Studies show that children learn foreign languages easier, quicker, and better at an early age. Learning a second language at an early age sets your child up for a better learning experience, and opens many doors personally, academically, and professionally, in later life. That’s why it’s so exciting that the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is bringing a new French-immersion preschool to its Montclair branch!

Two preschool classes of 15 children per class will run September through June.

Ages: 2 ½ – 5

Full-day option: 8:30am-2:30pm

Half-day option: 8:30am-12:30pm.

Extended care will be available until 6pm.

The FIAF Montclair Preschool Curriculum

 

The FIAF Preschool: Montclair curriculum consists of a variety of age-appropriate themed individual projects and group activities that gently introduces reading, writing, numbers, and scientific exploration to toddlers. Activities such as cooking, art, music, story hour, and dance foster creativity, and daily physical exercise through movement, games, field trips, or structured play time help children develop spatial awareness and fine motor skills… all in French!

If you are seeking a high-quality education for your preschooler, plus all the benefits of bilingualism, find out more about the FIAF Preschool: Montclair!

About FIAF Montclair’s French-Immersion Preschool

For nearly 15 years, FIAF Montclair has offered French language classes for all ages and levels to the Montclair community and beyond. Beginning this fall, FIAF Montclair will expand its offerings for children with the opening of the FIAF Preschool: Montclair, in a newly renovated space at 17-19 Munn Street.

Modeled after the 10-year proven success of the FIAF Preschool: Manhattan the Preschool’s mission is to simultaneously provide a joyful entry into school life as well as into the French language, with the goal of helping children become independent, curious, and open to new explorations.

Taught entirely in French for a fully immersive experience, the FIAF Preschool combines the best of French and American teaching methods within a multicultural environment. Specially crafted for toddlers with or without previous exposure to French, the FIAF Preschool provides children with all the benefits of bilingualism, while preparing them with the educational, social, and emotional tools needed to succeed at any kindergarten.

The Benefits of a Bilingual Education

A bilingual education is not just for children who have a French-speaking parent at home! Bilingualism has been proven to provide a host of benefits that last from childhood through to adulthood. According to Michigan State University, between the ages of 0-3, the brains of young children are uniquely suited to learn a second language, which can be as easy for them as learning to walk or learning their primary language.

Besides the obvious advantages to being able to communicate in more than one language, bilingualism may also help children develop enhanced executive control, which includes problem-solving, self-control, memory, and thought, as reported in The New Yorker.

These advantages—so easily acquired as children—last into adulthood. Bilingual young adults perform better on attention tests, have better concentration, respond faster and more accurately than their monolingual peers. Adults who speak more than one language seem to resist the effects of dementia far better than monolinguals do.

Don’t worry that learning two languages will confuse your child—their brains are flexible! At the FIAF Preschool: Montclair, children begin to absorb and understand the language through daily routines, the use of visuals, gestures, songs, and constant repetition from teachers.

Quickly, children master broader vocabulary, start responding in French, and begin to form simple sentences. Whether your child continues on to an American or French school, these years in preschool are a pivotal foundation for mastery of the language and lifelong love of French.

For more information or to sign up for an information session, visit https://www.fiafpreschool.org/montclair/ or contact fiafnj@fiaf.org.