Les Chouettes! (The Owls!)

The Grade 7 class partners with the Montessori Owls (4 year-olds) to enrich our Pre-Kindergarteners program with a weekly French class. On Wednesdays, the middle schoolers work with the Owls to learn French songs, simple conversational phrases, and vocabulary like colors and numbers. Multi-age activities have so many benefits for everyone involved. The Grade 7 students get to feel like leaders as they take on a mentorship role, reinforce their learning, and develop empathy and caregiving skills. The Owls benefit from individualized attention and instruction since they are in small groups, plus they get to feel even more connected to our community because of the bonds they build. I love seeing the friendships that form while the Grade 7 students pass their French knowledge on to their younger buddies, as well as seeing the leadership skills that emerge. The connections go beyond the classroom as well, and the Owls get so excited to see their French buddies around school.

Starting language early also has huge benefits, exposing children to different ways of thinking and expressing themselves. The Owls spend half the year in French and half the year in Spanish, enjoying a weekly class that gives them an initial exposure to both languages. Then, as Kindergarteners, they again spend half the year in each language, but get to have class four days per week. After two years of getting a feel for both languages, they then pick the language they will take for the rest of their time at The Woods starting in First Grade, when they begin having a daily World Language class. Early language learning has many benefits in addition to resulting in achieving proficiency at an earlier age. It has also been shown to improve memory, cognitive function, problem-solving skills, creativity, and open-mindedness. We love language here at The Woods, and starting them early and quickly working up to daily classes are just a couple of the ways we show it!