.  The classrooms look magnifiques.
Maggie and Abi were more fascinated by the bathrooms.
As was Elise.
Tomorrow we meet the teachers and begin with a shortened school day.

Anna's school is in a brand new elementary school building.  She will have one hour each day of French for English-Speakers class, and then she spends the rest of the day in a regular French-speaking classroom (in the building to the right in the picture below).  
Anna is feeling nervous about not speaking much French, so she has practiced "je ne comprends pas" so that she can at least communicate her lack of understanding.  Yesterday she wanted to learn to say, "Do you want to be my friend?"  Hopefully those two phrases and a smile will get her through until she picks up more French.  As her (possibly biased) mother, I do believe that with her friendly and eager-to-learn personality, she'll be quite happy at school very soon. Inside her classroom, she loves the desk chairs.  It's the little things. 

Please pray with us that Anna, Abi, Maggie, Micah, and Elise will all feel safe, unafraid, and welcomed in their schools.  Also please pray that they will make new friends and learn to communicate in French.  We are thankful that we can be certain that God will be with them in their new schools.


10 comments:

Alyssa Joy said...

Praying!!!

Sandy said...

It has been so much fun reading your updates! Heather, the scenery is really breathtaking!!! Praying that the children blossom in their french language abilities, make many friends, and come home with lots of stories to share in the coming weeks!

Haller4307 said...

It always requires faith and prayer to send our little ones off to school and even more when their experience is outside of our own comfort zones! We'll be praying. Emma started an immersion school in Mandarin a year ago and the teachers spoke 90% of the day in Mandarin pretending not to speak any English, so I know for sure that while the beginning may have it's bumps, kids are very quick learners and by the end of the month you will be surprised and how much more her brain can absorb than your's! Much love - Lisa Liou

DrsMyhre said...

Thanks for the reminder to pray for them. This is a wonderful huge thing you are doing for them which will be of life-long benefit. There will be moments when you wonder if it was the right decision. But this is good.

Philip said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Philip said...

I'm praying for for Elise, Micah, Maggie, Abi and Anna.

Uttz Family said...

That is huge...praying for the kiddos as well as the parents who will be feeling it too when dropping them off. Big steps for all of you. much love!

tscarlet said...

Oh, I have no doubt at all that Anna will quickly have many friends, and that pretty soon she won't even have to use her disclaimer for not understanding.

We're excited along with you all! Happy first-day-of-school!

Faders said...

So proud of our nieces! Sounds like the first day was a big success and we're overjoyed to hear that. Praying now that all the adults will love school just as much! :)
Love Eli and Bethany

Sarah Halter said...

Having just started preschool apprehensively ourselves amidst lots of transitions, I'll definitely be praying for all of you and particularly for God's grace, peace and presence with the kids.

Beautiful views!

I can't get over how much older all the kids look.