Grade: CP
School: L’ecole De Chandai
Persons: Madame Bidou
But Math will!
Schools in France are no joke. They are absolutely brutal for the dumb… like me! I wasn’t dumb, but math sure made me feel that way.
I remember so vividly, the whole class was told that they could go to recess as soon as they completed their math. Tick tock tick tock. The clock moved so fast but my brain worked so slowly! I want to say we were working in multiplication in the 1st grade. By USA standards, this is sooner than an American student.
One by one the students were freed. Soon, it felt like only a handful of us were left to keep the classroom warm with our fading body heat. All hope was lost from attending recess. The girl next to me was the daughter of my hairdresser… I want to say her name is Charlene but I cannot remember that detail. We just faced each other and began complaining and justifying our complaints. We would say things like “What good is math!” and “I don’t see the point of this”, while also admitting self-defeat with “I just don’t get it” and “It doesn’t make any sense”.
I’m sure at some point we were released to recess but I can’t confirm. I don’t know how I was able to attend recess at all with a day of math like this one!
I will add as a closing statement, that when I moved to the USA in the 2nd grade, Math was much easier. It felt like a step back. Which is probably a good thing. The USA method at the time I believe followed the ability of the student better than the rigid French method of everyone having to be equally as talented. In the end, it all depends on who you are. You either have a knack for learning math and can pick it up easily, OR you just didn’t get it like me. Kind of like in the movie “Only Yesterday”… people who can divide fractions just get it!
I am pleased to say, that my brain did eventually catch up and I did become average to above average with math.
Jeremie Grandemange 