Joséphine Vigouroux
This article was written in collaboration with the private bilingual elementary school iféa.
Choosing the right elementary school after our children's final year of preschool is not always easy. Public, private, private with an alternative project, bilingual... all of this can quickly become a headache. What are the expectations for the first grade (CP) and what different CP options are available to you? Here are some insights to help you understand better.
Education has been compulsory from age 3 since 2019 (instead of 6 years old). This shift was made by the Ministry of National Education to emphasize that learning between the ages of 3 and 6 is crucial for helping children thrive and gradually adopt the role of a student. In preschool, children in Cycle 1 prepare for fundamental elementary school lessons, discover numbers, and work on language proficiency. They also learn the rules of community life over the three years that include Petite Section (PS), Moyenne Section (MS), and Grande Section (GS).
Teaching is organized around five learning domains:
You will find details of the programs here as well as the expected outcomes for the end of the final year of preschool (end of Cycle 1).
Two experienced school teachers will help you make sense of it all. Céline Guilhot is a CP teacher atiféa - Emilie du Châtelet, a private bilingual elementary school in Clichy (92) , and Laetitia Almaraz is in charge of CE2 and CM2 at the same establishment. Laetitia also has extensive experience in public preschools.
Between preschool and elementary school, children in traditional school settings transition from an organization based on workshops and activity centers to a more structured arrangement. CP classes (room organization, materials) thus lose flexibility compared to preschool classes. However, more and more schools, especially those that place active learning approaches at the heart of their project, give significant importance to cooperation and flexibility, which GS students are accustomed to. These approaches promote cooperation, differentiation, and autonomy. Play-based learning is also highly valued in GS and maintained in this type of elementary school.
The differences between GS and CP also concern daily rhythms: break times are shorter, for example.
Generally, the same continuity prevails around the idea of cultural immersion from a young age, especially in schools that advocate active learning methods. Everything depends on the educational project of the institution, of course, but bilingual education naturally thrives in schools where everything is rethought around the child as an active participant in their learning. The practice of the English language thus continues for bilingual GS children through playful methods in CP that stimulate curiosity and desire in each student. Supervised by English-speaking teachers who favor a fun approach to learning English as a tool for communication and work, students are encouraged to progress through varied activities that promote interaction. In elementary school, depending on the bilingual school, they may take history or science classes in English, for example, to enrich their language practice and discover the culture of the English-speaking world.
Here, we provide specific examples to help you understand better, but the full scope of expectations can be found in the official programs of the Ministry of National Education.
We expect students coming from GS to have worked on their graphic motor skills. Children need to practice loosening their fingers, wrist, elbow, and shoulder (by painting, using modeling clay to develop their pincer grasp, etc.). It is essential to pay particular attention to the pincer grasp to ensure proper holding of the writing tool.
We also expect the child to have acquired language skills to prepare for reading and writing (phonological awareness, the alphabetic principle, and syllabic awareness). They should recognize letters of the alphabet in cursive and print. For mathematics, number construction is at the heart of preschool learning. In GS, the child should be comfortable with the concept of quantity. Thus, in Cycle 1, they will have worked on the dimensions of ordinality and cardinality. They will be able to count on, enumerate, and, of course, decompose numbers. Through numerous games and manipulations, the student is led to stabilize this construction, which is the basis for the fundamental learning that follows throughout Cycle 2. The same applies to calculation strategies, where from preschool, the child is confronted with problem situations to encourage them to research and begin reasoning. The groundwork for problems involving the four operations is therefore laid for the rest of their schooling.
Finally, and this is an essential mission of preschool, the child must adopt the role of a student, respect the rules of living together, and build their own benchmarks to be themselves while interacting within a group. This is a fundamental skill to acquire in preschool: moving beyond self-centeredness and feeling part of a whole.
Elementary school, which welcomes children between approximately 6 and 11 years old, is generally divided into class levels (CP, CE1, CE2…), although the organization may vary depending on the number of students (two-level class) or the school's specific project. In some private, non-contract schools, such as Montessori schools or schools with alternative projects, class levels are replaced by "ambiances" organized by age group (e.g., 6-11 years ambiance).
As parents, you therefore have the choice between:
Depending on the school's specific approach, additional features may include, for example, a bilingual focus (often involving language immersion), a pedagogical method that considers the child's overall development, needs, and growth, such as Montessori, Freinet, or Steiner methods, a program that blends elements from various active learning approaches (linking individual and cooperative learning), or one based on inquiry-based or project-based learning.
Families have a wide variety of options, and they can find information on school websites to help them make informed decisions and understand what is offered. We, of course, encourage you to visit the schools and speak with the administration before making your choice. Enrollment often begins as early as October of the preceding year! The appeal of these educational approaches is growing among parents who are increasingly concerned with their child's well-being at school and respecting natural learning rhythms.
