Contents
At the heart of the European institutions, four crèches welcome the children of civil servants from the twenty-seven Member States of the Union. Whether they are Lithuanians, Danish, Portuguese … the little ones bathe in a “culture broth” where even the staff come from the four corners of the continent.
A European crèche… under the seal of the French language
From the outside, the Palmerston crib looks like any crib in the world. But at the entrance, two fathers chat in English, a Czech mother drops off her son and an angry little Spanish girl stamps her feet. Anne-Catherine and Hector, them, accompany their twins, Anglo-Italian-New Zealand by their father and French by their mother. For this couple of European officials, enrolling children in a crèche run by the European Commission was obvious. In addition to their good pedagogical reputation, a pediatrician is present there every morning. And generally, the same team of two or three nursery nurses follows the child until he is 3 years old. “This continuity offers the child the stability necessary to establish a bond of trust with his new environment,” says Cristina Seghi, Belgian educational psychologist. Although the European Union has twenty-three official languages, the idiom used here is French. “This allows children to have a common language, a landmark, and to avoid the risk of confusion, ”explains Florence Henceval, the manager. But there is no linguistic censorship. When children learn colors, for example, they sometimes spontaneously formulate them in their mother tongue. “We then take them back in French: ‘Yes, you meant red,’ says Sandra Grazzini, Italian nursery nurse. Moreover, parents are asked for a list of expressions that are essential to reassure children in their mother tongue, such as “I have pain” or “I am thirsty”. “I have sometimes spoken Portuguese with a little not yet familiar with French”, confides Paula Cunta Correia, Portuguese host.
Little ones who try their hand at all languages
Putting words into what children are going through and getting them to express their emotions, their questions or their desires are important elements of the educational project. “The other day, I was reading a story to the children to introduce them to animal cries. It was really cute because the rooster crow is different from one language to another. Suddenly, each child took it back in their own language and finally they all learned it in all languages! ”Says the host. The little ones are real linguistic sponges. It is not uncommon to hear one say “He speaks the same language as my daddy” or try his hand at his neighbor’s language. “In my group of older children (2-3 years old), I had a little one whose mother is Dutch and whose father is Spanish. Despite his age, Bart had a perfect command of French, in addition to both languages. To a German who did not yet speak French well, he spoke in Dutch. But he switched to Spanish to make himself understood by an Italian! », Says the nursery nurse. Barbara Abdelilah-Bauer * confirms this ease of learning: “The little one has an innate capacity for languages. Our brain is even predisposed to be multilingual. The proof is this 3-year-old girl who lived as a baby in Spain. Her father is Danish, her mother German and she can already count to ten in all three languages.
* Author of “The challenge of bilingual children” (La Découverte ed.).
A crèche promoting the spirit of openness
“When we transmit a language, we also transmit a culture and, generally, multilingual children are very curious“, She specifies. To encourage this open-mindedness and help the child to build his own identity, the little ones are brought together in groups, generally at the beginning of the third year. Those who wish to bring photos, a CD… in their mother tongue to share their world. To meet this educational challenge, the staff follow specific training courses, in particular on the notion of multiculturalism. Because language is not enough to sum up a child’s culture. “I had a little one who did not fall asleep well. After seeing the parents, I found out that he didn’t know about cribs because he slept with them. So you have to be aware of everyone’s habits, ”says Sandra Grazzini. Especially since they also sometimes discover new dishes, smells. “We offer them dishes from different cultures: yesterday it was moussaka…”, explains Florence Henceval.
Here too, adaptation is necessary
Most often, the little ones adapt very well to this new universe, but like any child who enters a nursery, you have to manage the separation. And on this point, European nurseries are no exception to the rule: interview with the family and adjustment period of three days minimum. For the child, it is often no problem. But for “expatriate” parents, it is sometimes difficult. Hence the establishment of places of speech. “Multiculturalism exists within the staff themselves, which allows for the establishment of a relationship of trust and answer all their questions. In addition, some of us have also experienced uprooting. So we can better understand their feelings, ”insists Cristina Seghi, the educational psychologist. And once the integration is successful, this “culture broth” will continue to simmer in kindergarten. As soon as they enter the European school, children are grouped together according to their nationality, but language learning continues. And from the first year of primary school, young pupils learn English as a second language. But at recess, it is with the verve drawn from each of the languages that they bicker or play hopscotch!
Do you want to talk about it between parents? To give your opinion, to bring your testimony? We meet on https://forum.parents.fr.