Quebec Educational Reform

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The Québec Education Program - Cycle One Information For Parents
Ministère de L'Éducation - 2005

Your child has just started school in Cycle One, which consists of the first and second grades of elementary school. This marks another turning point in his or her development. You will no longer continue to support your child as you did when he or she was very young and you helped him or her learn important things like how to walk, talk and express his or her emotional needs.

When your child started kindergarten, the school became your ally by helping him or her develop self-confidence and ability to relate to others. As you child embarks upon this new phase of schooling and continues to discover the world of knowledge, he or she must know that you will be there to applaud every success and offer support in moments of doubt or hesitation. Since your child will begin to learn how to learn during the first cycle of elementary school, it is important that everything be done to ensure that this process of learning how to learn meshes with the development of his or her personality.

As you probably know, the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec is phasing in a curriculum reform, beginning with a new program for kindergarten and the first and second years of elementary school, which was introduced in all schools in September 2000.

Just like previous generations of Québec children, your child will learn to read, write and count. The subjects that have been taught in Cycle One of elementary school will continue to be taught:

  • English Language Arts

  • French as a Second Language

  • Mathematics

  • Moral Education or Moral and Religious Instruction

  • Arts Education (Music, Visual Arts, Drama, Dance)

  • Physical Education and Health

A COMPETENCY BASED PROGRAM

The way the subjects in the program are taught is designed to enable your child to master them, and also to acquire, and then develop, certain competencies:

  • Intellectual Competencies

  • Personal and Social Competencies

  • Competencies Related to Working Methods

  • Communication-Related Competencies

The competencies addressed in the program will be useful to your child throughout his or her life.

Your child will learn not only by memorizing, but also by working on concrete activities or projects that draw on or develop his or her abilities. Thus, in addition to drawing 'a' or 'o' in an exercise book or counting imaginary apples and pears, your child may learn to read or add by participating in a group project.

For Example:

  • Together with other students, your child may do a research project on a favorite subject, such as dinosaurs or astronauts. In this way, he or she will learn to work in a group, to share tasks while respecting the role of each person and to acquire knowledge.

  • Your child will learn to express his or her point of view in certain classroom situations, such as a presentation by a police officer on the rules of bicycle safety, for example. Activities on this theme will enable children not only to learn the rules and apply them, but also to increase their vocabulary, use good judgment and communicate with others.

A PROGRAM BASED ON EVERYDAY LIFE

The program is designed to help your child establish links between classroom learning and everyday life. During individual or group activities or projects under the supervision of their teacher, the children will have the opportunity to become familiar with ideas and practices that are specifically related to today's world. The links between classroom learning and the world outside are explored in areas of lifelong learning.

The Québec Education Program features eight areas of lifelong learning, in which your child will learn to:

  • Develop a world-view that will give more meaning to his or her life.

  • Live harmoniously in society.

  • Develop his or her critical judgment, especially as regards the media.

  • Cultivate a healthy lifestyle.

  • Establish good relations with others.

  • Develop a sense of responsibility for the environment.

  • Recognize the importance of being an informed consumer.

  • Understand himself or herself, take part in society and make appropriate choices for the future.

A PROGRAM ORGANIZED IN TWO-YEAR CYCLES

The Québec Education Program is organized in two-year cycles to enable children to progress at their own speed.

Is your child having problems in English Language Arts? The school will take the time to help your child overcome his or her difficulties, and, by stressing your child's competencies in other subjects or areas, it will foster his or her desire to learn. Along similar lines, a child who is particularly good at mathematics can be given special challenges in keeping his or her capacities, which will enable the child to make further progress.

Thus, a child in grade one will have two years to complete the learning for the cycle. This type of organization allows for greater continuity in the child's progress through school.

A PROGRAM THAT LET'S YOU FOLLOW YOUR CHILD'S OVERALL DEVELOPMENT

The way in which students are evaluated has changed, too. Various tools have been gradually introduced to enable you to follow your child' progress: report card, classroom newspaper, logbook, portfolio.

The information provided at various points during the year will enable the teacher to draw a 'portrait' of your child that tells far more than the child's marks alone. This will help you to help your child, with respect to both the subjects in the curriculum and aspects of his or her behaviour.

Examples:

  • Your child's performance is excellent in all the subjects, but he or she behaves aggressively towards others. Clearly, the child has to make an effort to change this behaviour, because it can have a negative impact on both personal development and progress in school.

  • Your child has difficulty with mathematics, but shows a talent for leadership. In this case, the teacher should seek to apply and develop this gift in specific projects, while offering the student support in mathematics.

The feedback you receive about your child will enable you to follow the progress of his or her learning closely without losing sight of the development of his or her personality. In short, the student's report cards will say as much about their overall development as about their marks.

For more information about the education system, visit the Ministère de L'Éducation website.