Tessia Brival, Author, Entrepreneur In Conversation with Edx Education

Episode 42 – Heather Welch from Edx Education today we will be in conversation with Tessia Brival, owner of Les Petits Bellots, a French-English bilingual creche in London, Author, just published a book (“Rejuvenated Mums Make Happy Kids”)

Tessia quickly learnt that parenting is the most amazing experience but can also be unbearably tough without the right support. Recognising her own need, Tessia embarked on a journey to support other mothers and enrich the lives of their children with the creation of ‘Les Petits Bellots’, a bilingual crèche that is free from the obligations that make the traditional UK childcare so inflexible and inaccessible for most parents.

Highlights from this episode:

{4:10} Studying with children
{11:03} Acknowledge your own needs as a mum
{15:11} Bilingual children have greater cognitive flexibility
{19:12} We still need time for ourselves

#edxeducation #parentingexpert #learningthroughplay #playlearncreate

 

Heather Welch

Welcome everyone. I’m Heather Welch from edx education. And today we’ll be in conversation with Tessia Brival owner of Le Petit Bellots a French English bilingual crisis in London. Tessia is also an author and just published a book. Rejuvenated Mums, make happy kids. Tessia quickly learned that parenting is the most amazing experience, but also can be unbearably tough without the right support, recognizing her own need. Tessia embarked on a journey to support other mothers and enrich the lives of children with their creation of a bilingual crash that is free from the obligations that make traditional UK childcare, inflexible and inaccessible for most parents. Welcome, Tessia. It’s wonderful to have you here

Tessia Brival

Thank you so much, Heather. Thank you for having me really appreciate it.

Heather Welch

Well, we love we looking forward to hearing all about your book, the creche, can I ask you to introduce yourself to our listeners and what brought you on this journey of being a parenting expert?

Tessia Brival

I am a mom of two young children. And what happened is when I had my first one, I wanted to obviously, um, learn as much as possible in regards of, you know, educating children, raising children, uh, to obviously do my best. And I wanted as well too. I have some time for myself and make sure that my little one can be exposed to other children at a very young age.
What happened is I started to study a lot into, to obviously improve in my role as not as a mom and. I was experiencing while I was, you know, um, learning, I was able to see different results in the way I was, you know, um, raising the children. So I wanted to do more and more and more. Decided to study to, um, get a qualification, uh, because I.
I just loved it. And I trained as a chime under I qualified as a child-minder here in the UK, and then I’ve got my early years, um, diploma as well. So for me, it was a revelation because I never planned to, um, work in that field, um, at all, uh, when I was young and. I just, you know, fell in love with, you know, raising children and make sure that, you know, parents can have all their tools, you know, to obviously be the best versions of themselves for themselves and for their children.
So that’s the journey I went through and I learned so much the, obviously the beautiful parts and the difficult ones,
but I, what I understood is that difficult one can, I mean, are part of the journey obviously to, for you to grow. But if you do, if you do self-educate yourself and if you. Rich people that have been there before, or you know, that they have experienced that before you, you can avoid lots of, you know, pain and, and, and difficulties.
So that’s what I want to share. And that’s why obviously I decided to release a book a couple of weeks ago to obviously help moms as much as I can.

Heather Welch

Love that it’s to be the best parents of themselves, but you know, it is tough studying when children are quite young. It’s very tough, you’ve got your trials and tribulations that you would have gone through sleepless nights when you have things due.
And you know, everything. I remember staying much when little, everything always went wrong. As soon as I had something could do for you. I see, or anything, everything always went wrong with the children. They got the chickenpox or, you know, they’d come down with hand, foot and mouth or something like impetigo, something I’d never heard of.
And I’d be thinking, I thought cows got that and said, no. So, you know, it was, it is really tough studying and, you know, juggling doing the juggle, like juggling full-time and everything. But I love the title of your book. Rejuvenate moms make happy kids because it probably is one of the things that, you know, none of us think about.
We just. Trying to think about the kids, but you know, if our battery is empty, we can’t really, you know, give the best to our children. So can you tell our listeners what, what to expect from

Tessia Brival

So basically rejuvenate in months, and I just want to say something about this title. I don’t know what would be the title of the book.
I knew I wanted to write a book and I, I just, I just thought what would be the perfect title for this book, obviously to make sure that the moms understand that. It’s all about, obviously them in terms of their mental state and wellbeing and that who, you know, make a difference in their own life and their children’s life.
So I just, just went to bed and asked the universe to give me next day, the right time. And that’s, that’s funny because, uh, the next day I didn’t have any title, but I D end of the day, when I was about to go to sleep, suddenly the title came and. Yes, but we need in moms make happy kids. And I was like, wow, I love that title.
And then that’s, that’s the little, you know, anecdote, the little story.

