Reading with M.

 Two days ago, M. read a paragraph out loud to me in French! I am so impressed and proud of him, and happy that our approach has worked—since he has followed the CP (first grade) curriculum this past year at his FLAM classes, it seemed like he could read a little (but not a lot) but he never wanted to do it at home. Ever since we spent 15 days in Paris two summers ago, English has been definitively established as our home language. It felt cozy and right, and it is our default. That's okay. We still read a lot at night in French and M. speaks French with L., but I haven't pushed it. So, when I asked if he wanted to read in French for a day instead of doing his English writing homework, and he said "yes," I was pleasantly surprised to hear him sound out words in French. How did we get here? A few things: 1. As his maternelle teacher said during our conference, kids learn to read once—you don't learn to read in English and then French, or vice versa. M. speaks Frenc...

 Welcome, and welcome back! A brief update since a lot of time has passed since I regularly updated this blog (a covid project, primarily): As of June 2024, M. is seven, soon going on eight, and L., our new arrival, is six months. In less than two months, we are moving to France for the year for my work. M. will attend CE2 (the French equivalent of third grade) while we are there. L. will likely stay home full-time, as she has proven to be a more reliable napper than M. was, at least in early infancy. In January we might reevaluate the situation, but, as romantic as the crèche  sounds and how much hype it gets in anglophone circles, it is actually pretty tough to get a spot if both parents aren't working full-time in an office. We also just feel like she is very little to go to daycare, even if what is available is high quality, since we have the flexibility to keep her home for now. As far as this big transition goes for M., I began speaking to him in French on and off from w...