Canada is a bilingual country, but nowhere is that more evident than here, in the city of Ottawa. It is such an asset to speak more than one language, and I love how many opportunities our children get to learn French once they are school age. But, what if you want to introduce your children to French before they reach kindergarten? Enter 123 Petit Pas.

123 Petit Pas was founded by local mom and French immersion teacher Amy Maan, aka ‘Madame Amy’. Amy realized there was a lack of resources for parents hoping to raise bilingual children after she began searching for “Mommy & Me” bilingual programs to participate in with her own young son. 

I had the opportunity to attend one of Madame Amy’s toddler classes and I was truly impressed by the program.

123 Petits Pas offers a variety of French programs & workshops throughout the Ottawa region. Most of the programs are geared towards infants, toddlers, and their parents. The toddler class I participated in was a lot of fun and very engaging from start to finish. Madame Amy started the class with a series of songs at circle time. She had all the songs printed out on paper for parents to sing along and help learn the words. The class is about teaching the children French, but it is also about helping parents learn how to introduce French at home with songs, games and activities.

There were children participating with their moms, dads, and even grandparents. I was a little surprised to see that a number of the parents were already fluent in French, but they obviously felt the class was useful to supplement whatever they would already be teaching their children at home.

Madame Amy did a great job of changing up activities, so she always held the children’s attention. After songs, there were activity stations all focused on speaking French and learning about whatever the theme of the lesson was. While I was there the theme of the class was ‘numbers and counting” and the activity stations reflected that. Other classes had focused on other themes such as colours, animals, transportation, etc.

Madame Amy offers a number of classes in different locations around Ottawa, both for babies and toddlers. My daughter is still one year away from Junior Kindergarten and I will certainly be looking at what class I could attend with her in the fall.

Visit HERE for a complete list of the French programs currently being offered. You will find the Parent & Infant Beginner French Class (children 4 to 17 months old) which , Parent & Toddler Beginner French Classes (18 months to 3.5+ years), and there is even a Prep for JK/SK class that Amy offers throughout the summer.