Heather Welch

It’s amazing, simple, but it’s engaging. It’s completely. It, it is something that you just don’t think about. It is what you need to do. Rejuvenate yourself, help yourself to make your kids happy as well.

Tessia Brival

So this book explores how mothers can care for themselves and create a space for your guilt resulting obviously in that peer life for the whole family.
So in this book, I share my own experience and how do I want wisdom to help all moms find practical solutions in their daily life to strive obviously, and set the highest example for their children. So that’s really the message behind this.

Heather Welch

And this has only been released last week or the week before. Was it just last week?

Tessia Brival

Yes, just two weeks ago on the 17th of November.

Heather Welch

Congratulations. And I think it’s such an amazing, such an amazing thing to write about. Look forward to hearing more about what are the benefits of bilingualism in early childhood, because I know that’s something that with the crash that you are quite passionate about as well.
But before we go into that, I would like to know what do you believe is the parenting superpowers?

Tessia Brival

I was a confident mom in raising my own children because wasn’t self-educating myself. So for me, that is the parenting superpower is definitely self-education and it involves obviously first the desire to be the best parent ever.
And that’s what I had at the time. I was. Oh, these little cute. I just do the best, you know, I just want to be the best mom ever. It’s so just beautiful. It’s just a miracle and I need to obviously to do the best I can. So that was the first thing, the desire. And I believed obviously that I was able to do a remarkable job as a parents.
I believed that I can do that. So. Once, you know, I was, I had faith in myself and belief in myself. I just move into action and naturally ideas started to come to my mind. And I just, you know, obviously starting by early. By buying just the book, obviously, um, in, on parenting. And that was the first one.
And then I couldn’t, you know, um, have enough. And then I, I just, I was just, you know, buying books just to make sure that yes, I’m learning and I can, you know, apply what I learned because that’s the most important things it’s to apply what you learn. Then you can see if there’s a change in, in your, in your results.
And. You don’t really see that at the beginning of your sleep, but you know that you are changing things. This you can, you know, obviously notice and witness because your children suddenly can behave appropriately. Uh, they just listen more. Just because you have these tricks there or just because you’re using this technique and you just realize that, oh my God, this isn’t, this isn’t believable.
Like the more you learn, the more obviously you can improve and raise your standards as you know, uh, in terms of, you know, raising your children. So, yeah, I think it’s so import. Do you find that

Heather Welch

We feel, and I know that my two children are so different. Like we have to approach things in a really different way to, for both of them.
So there are sort of tricks that worked with my first one, but that don’t work with my second one, whether he’s watched the process come over and over again, I don’t know, but there are certain ways to calm them down if they’ve got big emotions and you know, things like that. And there’s certain ways that worked with the first one, but doesn’t actually necessarily work.
Did you find that with your own children?

Tessia Brival

It’s so strange because they’re really different. But in terms of my approach to their education, I have the same lawn and it works well for both of them. Why, because there’s still too, but it’s just, I don’t know. It’s just like, I don’t know some local, I don’t know, but it’s just, it just works for both of them and all the tricks, all the techniques working for both of them.
So I’m sorry. I can’t, you know.

Heather Welch

It’s fantastic to hear, but, um, it’s just that one of mine has big emotions. The other one never had the big emotion, so it’s a very different, they’re very different in personality wise. I think one of them takes off to my husband and one of them probably takes after me.
Um, so, you know, I think that’s probably the first one, but listening the book you refer to reset, you need to reset as a parent. What does that mean to the average parent? Okay. I keep on,

Tessia Brival

It’s really acknowledging your own needs as, as a mom and to the best of your ability to respond to them. I remember that I knew, I knew deep down that.
I was not, you know, um, responding to my own needs. I knew that, but I just, I thought there was not, you know, any, any solution for that, that I just, you know, To deal with it and just, you know, make sure that I take care of the boys first and do whatever I can for them throughs and me. Well, in a few years I will probably take care of myself, but I just realized that it just because I was unprepared.
And the fact that I didn’t put myself as well as an, as a priority because when you are prepared and you decide you have a plan on the way you want, you know, to, to honor as this role, let’s say you become your new mom, you, you about to become a new mom. And you just think this way? Oh, I I’ve heard. And I know that it’s tough and you know, the baby can be demanding, but you can still say, well, during the week I would like at least to have an hour or two hours for myself to do something I love.
So let’s say you were doing yoga for years now. I’m not going to quit on yoga. Uh, okay. After the burst, maybe I need to wait a little bit, but as soon as I have, you know, the, the green light or whatever to go, I want to do that. I want every week to have that hour or two hours, whatever it is for myself to do what I love.
And that’s where I missed it. I didn’t do that.

