Parents in Martensville will soon have an additional option when booking their child in for pre-school. Busy Fingers Pre-School, located on MacCormack Road, will be offering a French Readiness option, beginning this September for the new school year.
Johanna Clancy, the teacher at Busy Fingers Preschool since this past September, is excited to be able to offer this option to families in Martensville and having graduated from Busy Fingers herself as a child and then attending French immersion schooling from K-12, she has seen the benefits firsthand.
Living in Martensville meant that in order to attend French immersion school at the time, Clancy had to be bussed from Martensville to Saskatoon. “I did it all with the goal of going to France. So in Grade 11, I lived in Nantes for a few weeks in a French exchange program. I have gone back to Paris twice since and can never get enough of the history and the culture,” Clancy said.
In addition to being a helpful tool when travelling, Clancy also noted that knowing French helped her throughout university, has made medical terminology much easier to understand, helped her to understand operas in another language, and historical texts. “There’s so much more understanding of the world when you’ve got more language.”
Being able to provide a French preschool has always been a passion of Clancy’s and something that she has been working towards for years. When it was announced that École Holy Mary would be offering a dual stream school within the community, Clancy contacted Monsieur Chatlain, who was her Grade 7 math teacher, and now a Director of Education with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, what needed to be done to get a French preschool. “He told me, ‘You make it happen’, and so I did. I have a supportive Parents Board of Directors who are helping me take the leap and make this dream come true.”
Once available, the program will be much the same as the English curriculum, only with an added introduction to basic French. “Letters, numbers, colours, shapes, music, books…the more language opportunities they are presented with, the more they will learn,” Clancy explained.
A registration night will be held March 18th from 6-8pm for all students and French student applications are currently being accepted at Busy Fingers Pre-School.
