My kids went to elementary (Primaire) and middle school (Collège) in France and in the United States. Guess which education system they prefer? The American one!
Why? The easy answer is that their school day ends at 2:30pm in the US instead of 4:30 or even 5:30pm in France. But they also say that their school day is more ‘efficient’: a shorter lunch break (45 min in the US vs 1,5 hour in France), less writing/copying lessons and formulas on their notebook and more practice with exercises and games to learn.
My point of view is more balanced, as I think there are pros and cons (as I was taught in French school, i.e. to analyze a situation identifying the pros and cons), and in the end I would lean towards the American teaching style with some adjustments from the French teaching style.
Obviously, there are many different schools’ systems in each country. But I will talk only about the differences that I noticed between the French and American school systems based on my kids’ experience. They attended public and private good schools in both France and the US.
| Topics | School in France | School in the US |
|---|---|---|
| School day | – Long days 8/9am to 4/5pm – Long lunch break (1,5 hours) and recess (morning, lunch, afternoon) | -Short days 8am-2:30pm with more time for afterschool activities – Short Lunch break (45 min) – No morning or afternoon Recess starting Middle School |
| Vacations | – 2 weeks for All Saints break (Toussaint), – 2 weeks for Christmas, – 2 weeks for Winter break, – 2 weeks for Spring break – and usually about 2 months for summer break | – 4 days for Thanksgiving, – 1-1,5 week for Christmas, – 1 week for Winter break, – 1 week for Spring break, – 2.5 months for summer break |
| Extra Help | Not very common, and often imposed by the school if your child doesn’t meet the expectations. | Starting in Middle School, weekly free extra help from all teachers, for volunteers who struggle and need help and volunteers who understand well but want extra practice to master a subject. |
| Level Math courses | No Level class | Starting 7th Grade (5e Collège), 2 to 4 Level Math classes based on results and enthusiasm for challenges from previous year. Possibility to move up and down during the school year too. |
| Foreign Languages | 2 languages from 6e Collège (6th Grade Middle School) | 1 language from 6th grade (6e Collège), another one from 9th grade (3e Collège) |
| Grades | – Usually grade /10 or /20 – Definitive grade | – Usually grade /100 and Letters grade scale (A+,A,A-,B+,B,B- etc) – Possibility to retake a test if you got a low grade (second chance) |
| Test types | Mainly ‘essay’ tests where you have to write the answer | – Mainly ‘multi-choice’ tests with very few answers to write, but mainly check boxes – Except for ‘essays’ in literacy or social studies for example |
| Projects | – Some, – Mainly individual projects | – Weekly projects, – Mainly group projects |
| Digital (before COVID) | Starts to be digital with books online | Totally digital from Middle School: IPad provided for each student by school with digital lessons and homework with apps. |
| General courses approach | A lot of writing of lessons on notebook by the student and few exercises in class | 10 min lesson by the teacher on board, no student writing and then many exercises |
| Math/Science courses approach | – A lot of Theory and definitions to know by heart – Complex arithmetic | – Few theory. Focus on mathematics logics and less arithmetic. – Focus on science experiments to deduct theory. – Many games to learn (for example for multiplication table), online flash cards and quiz to practice |
| Literacy/Social Studies (Hist/Geo) courses approach | Start with theory and lessons to write down and learn. | – Study of texts or articles or group projects to learn about literacy concepts or some historical events. – Less formal lessons to learn. Lesson is usually built by students based on reading. |
| School Mindset | Competitive and sometimes can be discouraging or demeaning for some kids (‘you are bad at math’) | Competitive but a lot of praising for any success (even the smallest), never demeaning comments |
| Teacher Mindset | Disciplinarian, strict rules enforced by detention (‘colles’) | Open to dialogue with students on test schedules, late arrival, missing homework… |
| Integration of new students | School counselors close to new students, special class ESL (English as a second language) for foreign students to catch up |
What about your kids? which school do they prefer?
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