Heather Welch

It’s kind of like the mindfulness techniques, isn’t it. It’s having that time just to which you always think you don’t have any time to have, but if you don’t do it, then you get more tired and you can’t focus on what you have. So it’s sort of that chicken and egg, I suppose.
Is that the way to say it, but there’s a new, I know that, um, the, your bilingual crash, it’s one of it’s really important. It’s actually really important to children. As I was mentioning before, one of my children has actually grown up. Bilingual, because we’ve been experts around the world.
However, you know, can you explain to listeners, what are the benefits of bilingualism in early child?

Tessia Brival

Between the ages of the, which is three, the brains of young children are uniquely suited to learn a second language as the brand is in, you know, its most flexible stage. Being really exposed infants, excelled in detecting a switch in language as early as six months old.
And that’s so funny because I remember, well, when I was with my first child, it was six. That’s exactly the age he was at that time. And I always speak to him in French right. Every day at home. And I had to have an appointment. Was just calling the doctor for an appointment. Um, we w we were, we were about to, we were discussing that and I switched to.
That if you had seen the reaction of my baby is just stop what it was doing and stared at me. Like,
Why is she still getting another language? Because he never obviously probably seen me, or it was not at that age to be able to just understand that, wow, there’s a switch there. She’s speaking another language. So that’s definitely true at six months. Even my staff experienced that with my, with my child.
So as adults, we have to consider obviously grammar rules and practice, but obviously young children absorb sounds, structures, intonations patterns, and the rules of a second language very easily. So up until the age of eight younger learners benefit from flexible ear. Bitch, you know, muscles that can detect differences between the sounds of the second language.
According to studies, bilingual children are better able to focus and change their response easily indicating cognitive flexibility. So they are better able to plan, prioritize and make decisions which are trends that require self-control a very desirable trait in the early childhood classroom, as well as.
So as children would get older, they tend that’s what, you know, the studies, the studies revealed that it tends to score higher on cognitive tests and possess more effective communication skills. So foreign language learning increases critical thinking skills, creativity as well, and flexibility of mind.
So we do have quite a lot of benefits for building good.

Heather Welch

So have you always spoken from birth to your children in French. Are they fluent in both languages

Tessia Brival

Yes. Yes, because the idea was French at home and English at school. So, yes. So the perfectly

Heather Welch

So with the, with your crazy show, how do you implement this?
On an everyday basis?

Tessia Brival

In our crashes, we have both French and English educators. So French speaking children can then be introduced to English and English speaking children to French. Our sessions are many running friends. We got a thing in France. The structured activities are run in French.
However, during the, during these activities, The, the team usually says new vocabulary in both languages, which is the best way of instead to pass on the information and enable children to learn more.

Heather Welch

This is amazing. So you do a lot of, you know, cause edx education is hands on play-based learning. That’s what we love.
We love play, learn and create. So you’re doing it all to a really playful, fun environment. You’re having it as the language is just there. It’s just part of their everyday life. Is that true?

Tessia Brival

Exactly because they learn through place. So even if you don’t speak their language, their will, they want to play so play with you.
So you speak in French and obviously at the beginning, Quite don’t understand straight away what you’re saying, but after couple of sessions or months with you, they understand. And, um, some of them, depending on their level, um, they start to respond as well. If you words, and this is just, yeah, unbelievable to see, because they’re just exposed to a couple of hours a week.
It’s not like they are speaking French at home. Every. No,

Heather Welch

But they can, they can say sort of everyday nice teas and stuff. And they have that language. I always remember when we lived as ex-pats my oldest child, we were in Singapore at the time living and we’re at a, I think it’s called Jacob Bellis. It’s like the botanical gardens and there’s this water play area.
And there were three children playing with each other. There was a little Japanese boy that knew no English. There was a, Swedish boy and he didn’t have much English either. My son who could only speak English at the time. We’d moved from Australia. So said only, ever spoken English.
And all of them were having the time of their life, but none of them knew what each other was. So they wouldn’t have had a clue what they were doing without absolutely having the type of life. And I’ve still got that photo. And I remember them, you know, and the moms were having a chat about it at the time, having a bit of a chuckle because, you know, one speaking Japanese and other ones speaking, Swedish and English, and that the languages was didn’t matter to them.
They were just playing, they were just having a great time with each other. So it was, well, it was really fun. Yeah. Um, experiences where language didn’t matter, it was just play. Um, so it was just quite nice, but this tell us more about the care philosophy and why you founded this early childhood crazy.

