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Our Summer Camps are here!

La Petite Maison, Inc., has put together an interesting and exciting Summer Camp program, which features themes for each 2 week camp. In addition to these themes, we will have daily activities, including trips to the park, outdoor play, celebrations of unique francophone holidays, etc... All wonderful opportunities for an introduction to French culture, and to expand your child's knowledge of French. We will have both a preschooler and a toddler group for each camp, so call us or email us to reserve your spot! We look forward to a great summer!

Mission Statement And Vision

La Petite Maison, Inc. is designed to provide a high quality preschool facility for children 30 months to 5 years old, in a French language immersion atmosphere. La Petite Maison, Inc. will teach French and English through songs, books, music, games, activities, cartoons, and movies. Every experience will be in French, or will be 'French shifted', or will be completely bilingual in French and English, so a child learns French as easily as they are learning English at home. La Petite Maison, Inc., employs qualified teachers fluent in French who speak to the children almost exclusively in French. Children therefore develop enhanced language skills, cultural backgrounds, and intellectual development, which provide them with optimal social and emotional growth as well as excellent development of their physical and intellectual skills. However, essential English development is not neglected in this process, but it is ancillary to the French exposure.

Examples of how French is incorporated into the curriculum.

Story Time: Stories are told or read either completely in French, or bilingually in both French and English.

Nursery Rhymes:Nursery rhymes are taught and sung primarily in French, although some rhymes are taught in English.

ABC’s 123’s Colors & Vocabulary: The alphabets and numbers, and the songs that teach them, are taught completely bilingually. All colors and vocabulary development are completely bilingually.

Why Early Language Exposure is Important

"During the first three years of life, the foundations for thinking, language, vision, attitudes, aptitudes, and other characteristics are laid down," says Ronald Kotulak, author of Inside the Brain. Consequently, it would be a waste not to use a child’s natural ability to learn during his or her most vital years, when learning a second language is as easy as learning the first. Since 50 percent of the ability to learn is developed in the first years of life and another 30 percent by age eight, early childhood development programs have the opportunity to encourage early learning and development. This does not mean, however, that 50 to 80 percent of one’s intelligence, wisdom, or knowledge is formed during early childhood. It simply means that during the first few years of life, children form their main learning pathways in the brain (Bloom, 1964). There are six main pathways to the brain. They include learning by sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, and doing (Dryden & Vos, 1997). Later in life, everything an individual learns will grow from the information gained during these early years.

La Petite Maison’s curriculum is tailored to reinforce your child's natural ability to learn another language and facilitate his/her development in life.