Tuesday, May 14, 2013

my first summer French camp!

And all I have to do is plan five 30-minute immersion classes!

My most loyal readers may remember that while I adore my part-time job coordinating a reading enrichment program at the public library, I've also toyed with the idea of offering French classes for young children.  But with two little kids at home, that's just not possible right now.  (I mean, I can't even sustain a free storytime in French!)

But then last week, while I was waiting during Griffin's early childhood music class and chatting with another mom about how I got interested in French, a violin teacher introduced herself and said she was looking for someone to teach French for a half-hour a day for her week-long France-themed violin camp for ages 6-10!  ("Celebrate the rich culture of France through music, art, and games," says the camp description.)

And she will pay me!  And I can bring Griffin and Gwyneth along (and thus not spend more in childcare than I would earn)!

So that was an easy decision, n'est-ce pas?

Once they let me know in early June if the class has met its minimum enrollment, I'll start figuring out what to do. I can already tell that 150 minutes won't be nearly enough.....

8 comments:

  1. That's great! It's funny how opportunities arise in seemingly unrelated places. :)

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  2. Nice - have fun with it!

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    1. Only if I can come watch you interact in French with your daughter!

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  4. Thanks, folks!

    And I'm also anticipating reusing these "lesson plans" for some private tutoring....I donated French lessons for children to a couple of auctions for local nonprofits, so I owe two different families a series of four French lessons.

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  5. Félicitations! It is great to see that passion leads to new opportunities!

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  6. This is great Sarah. I am trying to get up my courage to start some type of informal camp/playgroup for this summer....I am not a teacher and get stage fright if more than 2 people at a time are watching me, but feel like I have enough motivation to at least get people together for some games and storytimes...by the way the Va a la Peche idea is fantastic! Zach isn't yet reading in French, but I think I might be able to get him to play it en francais as he also loves the game (or used to - also all the time!) - great idea.

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    1. Oh, you should! You totally should host a storytime playgroup camp! Stage fright will probably be less of an issue if you're reading and singing and talking to children, yes?

      Let me know what Zach thinks of French Go Fish. If he knows his numbers, you could just play it with a regular deck of cards--no prep required at all!

      Speaking of camps, I found a half-day French camp for kids at a local private school that Griffin can attend in August. Even my husband is excited about it!

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