Tessia Brival

So why I found it, it just, because that’s what I wanted, obviously for myself.
And you, you see in the book, we talk about the fact that we need some time for ourselves. So this applies obviously for stay-at-home moms and working moms, it doesn’t matter. What, what is your current situation? But at the time I wasn’t stay at home mom and I was, you know, spending all my time with my child 24 7.
And I just wanted to have a little bit of time for myself, um, to do all the things that then taking care of him. And I wanted as well for him, obviously, to. To, to gain independence, to not always be with me, um, and to have new friends and, and yeah. To learn as well in, through play with, with all the people than, than myself.

Tessia Brival

Create it, to create a particular, so the unique, um, program we offered them. In the pleasure and it’s containing into, you’re studying a new language at a young age. So obviously that’s again, because I am, I’m French born in Paris, raised in Paris, and I’ve learned English later on in life.
So I know-how. Tough it is when you start, you know, learning languages later in life. So that’s something that I wanted obviously to offer as an opportunity to children in London, to be able to learn a language when it’s the easiest time for them to learn. Um, so we offer a flexible type of childcare of the sleep that allows parents to take some time out for them.
And the little ones can enjoy two hours of fun play and learning in a bilingual environment. So we encourage happy, confident children to take an interest in their surroundings and interact positively with others. We achieve that through a combination of replay, Storytime, dancing, and structural activities with bilingual sessions in French and English.
We, this is new, but we also work on now specialized teachers, uh, in ballet, yoga, you know, people, different, you know, specialty to just enrich children’s experience within our structure. Really it’s the decision that we run. We welcome the children only for a couple of hours. It’s two hours. We try, we will try to get to three, but the idea is to offer a crucial, you know, um, two hour or three hours when we will get to that break, um, for power.
Who prefers a short-term, you know, bilingual nursery solution. So our number one priority is always, and will always be the quality of care we give the children. That’s why we, why that’s why our capacity is limited. And we only want the children to feel self loved in their home, away from home. So, yes, that’s.
That’s the philosophy here at clickety below and, and why I decided it’s such a great,

Heather Welch

It is such a great idea to have, you know, the short-term options because you do need that two hours. I mean, were you able to stay open over the last 12 months? Were you able to keep it open and have that short time during, you know, we have had, has been an interesting year for many,.

That’s really nice. So it’s been actually a lovely approach, how can I, how can our listeners hear more about Les Petits Bellots and where can they get rejuvenated moms make happy kids book? Cause I know that it’s just out at the moment. Yes.

Tessia Brival

Yes, they will find all the information about our sessions, um, here in London, and about rejuvenate in months, the book is now it’s available on Amazon and through the website, https://tessiabrival.com They can, you know, be directed to Amazon so they can have on the website, more information about the book, more insights as well before they want to make, you know take a decision to, to buy the book.
Yes, that’s where they can find all the information.

Heather Welch

Thank you so much. I’m going to add here that you’ve got a great blog on your left, les petite bellots website, their website, an amazing blog. You’ve got lots of information for parents to have a look at as well, and there’s some resources there.
I’ve had a bit of a quick look as well. So, if anyone’s interested to get in touch, I know you can do it through there. It’s amazing, and there’s lots of different information for parenting from Tessia as a parenting expert now, so as an author, so I do suggest maybe have a look at the book and, um, buy the book from his Amazon or even from the website it’s just released.
So it’s brand new and would love to hear from you or get in touch with you if you’ve got any questions. Thank you so much for coming on today.

Tessia Brival

My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate. Thank you so much. There are so many exciting developments happening right now in education. edx education would love to hear from you.

So do get in touch or subscribe to our podcast, which is available on apple or Spotify tune in. And so many more. This podcast series is brought to you by Heather welch edx education. As she’d like to say, that’s create lifelong learners.