Bonjour et bienvenue!   My name is Nicolas Hidrio and, as you know already, I am the teacher of the "Petits Francophones" class this year.   Since we didn't have so much time to introduce ourselves, let me tell you first a little bit about myself (and I will do so in English so that non-French speaking parents can also understand): I come from Avignon (southern France) and I have lived in the USA for the past four years, mostly in Connecticut. I also lived in England for two years and spent seven years in Saudi Arabia when I was a kid. As a consequence, I am a big traveller and I don't know where my curiosity and urge to explore will stop!   I have nine years of teaching and tutoring experience, a M.A. in Foreign Language Acquisition, a M.A. in Francophone Literature and Cinema and a B.A. in English. I recently taught French at the University of Connecticut and moved to California only four months ago. No need to say that I love the Bay area!   I am really enjoying my time with your children and I am very happy to have the means, through this blog, to inform you about my ideas regarding this class. First of all, here are some of the objectives I had in mind when starting our little adventure:   1. Understand the learner's profile and the personality of each student. 2. Assess the level of fluency (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, writing and reading skills). 3. Offer pedagogical activities that would stimulate their interest as well as work on their 4 skills (reading, speaking, listening, writing)  4. Gain their trust and respect.   In order to attain the latter objectives, I used flashcards, worksheets, songs and games, and I offered stimulating activities which were including the following themes: - Greetings - School materials - Colors - Months of the year - Clothes - Animals - Alphabet - Weather - Numbers - Body parts - Cursive writing Besides these activities, we are now working with a high-quality manual (Ratus et Ses Amis) which provides an inductive learning of French syntax, spelling and grammar as well as introducing the children to cursive writing (so dear to the French!). This is of course very helpful when dealing with the written aspect of the language.      I hope this little presentation answers your questions regarding the class. Please, feel free to contact me (nicolashidrio@yahoo.fr) or to talk to me after class if you need any further information.   Thank you for encouraging your children to take French.   Merci et au revoir!   Nicolas