Find out about our method, exactly how our classes work, what to expect and what you get to take home!
Les Puces makes learning French fun by using music, dance, listening to stories, making things and doing worksheets. The four parts of the class utilise the four main ways of learning:
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By Rote - learning by repetition
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Rhyme and Music - learning through songs
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Make It Project - putting the language into practise
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Storytelling - learning by hearing a story repeated
So what makes us different?
There's nothing amazing about this so far though! In fact, it would be difficult to teach without using these accepted methods.Whilst teaching English to French children, we saw that although we all learn in the same way, a child may be stronger in one method and find that part of the class easiest to comprehend. Take for example a class where the children listen to a story ... say "Cinderella", and then sing the song "Somewhere over the rainbow". The child who learns best through singing would pick up the rainbow vocabulary but the story may be completely lost on him/her. This is where the Les Puces method comes into play - because we create everything in-house, we expand these learning methods so that we encompass each of them in the same subject or module. Here's an example from our Charlie's Pizza half term:
The amazing Les Puces Modules!
So you can see that now the children are repeating the pizza vocabulary, singing about Charlie's Pizza, doing pizza worksheets, hearing the story and of course, doing a practical task of making their pizza project to take home and continue the learning away from the class. A child that learns best through rhyme and song now has the same vocabulary reinforced through all of the other methods.
Every half term module introduces a new theme with a book, song and Make It Project with all the artwork and colours being vibrant and consistent across the module. All modules are constructed according to government guidance of KS2 languages.
A project and ......
........your own bilingual book.
Translation in head method®
It doesn't stop there. Using our trademarked 'Translation in head method' we make sure that the children understand what is being read to them, by providing them with a beautiful bilingual book on the first lesson of each half term. By reading the story at home in English, the children understand the pattern of the story and know what to expect - regardless of what language it's in. Now they can listen along and pick out repetitive words when they hear it read in French in class. Children also build their own bilingual library over the months, with books that will be useful to them right up to GCSEs .... and even beyond!
The cornerstone of our method is our range of fabulous 'Flip It' bilingual books created and published exclusively by us!
Using your ears
We are very conscious that the child's ear for languages changes around the age of 8. Mandie witnessed children pronouncing the 'z' on the end of 'le nez' even when the teacher was saying the word correctly. She realised that what the eye sees takes precedence over what is being heard. Especially at a time when young children are so interested in phonics and studying them throughout the day in their first language. Therefore, we don't show any words when our teachers teach by rote, sing the songs, make things or read the story. The children look at the flash-cards or story pictures without being hindered by the written word (until they are in the final years of primary school).They are listening to excellent french speakers (most of our teachers are native french) and this way they learn the words as they hear them, correctly!
The website is continually changing too and being updated and so it’s always worth a visit. For example for the Arty on Safari half term, the house and garden are being overrun by safari animals!
There is no time to be bored in a Les Puces class, and with the four distinct sections and so much variety, time passes quickly. It also enables the children to move around and be creative too. Parents are always welcome to join in, (this is imperative if they have young children). Above all, it’s a lot of fun and often quite loud!