Figure 1.--.

Unlike my brother who lived at home, I did not attend a regular school. Instead my uncle had me tutored in his house. A few other children were tutored with me. The result was very good. I got an exceptionally good education. I still have some of my school-work. Normaly school was compulsory. Home schooling was not as common as it is today. I was a bit of a prodigy boy ! French boys began school at 6 after January of the school year. I ws born at the nd of the year. Actually I begam at 5 years. The school was at home, but it was compulsory to study the official program. All children start with the CP. I was able to read quite easily the German and I begam to write. All other boy would have been able to do the alike in same circonstances. I perfectly remember once or twice during the year, a woman of the Academy came to assess our work. She was a bit surprised when my family spoke to me in German and my Nany herself spoke to me in Spanish ! To day still I have got the note-book where a such inscription is written. A note from one of these visits in 1949 read, "Alain Paul prèsente un niveau scolaire acceptable. Il s'exprime bien. Il comprend et parle couramment espagnol." I was 6 years old at the time. Actually it was the cirumstances and the job Fati (my uncle had). Also I was a very well-behaved boy and thus an easy boy to bring up.

French School Grades

American readers might be interested in French school grades and the French school system. The differet grade levels in various countries often make it difficult to compare the different accounts because it is not always clear just how they compare. This is complicated by the different terms used for the schools in various countries. Grammar schools and public schools in America and Britain are very different types of schools. Lycee in France has been used differently, meaning a prinmary school in the 19th century and a secondary school in the 20th century. Here we have detailed the different school levels in France to help clarify how they compare with American schools.

Home Tutoring

I started in Cours Préparatoire (CP). I was really ready for CE1 as I could already read. A a little girl came to our house and a bit later another child joined us. These children couldn't read yet. The courses were quite free. I was ctaught at home for 4 years . Quite often these lessons were not steady because I traveled quite a bit with my uncle. He very commonly took me along on his official trips. This mean a day here and 2 days there.

Math

Right away I was good in mathematics. The teatcher gave to me others mathematic lessons really beyond CO level because my math skills developed very rapidly.

German

My Grandmother tauught me German grammar and often during the study-time ( 16h30-17 hours ) I did German work. By the time I was 10 years old. I could write French as well as German. A bit later, I was even better in German because the French is rather difficult.

Classroom

My uncle set up a room as a class. It was not permit during the school-lesson to go in my bed room ( in reality I had 2 bed rooms ).

Schedule

Even though we were tutored at home, we followed the same schedule mandated by the Ministry of Education for schools throughout France.

The school started 8h30

The breaks: morning recess--10h-10h30; lunch: 12h-13h ( the little girl have her meal with us ); and afternoon recess--14h30-15h. The French term for recess is recreation, the British term morning or afternoon break. During these recesses we all played together. The little girl had several toys,including a doll. I was fond of playing with her doll. That had been a bit curious in Paris, but did not disturb my Granmother, Uncle, and Nany in Nice. Even on Thurday when the girls did not come, I was permited to play with the girl's doll.

After regular classes we had " Gouter " 16h-16h30. [HBC note: I'm not sure what tha meant. Then there was a kind of study time in which we did homework -- 16h30-17h . This was after the teacher left.

Non-school Days

Rhere was no school on Thusday, Saterday afternoon and Sunday. When I was 8 years old I had Cathechism on Thusday, and stayed a part of this day at the chuch for different activities .

Return Home

My Nice familly (my uncle and grandparents) was very attentive with me. I was much pampered; probably a bit too much. I was a happy child during my boyhood, specialy till I turned 12 years old. After that in 1955 I experience some sad times when I returned to Paris yto live with my parents. It must be said that I was face to a big change in my life. My Parents thought only of work, thus in Vienna one spoke to me by using " Sie " I was a child of a Diplomat person with this attached atmosphere. Many people believed I was my uncle's son because I called him Fati, that means papa in German. I don't remember when I began this habit. So it took some time to begin calling my father " papa" and my Godfather " Fati " . My eldest daughter called me quite often Fati . Whem I rturned home I began attending regular school.

Aalain