French kindergarten in Armenia...Ah, oui!

Vayk, my youngest goes to the french kindergarten, known as the "Ecole Maternelle d'Erevan". I found this place by chance years ago, through an article in an Armenian journal, just before our move to Armenia and i was so happy. Coming from a francophone background/education myself, I wanted my kids to learn french from an early age and this was a good start-up place.

I visited the place once I arrived with my 2 daughters (aged 8 months and 2 and half). I was really impressed. The kindergarten had started up in 2000 by a french couple living at that time in Armenia and a collective of Armenian parents took over, looking for better options for their children's education. I volunteered for 6 months there, while my oldest one was accompanying me. I wanted to be sure that it was the right place for us and the kind of approach we were looking for. Since then, all 3 of my kids went there and we had a great experience. The language used was french mainly, taught by local Armenian teachers/educators with some classes in Armenian and Russian. The idea was to fully immerse kids in the French language while they were already fluent in Armenian or other languages. This worked perfectly for us. Beside the language issue, I really appreciated the wonderful approach they had to children. The teachers are constantly trained, prepared and follow a well established program. children learn songs, develop their creativity, learn to play with others and all this in a very secure and well organized environment.

The director, Madame Arminee is a very conscious and dedicated  person. She is also very demanding from her staff, always making sure that the kids are in a safe and friendly environment.

The kindergarten has about 100-120 students from 2-6 years old and follows the french program with slight variations to adapt it to the Armenian environment. Each class has 15-16 children with one teacher and one assistant. The kitchen staff is also amazing, providing kids with well balanced menu (breakfast, lunch and snack).

My daughters graduated from there and they still go back whenever they get a chance to help out during their vacations. My son, is still going there, he is 4 and can speak very well in French now. We, as parents are often invited for school yearly performances and enjoy the time spent there.

A typical day schedule at the Maternelle:

8-9:30 - Breakfast and arrival of the children
9:30    -  Door closes and opens back only at 12 (so if you are not there before 9.30 then you have to wait until 12)
10:00 - 12:00 - thematic activities: discovery, language, environment, numbers...(with small breaks)
12:00 - 1:30 -  Lunch (Soup, main dish and cheese)
1:30 - 3:30  - Nap time (3rd floor is reserved for nap, small beds curtains closed, a story and relaxation time)
4:00pm - Snack (usually fruits with cakes)
4:30 - 6:30pm ---- games, reading, playing in the garden (this is when you can pick-up your kid, depending on your work schedule)


The kindergarten is open every day except saturdays and sundays, from september 1 to july 1st. Sometimes they offer a summer camp for the month of july, but in august, everyone is taking a break and preparing for next year. The majority of the children are local armenians from diverse backgrounds, a minority of expat's children and a group of diasporan.

Location: kilikia district in Yerevan, right behind the Ararat cognac factory
cost per child: 150 Euro per month (everything included) which is an average price for a private kindergarten in Yerevan.