INNOVATIVE APPROACH HELPS YOUNG STUDENTS LEARN FRENCH
You may remember from your first days in elementary school that learning French could be a challenge. There are lots of new words to master, all those accents to memorize, and some tricky grammar to contend with.
Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School (ECS) in Montreal uses an innovative method that’s been shown to help students pick up French more easily. ECS, a private girls’ school, uses a program called the Accelerative Integrated Method, known as AIM.
“AIM was created by a Vancouver teacher named Wendy Maxwell,” said Cathy Robert, a teacher at ECS. “It is used in many countries, and many provinces in Canada.”
The program gives educators an effective and simpler way to teach second languages — from French, to English and Mandarin. It attaches defined gestures to hundreds of high-frequency words. Teachers use those gestures, along with music and theatre, to help their students better retain key words and phrases.
The century-old school situated in a picturesque corner of the city was one of the first in the province to adopt the AIM approach for its youngest pupils. Walk into a kindergarten class at ECS and you will see a group of girls learning the days of the week with the help of specific movements of the arms and hands. The AIM method is so effective that it is now being used by more than 4,000 schools across Canada.
“With more traditional methods it takes more time,” said Danielle Rougeau, director of the junior school at ECS. “With the AIM approach students start speaking right away, in complete sentences.”
Catherine Harries, now a Grade 6 student, remembers how the program helped her learn French back in kindergarten. She was able to better understand the words, and “if I didn’t know the words I knew the gestures and then I knew what it was.”
Jeniene Phillips-Birks, an ECS parent and alumna, sees the results of the AIM method firsthand. “My daughter’s love of the French language bloomed almost immediately in kindergarten and her confidence became evident in a matter of weeks,” she said. “Now five years later she is bilingual. She even speaks to her close friend in French during recess.”
Phillips-Birks, a former news anchor and producer for the New York Times, considered a number of schools for her daughter Sophie before choosing ECS. She says she was impressed with the balance between fostering traditional values and a progressive approach to learning. She believes the child-centered approach and focus on academic excellence at Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School was the right place for her daughter. “ECS encourages students to ask ‘why,’ explore the answers and, as a result, develop essential critical thinking skills,” PhillipsBirks said.
ECS has long had a reputation in Montreal and beyond for academic excellence. “One hundred per cent of our graduates go to the post-secondary institution of their choice, in their program of choice,” said Holly Potter, director of communications. The small class sizes allow for a personalized approach to learning adapted to the individual student. The junior school, which runs from kindergarten to Grade 5, has a total of just 110 students.
The intimate feel and welcoming environment made all the difference for Sangeeta Vidyarthi, a Grade 6 ECS student. Like many young children, she was nervous about starting kindergarten. “I was scared I wouldn’t have any friends or I would be different from the other girls, and no one would like me,” she remembers. After her first day, she said, those fears vanished.
“All the teachers hugged me, and they introduced me to the school. The teachers and the girls I met were so welcoming and warm-hearted.”
That sense of belonging — that the school is a home away from home — is shared by ECS student Natasha Deichmann; “I like it because it is not too big and you get to know everyone really well.” She is a fan of the school’s comprehensive sports program, and plays basketball.
Rougeau believes ECS’ strong French program is a big draw for parents. She also points out there are a wide range of programs for her junior school students. They include everything from art, and robotics, to a signature program called “In her Words.” There are also extracurricular activities such as digital media, Zumba, and Mandarin classes.
Her top priority is to foster a love of learning from the very first days of school. “If you walk around our junior school you will see happy, engaged children. When the girls love school in their early years, it gives them the foundation they need to continue being strong students in high school, and beyond.”
ECS admits girls from kindergarten to Grade 11. An information session for kindergarten is being held Tuesday, Nov. 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
THIS STORY WAS PRODUCED BY POSTMEDIA WORKS ON BEHALF OF ECS FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. POSTMEDIA’S EDITORIAL DEPARTMENTS HAD NO INVOLVEMENT IN THE CREATION OF THIS CONTENT.