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20.3.10

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.

13 comments:

  1. I think you should be paid for this great piece of PR you have provided them... that's just my professional side talking. But it is and has been a great place for our kids - very true!

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  2. if I had kids and lived in Armenia, I would put them there...

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  3. Lara jan, what can you say about French school? Is it good? Is it open only for those kids, who attended the French kindergarten? My kids will start school in a year, and i am very concerned about which school to choose.

    Thank you,
    Anna.

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  4. the french school is open not only for those who have attended the french kindergarten here but also to others. I don't know much about them, it is a very new school and i didn't want to take the risk personally, but i know that other parents are sending their kids there and their opinions vary a lot, some of them find it not very well organized others think that it has a good potential. If you are here in Yerevan, the best thing is to visit them and ask to observe a class to have an idea - they should agree because it is your right as a parent.

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  5. hello all, please can u tell me where the french school in Yerevan is located. Thanks much

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  6. hi Mari

    it is situated in the kilikia district, on chaikina street, not very far from the city center. the phone number is: 010 56 56 35

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  7. Hi my name is Maggie
    I would like to know the monthly fee or maybe it's yearly? of this school
    thank you in advance

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  8. Hi Maggie

    The monthly fee is 150 Euro per child / the kindergarten works from september to end of june. in July, they offer one month of summer day camp and it is closed in August.

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  9. Hello Lara, my name is Raffa and first of all thanks for this very explanative post on french kindergarden!We are about to come to Armenia and we have a 10 months baby...I would be very interested to put him in the french kindergarden when he's older (I'm french speaking myself) but do you know about pre-kindergarden in Yerevan? How do working mums do for their kids under 2?

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  10. Hi Raffa

    Actually all the kindergartens take kids from 2years old. To my knowledge we don't have pre-kindergartens here, all of the working mums that i know hire a full-time babysitter (which is quite affordable in Armenia). I have a babysitter that will start taking care of my now 6 months old baby when i start working in september for example.
    Hope this helps. If i hear something else i will post it here.

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  11. Thanks a lot Lara, I'm just back from holidays and read your post, which is quite reassuring since I was a bit worried about not being able to do anything because of my wonderful little boy...it would be nice to meet up once I'll in Yerevan, I'm sure it would be great to hear all about your armenian experience!Best Raffa

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  12. My wife and I are planning to travel to the UK in few months. We would like to place our son in the kindergarten. But is there English teaching too or just French??

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  13. This is the only French school in Yerevan, right? A year or two ago, a young lady I know transferred (along with her younger sisters) from "the French school" to the International School where I work because, in her words, ""I don't wan't to be mean, but... the French school was horrible -- yes, I'm going to use the word horrible. The teachers didn't speak French properly -- I would correct them -- and they used to beat me up because I'm black." She is a very trustworthy individual, so I doubt she is exaggerating, but it seems impossible compared to all the positive things you have said in this post. What do you think? Could she be referring to another French school?

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