How to Help Your Child Improve Their French Grades in Elementary School

Why French Can Feel So Hard for Kids—and Parents

It starts with a familiar scene. You’re at the kitchen table after dinner. Your child is slumped over their French grammar homework, pencil rolling toward the edge. You've offered to help, but the moment you bring up conjugating “avoir,” they groan. Maybe you do too.

For many parents, helping an elementary-aged child improve in French feels like learning a second language all over again—because, well, it is. And when a child is struggling, the stakes can feel especially high. You worry they might fall behind. You wonder what else you could do. You're far from alone in this.

French literacy—reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary—is foundational. It’s the key that unlocks every other subject. The good news? It’s never too late to help your child feel confident and successful in French. Let’s explore how.

Start by Understanding Where the Struggles Begin

If your child is frustrated with French, try to get specific about where the difficulty lies. Do they struggle with reading comprehension? With spelling? With creative writing? Grammar rules?

In some cases, kids resist French because they’ve had one too many experiences of feeling lost or embarrassed in class. For others, it’s part of a broader academic challenge. School-related anxiety can often show up first in subjects like French, which require constant performance and feedback.

Ask their teacher for feedback. And ask your child. Often, they can articulate more than we expect when we gently invite them into the conversation: “What’s the hardest part in French for you right now?” or “What would you like to feel better about by the end of the school year?”

Build a Relationship with the Language, Not Just the Curriculum

One of the most powerful things we can do for our children is help them reconnect with French as a living, creative form—not just a series of tests to pass. Fun matters. Connection matters more than correction.

Try this: Turn French into something that lives beyond paper and pencil. Read aloud together—not just schoolbooks but comic books, children’s magazines, even simple bilingual picture books. Play French word games. Watch a French TV show with subtitles. Let your child hear the rhythm and richness of the language organically.

For children who are auditory learners, consider turning their written lessons into audio that they can listen to on the way to school or during quiet time. One parent told me her daughter began grasping passé composé better during car rides thanks to an app that transformed grammar rules into short, dramatic audio adventures—starring her child as the heroine. That’s the beauty of tools like Skuli, which let you snap a photo of a lesson and turn it into a story or quiz tailored to how your child learns best.

Let Them Feel a Small Win—Over and Over Again

French, like all languages, builds layer by layer. When a child struggles with past lessons, it can be incredibly daunting to keep up in the present. One way to combat this: go back to basics and offer them consistent, low-pressure practice that brings small, meaningful wins.

Instead of focusing on what’s missing, focus on what they can do today. Can they identify five new verbs? Can they create one sentence using their spelling list? Can they “teach” you the difference between masculine and feminine nouns?

If your child resists doing their French homework altogether, you might find this article on making homework more enjoyable especially helpful. Sometimes the challenge isn’t about comprehension—it’s motivation or overwhelm.

Be Their Guide, Not Their Corrector

One trap we can all fall into (myself included) is becoming the homework police. Correcting every mistake, tightening every sentence, rewriting every paragraph. But when the focus is only on getting it right, our child misses the chance to feel capable.

Your role is not to be their editor. It’s to ask thoughtful questions: “What are you trying to say here?” “Does this sentence make sense when you read it aloud?” “What could make this more interesting?”

Celebrate effort, not just results. When they write a longer paragraph than usual, say, “I love how much you wrote today.” When they use a new word, notice it. Confidence blooms when kids feel seen for their attempts, not just their accuracy.

Layer Support Strategically as They Grow

The demands in French grow significantly between the early and later years of elementary school. If your child is in first through third grade, focus on foundational reading and sentence construction. If they’re in fourth or fifth, grammar becomes more complex, and writing skills more analytical.

Make time for review. Most children don’t retain lessons the first time around. That’s why having personalized quizzes—or even better, quizzes based on their specific lessons—can make a world of difference. A simple tool that lets you turn photos of class notes into custom review sessions can help your child feel more prepared (and less panicked) before tests.

You’re Not Just Teaching French—You’re Teaching Resilience

There may still be tough days. Pages with red marks. Words they forget. But every time your child keeps going, especially through struggle, they’re building something more powerful than conjugation: they’re building resilience, curiosity, and self-belief.

And you? You’re modeling something essential too: that love and learning aren’t conditional on being perfect. That we grow best when we feel safe, supported, and seen.

So if tonight’s French homework ends with a high-five instead of a meltdown, count that as progress. If your child reads a new French word on a sign and smiles, that’s a win. If they feel even a little more confident this week than last—that’s the direction we want.