Joyeux Noël & A Podcast about Our Family Language Trip

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Joyeux Noël, les amis! Yes, Feliz Navidad and Merry Christmas! I have a little gift for you if you listen to podcasts and are interested in traveling as a family to help you or your children improve your bilingual skills! You see, Marianna DuBosq at Bilingual Avenue has just released the 100th episode of the Bilingual Avenue podcast, and in this episode, Polish mama & translator Hanna Cheda and I share about how we took our families overseas for amazing language immersion experiences. I give details about how we saved money for the trip, how my children handled the experience, and how I enrolled my daughter in a French school. Hanna shares about locating affordable family housing and finding free immersion experiences for children. I hope you love what you learn!

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How I Enrolled My Child in Preschool in France (for one month)

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Bonjour les amis! Je m'excuse--I've chosen to focus on homeschooling and homemaking lately, and I took an unforeseen break from blogging. Nonetheless, I missed writing and I definitely look forward to the times I get to reconnect with you. Today I want to answer a question posted on Intentional Mama's Facebook page about exactly how I managed to enroll my three-year-old son in public preschool while we lived in Lyon, France. We were only there until the end of September, but attending French school was an opportunity I didn't want my son to miss! I can't promise that you or your friend would be able to enroll your child based on these two steps, but honestly the process was far easier that I expected and it's worth trying!

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French Schools Follow-Up: Summarizing My Children's Immersion Experiences

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This week marks the third week my children have attended school here in France, with my preschooler attending public school and my elementary-age child attending a private school. I'm extremely grateful that they've had this opportunity, and yet we're all glad that we will return to homeschooling (back in the U.S.) by next month. The flexibility and individualization allowed by homeschooling is wonderful, but we still feel that our time here in Lyon is wrapping up too quickly!


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La Rentrée: A Tale of Two Schools

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 La rentrée has arrived: today marked the first day back to school for the vast majority of French students. My two oldest children went to school for the first time ever, since last year we homeschooled my daughter for kindergarten and my son was too young to attend. Here in France, however, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for my children to be immersed in French, make friends, and experience school in another country. Here's how I enrolled them for a month and how the first day went:

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A Family Visit to Cité du Chocolat in France

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Bonjour les amis! We've just returned from an extended weekend spent visiting dear friends in la Drôme, a region in southeast France. Our friends took us to La Cité du Chocolat in Tain-l'Hermitage (near Valence) and even though none of us were true chocoholics beforehand, we left this place feeling like chocolate connoisseurs--and gourmands who enjoyed far too many of their abundant samples! Here's why it's such a deliciously informative place to visit, and why we'd enjoy visiting it again anytime:

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Visiting the Louvre & Jardin des Tuileries with Kids

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Many people might not consider taking their children to France's museums but even young children can appreciate the Louvre's incredible treasures in its opulent palace setting. You can pique your child's interest with the Louvre's own interactive site for children or printing out their treasure hunts for families (select parcours-jeux on their family page).

On the first Sunday of the month, many museums in France offer free admission. We'd planned to take advantage of this offer to visit the Louvre (the world's most visited museum), but instead we went the following day, thinking that it would be less crowded if most people had come the day before. Perhaps this was true, but in summer there are such hoards of tourists that any dip in attendance was imperceptible! You can try to avoid the crowds by arriving early or when the Louvre is open very late on Wednesdays or Fridays. (Kids under 18 enter free everyday.) 


 
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Visiting Iceland with Young Children: Tips & Activities

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Halló from Iceland! We're in Reykjavic on a five-day stopover before we continue on to France. Did you know you can stopover in Iceland for free when flying Iceland Air to or from Europe? This is our first time doing so, and we've had an amazing experience. We exchanged homes with an Icelandic family through HomeExchange.com and staying in their home has been one of the best blessings of our stay. We've also had a chance to visit one of our former exchange students and her family, so we've truly had a great time! In case you get a chance to visit here or know someone who will, here are our tips for a great family vacation in Iceland:

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