The Moyenne Section is the second year of school in France, welcoming children aged 4-5. In the UK, this would be called Reception, and in the US, Pre-school.
École Maternelle (Pre-Primary School in the UK or Pre-K / Kindergarten in the USA) is composed of three grades – Petite Section, Moyenne Section, and Grande Section. Moyenne section bridges the playful exploration of Petite Section with the more structured learning of Grande Section, all while fostering key social, cognitive, and artistic skills. Moyenne Section is not just about preparing for primary school but also about nurturing a love for learning and exploration that will benefit children throughout their educational journey.
At what age does the Moyenne Section start?
Moyenne Section begins in September, following the French school year calendar. It is open to children who are four years old by December 31 of that school year. This means some children may start just before turning four, while others may be closer to five.
A day in the life of a Moyenne Section student
A typical day starts at 8:30 am, as children arrive and hang up their coats and backpacks. The morning is often spent with a combination of free play and structured activities, followed by a leisurely lunch break.
Lunchtime is between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm, and children have free play after meals. Kids never bring lunch to school. They either eat in the cafeteria or are picked up by their parents for lunch before returning to school.
One notable change in Moyenne Section is the shift from afternoon naps in Petite Section to “quiet time”. During the 1 – 2 hours of quiet time, some children can choose to nap, but most of them just play. Afterward, it’s time for more class activities, and the school day finishes between 3pm and 3.15pm. All state schools offer afterschool care every day for a relatively small fee. Extending the school stay until 4.30 pm or 6pm is also possible.
Wednesdays in France are treated differently from the rest of the school week, as it’s meant to be a day for rest and extracurricular activities. While some schools don’t hold classes on Wednesdays, others have classes on Wednesday mornings until about midday. In the afternoons, public schools offer afterschool activities (“centres de loisirs”), often in the same building as the school. As a result, many Moyenne Section students stay at school the same amount of time as on other days. Some private schools also offer extracurricular activities on Wednesday afternoons, but these typically finish around 4-4:30 pm and cost significantly more than public schools.
Learning through play: Moyenne Section curriculum
The objective of education in France at this stage is to instill a genuine enthusiasm for learning in children, to make them want to go to school to learn, to assert and develop their personality, and to foster their curiosity about the world around them. Central to this process is the incorporation of both play-based learning and free play. Children learn through playing, thinking, solving problems, practicing, recalling, and memorizing.
Language development
Kids begin using more structured language, crafting longer sentences and improving their ability to describe and narrate events. Classes focus more on story sequences, helping children understand and recount stories with clear beginnings, middles, and ends. For example, my daughter was asked to cut out images from a story, arrange them in the correct order, and then retell the story using her own words.
Kids also learned new and more complex vocabulary through studying the life cycle of a ladybug and from new stories they read. New words were selected from a book and then displayed as images for the children to connect with the corresponding words or phrases.
Reading and Writing
In Moyenne Section, kids begin identifying the sounds that form words, engaging in activities that involve manipulating syllables—such as combining or removing them. This foundational skill is crucial as they start recognizing letters of the alphabet and learning to write their first names. By the end of Moyenne Section, many children are able to write simple words and recognize the written names of their classmates. Most children already recognize capital letters, and in Moyenne Section, they begin learning to recognize the entire alphabet in lowercase letters.
Numbers and shapes
Children learn basic shapes and numbers through fun games and activities. For example, in my daughter’s class, they would count the number of objects in a picture and then write the number by hand, or they would colour in as many objects as the numbers indicated on a page.
New skills
In Moyenne Section, our school had a strong focus on dental hygiene and teaching kids how to properly brush teeth. So much so that my daughter insisted I was brushing wrong and took it upon herself to correct my technique! In class, the kids discussed which foods are good for our teeth and which are not.
There was also some gardening in the spring, during which they planted radishes and other seeds in pots to take home and care for by watering.
As in every year, there are regular school outings. In Moyenne Section, my daughter’s class visited Provins, Musée Marmottan Monet and other museums on a day trip. The local library was another popular destination thanks to its storytelling sessions.
Final thoughts on our experience with Moyenne Section
I have generally been happy with my daughter’s first two years in French preschool at our local Paris public school. I have noticed that the quality of teachers can vary a lot from year to year. So, some years you’re lucky to get a really good teacher, while in other years, you may not, which can greatly influence how the year goes. If you’re choosing between a public and private school in France, I would say both are quite similar in terms of what they offer children at this pre-primary stage of their education. The differences between public and private schools in Paris become more apparent at primary school level.
If you have a child in Moyenne Section or equivalent, there are many useful and fun activity booklets available on Amazon in French for kids at this age that follow the teachings at Moyenne Section. For example, activity books that encourage learning through tracing numbers, letters, and holiday editions that cover a range of different games and activities. We like to buy these over the holidays throughout the year and carry with us during our travels.
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