Fun French for children 2-6 years

Thank you for choosing Mimi's French Classes to bring fun French into your home.

Here is a guide on using this course. (A short video explanation is also available above)

*All accompanying resources for the course can be found attached to this lecture. Resources include: the ebook in different formats, an audio reading of the book, three songs and two activity packs.

What to do first: Before you begin, we recommend reading the e-book Mimi se fait mal. This will introduce the children to our puppet Mimi and increase their excitement when they meet Mimi in the first video session. It also lays out the vocabulary that they will be learning in the videos.

E-book: The e-book provided 'Mimi se fait mal' is an integral part of the learning. We have written the book to help children learn the simple words and phrases used in the course. Our puppet Mimi is the main character and this helps to engage the children in the story as they get to know Mimi in the videos. The book is designed to have the simplest of French so that children beginning to learn French can access it. The book is also designed so that parents with little French can read the book to their children. There is a glossary at the back with a pronunciation guide and translations. We also have an audio version of the book available to listen to. For children learning to read, this simple French book is a great place for them to start, as the videos make them familiar with the phrases. We recommend reading the book as often as possible throughout the video course.

(Please find below the storybook in EPUB, MOBI (for Kindle) or PDF format. Please also find the audio recording of the book below)

*Please note, if you would like a paper copy of the book, please visit the shop on our website: https://www.mimisfrench.com/shop.html

Watching the videos: Children can watch these videos independently, with siblings or as a family. We translate new words and phrases into English in the first few videos to ease the children in and ensure they understand what they are learning. Less and less English is used as the videos progress. There is an active song during the session where children are encouraged to stand up and move on the spot, so please ensure children have a safe space in which to do this. Each video progresses one from the other, so please watch the videos in order.

(Find the videos in sections 3-8)

Songs on MP3: All the songs learnt in these videos are available here to download as an MP3 file.

Age range: We have put age suggestions of between 3 and 6 years old but children younger and older than this will also benefit from the material, so if there are older and younger siblings, have them learn together as it is suitable for all age groups.

Activity pack: Our activity pack is a great way to get more hands-on with the learning. In the pack we have the song words written out and translated. We have a vocabulary wall sheet which could be stuck on the fridge. As children progress through the course they can use this to check their understanding of the words. We have a suggested worksheet to complement each video in the course. We also have suggested games and activities to reinforce learning further.

Why are there two activity packs? Learners between 3 and 6 years old have varying learning abilities, so we have included two packs. One in which the worksheets suit pre-writers and one which would suit children learning to read and write. You can assess where your own child is at and print off the relevant worksheets. As the song words, vocabulary sheets and games will be the same in both packs we suggest printing off a pack in its entirety and simply choosing pages to print in the other. These differentiated worksheets will also work well if there are different aged siblings using the course together.

Extend: Extend the learning afterwards by rewarding your child/children with a sticker. Initially encourage them to say "Merci" upon receiving the sticker. Extend further by asking them to say "S'il te plaît" (please) before getting a sticker and "Merci" afterwards. Young learners can learn the informal way of saying thank you (tu instead of vous) as it is both easier to learn and more likely they will be using the informal "please" in conversation at this age.

Enjoy: Our Mimi's philosophy is that learning a language at this young age should be fun, simple and easy. Especially for the parents as well. It is a fun way to get children singing, listening to and understanding French and starting to say simple words and phrases. 15 minutes a week might be exactly right for your family, or doing a video once a day and re-watching it again in a month to revise. It is completely up to you and your kids will likely have a say. What we hope above all is that we are able to bring a bit of Mimi's into your home to make children love French.

Further courses: We do have further courses which we look forward to putting up on Udemy in the near future.

Merci,

Angie et Hélène

Bonjour!

Welcome to the first video of Mimi se fait mal.

We recommend you try to read the storybook first with your child, before watching the first video. There is an audio reading of the book to help with pronunciation, if needed.

In this video, we will be easing the children in so we will use English to translate.

Our "mots magiques" for this session are tête and serpent.

All the songs are available on MP3, in case children want to listen to them afterwards.

And don't forget the worksheet from your activity pack, which goes with this video to get hands-on with the learning.

Above all enjoy!!!

Merci!

Angie and Hélène

Salut!

The children will begin to recognise the structure of how the sessions work today and will begin to be to start singing along.

The mots magiques for this sessions are les fesses (bottom) and le singe (monkey).

Merci!

Angie and Hélène

Salut!

And now we're off! We recognise the songs and can try to sing along, we know the structure of the session, so we can now focus on the words.

The mots magiques for this session are les genoux (knees) and le tigre (tiger).

On y va!...

Salut!

Wow, you are all doing great! We hope you are remembering to read the book as often as you can. And don't forget the fun, paperless activities at the back of the activity pack. These activities only take a few minutes, have no set up time and are a great opportunity for your child to use the French they are learning.

The mots magiques for this session are le ventre (stomach) and l'éléphant (elephant).

Enjoy!

Angie and Hélène

Salut!

Let's see if the kids can start to remember phrases in the story. Can they help you read it?

A great place for our jungle vocabulary sheet in the activity pack is on your fridge! We have a snappy new jungle animal in today's song. Maybe have a game of jungle snap with our snap cards in your pack.

Our mots magiques in this session are le pied (foot) and le crocodile.

Bravo!

Angie and Hélène

And it's our last session today, but still so much to learn in this video.

Our mots magiques today are les pansements (plasters) and les bobos (ouchies), important words in our French storybook.

Don't forget your worksheet to go with the session.

Even when the videos are all done, you can dip in and watch them anytime you like. And you can listen to the songs and keep reading the book.

We have a bonus worksheet if you still want to keep going and of course you can keep playing all the games and activities.

We hope you enjoy the final session today and we hope the children will be so proud of all they have learnt.

Above all, we hope you as a family have enjoyed a little Mimi's French adventure.

Un grand merci,

Angie and Hélène