Promenons-nous dans les bois

This week our Early Childhood students took a spring walk through the woods. Along the way, they took notice of all things 'spring' including the budding trees, flowers, animals, and climate.

African Art

Check out this African inspired project the GS students created this week!  This collage focused on repetitive designs that follow a direction while at the same time, working from large designs to smaller ones.  

Lights, Camera, Action!

This week our 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders experienced what it was like to be an 'Improv Performer' in front of an audience!  For the next few weeks, students will practice the art of improv and drama with their classmates. Students will react to and express themselves about various topics and statements, en français of course!

The educational value of improv for kids includes sharpening communication and public speaking skills. It also promotes fast thinking and engagement with ideas. And, on a deeper level, improv can help break through mental barriers to creative thinking in any field.  Not to mention, our students had a blast participating in this activity and are already looking forward to the next round! 

Reading with Friends

We just love it when we see this at the end of the day...  

There is nothing better than sharing a good book with friends.  

Gustav Klimt Mosaic Project

Merci to Simon and his class for this creative and collaborative rendition of Gustav Klimt's "Tree of Life".  Klimt would certainly be proud of this piece!

Oh Happy Day!

Thanks to Victorien for bringing lots of smiles to our hallway and classroom this week with his 'Fleurs à la Maniere de Takashi Murakami' project.  These flowers were made entirely by the GS/CP students; they even created the display themselves! Bravo to our little artists and merci to Victorien for this project which will surely brighten your day!

MLF Conference in Dallas

Last week Victorien participated at a pedagogical conference organized by the MLF America in Dallas. Participants from the network of French Schools in the US, Canada and Mexico gathered to learn about the latest research and developments in several educational fields including cooperation between students (presented by Cyril Lascassies, a special guest from France), efficient ways to teach French language particularities and training students to write like authors on a daily basis in class. The conference allows participants to exchange about initiatives, projects and organization at different international schools in North America.

Election Day in May!

This week was an exciting week at EFDM as students cast their ballots to vote for their favorite books!  EFDM participated in the AEFE organized 'Prix Albertine Jeunesse'favorite book contest in partnership with the Albertine Library in New York.

The Prix Albertine Jeunesse, a reader's choice award, invites children between 3 and 11 years of age to choose their favorite book from a selection of works of Francophone youth literature that are available in English translation. This prize seeks to reinforce the practice and love of reading in both French and English. 

The variety of books were selected by a committee that includes the staff of Albertine Books in New York City, the AEFE network of North America, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., and the French Embassy in Canada. The theme of the 2018-19 prize selection is "heroes and heroines."

Our EFDM students read the books in English and French then voted by casting a ballot following proper voting format supervised by EFDM trained voting specialists. 

And the EFDM book choice winner is.... 

Mon Jour de Chance

by Keiko Kasza!  

Stay tuned to see if this book won nationwide! 

Spring Suzuki Concert Part 1: Piano

We couldn't be prouder of our Suzuki Piano Musicians who performed at our Spring Suzuki Concert this week. We even had a rocking performance by Anca who composed and performed her own piece on the electric guitar! Congratulations to our young musicians for a wonderful performance!

We are looking forward to our Spring Suzuki Concert Part 2 featuring our guitarists and violinists on Tuesday, May 28th at 2 pm. 

We hope to see you there!

And they're off!

Over the last few weeks, Early Childhood students have been excitedly testing out their green thumbs by growing seedlings in their classroom.  Students nurtured the seedlings by making sure they had proper light, water, and food while also noticing their growth. This week, the seedlings graduated to the outdoors!  Fingers crossed as we hope to be enjoying a bountiful harvest of zucchini, carrots, radishes, and nasturtiums very soon!

Mathematicians at work!

Things are really adding up in the GS/CP classroom as students work with numbers that carry over.  No calculators needed in this classroom!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of our EFDM moms:

We thank you for all you do every day- your love and devotion shine through and we are grateful for the gift of your children! 

May you all have many joys and happy moments to cherish and celebrate. 

Wishing you all a happy, bright, and joyful 

Mother's Day this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!

Outdoor Dining!

This week we happily welcomed warmer temperatures, and we even noticed a circular yellow object high in the sky!  What a treat it was to enjoy some sunshine together after the rainy days of April.  Students enjoyed dining outside which brought lots of smiles and joy to our lunch gathering.  On weather appropriate days, we will continue having lunch outside...hopefully with a healthy serving of Vitamin D as well!

Geology ROCKS!

Sophie found an amazing  green tourmaline!

The 3rd and 4th grade took their science class on the road. As part of their physical science curriculum they are studying rocks and minerals. They traveled to Oxford County near the most famous mine of Maine: Mt. Mica of Paris, Maine.

(Yes, Paris of all places!) 

This mine has yielded the most beautiful green tourmaline specimens in the world! The mine is still active so the children could not enter the quarry. Instead, they went to Dig Maine Gems, who brings rocks and sand from the mine to a safe location. They have all of the equipment on site, including tools, tables and water, so the "Little Gelolgists" can sort through it to search for gems. They had great luck and so much fun! Following their hard work, they did visit a nearby inactive quarry site for a little field exploration and a nice picnic lunch. 

Our Head of School, Willy, a lifelong geology buff, is always looking for an opportunity to go dig in the dirt. He was so impressed by the level of interest and depth of questions the students displayed on this trip and he was happy to lead the expedition.

A trip to Australia

Thankfully the round-trip happened during the school day and was jet-lag free!  Huge thank you to the grandparents of Isabel, Janet and Dick Post, who gave an incredible presentation about Australia to the GS/CP classroom.  They shared information about life in Australia which included geography, animals, housing, school life, an Aboriginal legend, and so much more.  "Merci beaucoup" for their visit!

Lights, Camera, Action!

We had even more excitement at school this week when WCSH6arrived to do a feature story on keeping French alive in Maine. Make sure you check out the story, where you will see cameo appearances from our students, parents and staff.  Look out Hollywood here they come!

English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and in the digital age, we have translation tools at our fingertips. It's as easy as downloading an app! So what are the benefits of knowing a second language in the 21st century? We explore that question through a visit to "L'Ecole Française du Maine" in Freeport. NEWS CENTER Maine

The feature from journalist Hannah Dineen can be found here.