The French immersion programs that Canadians are most familiar with were born out of the multicultural movement of the 1970s, and to some extent, they continue to reflect their age. The public school immersion programs begin, most typically, with Grade 1. Which is strange, given what we know about language acquisition, including uptake as well as the overall academic benefits of leering a second language. Ecole Montessori offers a rich program that addresses precisely that, providing an early and authentically immersive French-language program. Given what we know about what learning languages can do for cognition, confidence, and just general academic engagement, the question isn’t “should we enroll in immersion?” but “why not?” The Ecole Montessori program has a lot to offer, including a strong basis for children to advance to immersion programs in the primary years. Class sizes are small, allow for a high level of student-teacher engagement. The summer camp programs offer a nice opportunity for students to continue in a familiar environment outside the standard academic year.
École Montessori
My daughter started attending École Montessori in grade 2 during the Fall of 2020 and has now completed grade 3. Her experience has certainly been enjoyable and beneficial. My daughter likes the smaller class sizes and the attention she receives from the teachers. Our main goal was to ensure that my daughter would learn French as a second language and eventually become bilingual within a few years. I was extremely surprised and amazed at the end of the first year, to see that my daughter wa... View full review
Our daughter loved her first year at Ecole Montessori. She loved everything from the curriculum to the extra curricular activities to recess. What she loved about the curriculum was how she could progress at her own pace, in particular, she was able to learn well beyond grade one expectations. Having friends in the older grades pushed our daughter to keep up with her friends, all in a positive way. She was always encouraged to learn more if she had the interest and capability. When it cam... View full review
My child’s experience at Ecole Montessori is great. She entered the school with no knowledge in French and now after one year, she is able to read, write, understands and speaks a little bit of French. I was looking for a French Montessori school as she was already studying in a Montessori system and I wanted her to learn French. I was skeptical initially as I don’t speak French and if I didn’t know how I will be able to help her learn French. After speaking to the principal, it gave me th... View full review
