Program

FIAF Preschool Montclair

Program

The FIAF Preschool is taught entirely in French in order to create a fully immersive language experience, laying the foundation for bilingualism and opening your child’s mind to a broader understanding of the world.

Curriculum focus includes: Language learning; Broadening knowledge of the world through exploration, experimentation, and conversation; Exposure to art; Motor skills development through movement, games, crafts, and more; and Social/emotional development, and strengthening socialization skills.

Classes are built around a variety of age-appropriate and themed individual projects and group activities, providing the flexibility to match each child’s pace and style of learning.

The bilingual education that your child will receive has been proven to help grow a child’s life-long skills in planning, problem solving, and staying focused. Learn more about the benefits of bilingualism below.

Classes (Sep-Jun)

Our Team

Our teachers are native French speakers who specialize in early childhood education and have extensive experience teaching French as a foreign language. They share a passion for nurturing the development of young learners. There is an assistant teacher in each classroom, and all classes are supported by a bilingual administration.

Testimonials

“We have been blown away by the caring nature of the staff and educators, the quality and diversity of the educational opportunities they afford the children, the incredible art program, and the loving francophone community we have been welcomed into.”

“The teachers are spectacular; we are impressed with the vocabulary learnt, culture, songs, books. The art projects are beautiful, creative and original. The school is very diverse including children from all backgrounds.”

French Immersion

Early immersion in a foreign language lays the foundation for bilingualism and opens a child’s mind to a broader understanding of the world. At the FIAF Preschool, our goal is for your child to be conversational in French after two to three years with us. Our teaching methods integrate both non-French-speaking children and those with a connection to French at home. We use a variety of individual and group activities to meet the pace of each child.

During the first year, children begin to absorb and understand the language through daily routines, the use of visuals, and gestures. If a child speaks in English or another language, teachers answer by rephrasing the question in French. At this early stage, while they might not say much in class, children sing the songs they’ve learned and start using some new vocabulary at home.

Quickly, children master broader vocabulary, start responding in French, and begin to form simple sentences. Whether your child continues on to an American or French or French-immersion elementary school, these years in preschool are a pivotal foundation for mastery of the language and lifelong love of French.

Articles on Benefits of Bilingualism

Advantages of a Bilingual Brain
Michigan State University Extension, Tracy Trautner

The Superior Social Skills of Bilinguals
The New York Times, Katherine Kinzler

Dual-Language Programs Are on the Rise, Even for Native English Speakers
The New York Times, Elizabeth A. Harris

Is Bilingualism Really an Advantage?
The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova

How the Brain Benefits From Being Bilingual
Time Magazine, Jeffrey Kluger

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter
The New York Times, Yudhui Bhattacharjee

Surprising Advantages of Bilingual Education
PBS, Bridget Bentz Sizer

Learning a Second Language is Good Childhood Mind Medicine, Studies Find
Cornell Chronicle, Susan S. Lang