Raising kids in France

Hi,

I don't have such a problem, as my children - living and working in the UK - are all grown ups.

However, I do understand that it can be bit of a problem for parents who come into France with children speaking another language. Although children are very flexible and adaptive, they do have to initially work very hard to acquire the necessary linguistic skills to identify themselves with the local, foreign culture. If the parents speak the local language, then it becomes even easier for the children.

My advice is not to be too daunted. Children are like sponges; they can pick up information very quickly. As parents, we simply need to encourage and support them.

These are just my thoughts:

The school hours are too long but working parents seem to prefer it. The workload ( homework) is quite a load and the need to bring so many books make the schoolbags heavy.

The Oral BAC is like lottery. An average student who could not speak English well, scored 18/20. An English speaking girl who spoke good English and always getting 20/20 in class, scored a mere 15!

The system of giving low marks can be quite challenging and giving low morals to students especially in certain better known universities in Paris  if the kids want to further their studies abroad. For such universities, 12 or 14 may be very good marks, but comparing to other universities which award 18 marks upon  20 etc, is daunting especially when applying to study abroad. When overseas universities look at the marks , how can such marks like 14 be compared to someone with 18 or 19 given by lesser known universities? Hence students from lesser known univeristies in France may get better chance to enrol in Harvard instead of students from wellknown univeristies in Paris.

Priscilla wrote:

Hello everyone,

How is raising kids in France different from raising kids in your home country?

What are the activities that your kids seem to enjoy the most in France?

Do you feel that the country is "family-friendly"?

Do you recommend France as a good place to raise kids? Why or why not?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Priscilla

*** this is my what's up , imo , viber number if you want contact me.

Raising kids in France...it is cheaper than in US. Things like foodstuffs, Medical care, clothes etc are cheaper in France in my opinion. And generally, life is safer too.

There are many places you can bring your kids to. My kids love Disneyland Paris as well as places like  Futuroscope, Miniature  France etc. The Louvre, Versailles Palace, Lourdes, Mont St Michel are some of the many places you can visit.  Skiing is also an option. You won't be bored in France.

Generally, many of my friends prefer living France also because of the pace of living. You will have a balanced life. The French know how to enjoy life.

Hello.. I am not in the position to answer this question cause I do not have kids anymore. But as per my observation- yes indeed France is a great place to raise children .. Their rights are properly regarded and children are not prone to abuse. Except for extreme cold weather, I think France is a conducive place to let the children enjoy and grow up 😇👼🏻

I meant I don’t have kids at all..sorry my mistake; not anymore.. Merci and good day ...

happy holidays

Hello Priscilla,

I raised four children in France from young to teenagers. We lived a year in Paris in rue Pergolese just off Ave de la Grand Armee and then moved to Biarritz and lived there for six years.

I can say that my kids were all fluent in French having attended the Frnech Intenational School in Hong Kong so no adaptation necessary as far as language was concerned. In Paris they went to an exclusive school in Passy in the 16th Arondissement and all was good. We would go out and explore the city and had many friends there and personally we had set up an import company, several retail shops and a wholesale business.

Later we moved to Biarritz and discovered that the education system is antiquated, either strictly religious or else backwards to not acknowledging our kids were sur doue. It means one of my sons would always correct a teacher and she was angry, and the school didn't want him to jump a year. Finally we moved school and it was somewhat better. But with a somewhat old fashioned school system meant my kids were not that happy at school.

Living in the Pays Basque is wonderful with surfing beaches, beautiful countryside, a few miles form the Spanish border and skiing in the Pyrenees. We always explored with our kids, even bought bicycles to cycle along the river Nive. The government of France rewards people with many children financially which was nice.

thanks for your response AbdulKhahil,
I am looking at moving to Landes (maybe Capbreton, Seignosse, Hossegor), which is under the same area for schooling.  Do you think your problems would more be with high-school aged children? Mine are 10 and nearly 7 years old.  We would use a public school and are not interested in anything too religious, or old-fashioned!
Hopefully there is not too much homework in the lower grades.
thanks

abdulkhalil wrote:

Hello Priscilla,

I raised four children in France from young to teenagers. We lived a year in Paris in rue Pergolese just off Ave de la Grand Armee and then moved to Biarritz and lived there for six years.

I can say that my kids were all fluent in French having attended the Frnech Intenational School in Hong Kong so no adaptation necessary as far as language was concerned. In Paris they went to an exclusive school in Passy in the 16th Arondissement and all was good. We would go out and explore the city and had many friends there and personally we had set up an import company, several retail shops and a wholesale business.

Later we moved to Biarritz and discovered that the education system is antiquated, either strictly religious or else backwards to not acknowledging our kids were sur doue. It means one of my sons would always correct a teacher and she was angry, and the school didn't want him to jump a year. Finally we moved school and it was somewhat better. But with a somewhat old fashioned school system meant my kids were not that happy at school.

Living in the Pays Basque is wonderful with surfing beaches, beautiful countryside, a few miles form the Spanish border and skiing in the Pyrenees. We always explored with our kids, even bought bicycles to cycle along the river Nive. The government of France rewards people with many children financially which was nice.

Hi,

How did your kids become fluent in French?

Best regards,

My four kids previously attended the French International School in Hong Kong and when we moved to France they went to a school firstly in Paris, and later in Biarritz. They are all grown up and fluent French and English speakers.

Thanks for your reply. I am actually moving to France this summer and I worry so much about my 10 year old son who does not speak a word of French. Do you recommend a public school or a private French school?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

farentilengut wrote:

Thanks for your reply. I am actually moving to France this summer and I worry so much about my 10 year old son who does not speak a word of French. Do you recommend a public school or a private French school?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Hi,

Like any parent, you worry about the well-being of your children. If you really want to help them, go straight to public school. Yes they are going to blame you and they are going to have it difficult at first. But after two or three months, they will speak better French than you.

The only thing that will have to be done is to support them. Because of course their school marks will drop. Don't scold them, encourage them.

Expatriation has that magic, it opens the eyes of young people to other cultures.

My 15 year old daughter speaks French / Portuguese / English. My 6 year old son speaks French / Portuguese and next year will learn English.

I think it's alright to put them in either public or private school as long as it is french speaking. As the above poster mentioned, kids will pick up the language very quickly especially if they are immersed in the language at school. And perhaps the good thing for you would be that there are often Arabic speaking children in many schools so your kids should find friends quite easily.

The only thing is that I always found the french school systems archaic in that they are old fashioned, cannot recognize gifted children and in general are harsher than teachers in many other countries. That doesn't affect the child's learning ability but if you are used to a more open system then it could be daunting for the child.

As for the original questions form Priscilla in 2017, yes France is very kid friendly, the more kids you have the more allowances you get from the state. It's one of the areas where you get something back from the high taxes people pay.