Jata hai too kahan ?. Review on Choosing a School for your Child

What makes a good school?

It depends entirely on your priorities and many other factors as very aptly put by Juggernaut in his review. I also recommend Afrank’s very insightful review on this subject.

I write here just my personal experience.

When Ananya became two years old and ready to go to(pre)school, I looked at her innocent little face and my heart shrank – at the thought of her leaving the comfortable confines of home, away from my eagle eye and to a school. *Though it was only a playschool, choosing it was more critical to me than any formal school.

One by one, all the schools in the vicinity were examined and rejected. Why? Even I didn’t know, except that I was not convinced. So it was that we started looking at more reputed playschools slightly further away.

One famous playschool with branches all over Delhi was situated at just the right distance from home. As we walked into the spacious, plush and(most importantly) clean interiors, I started feeling slightly hopeful.

Does my search end here?

Not so. One look at the(almost dead) teachers and their(equally-bored-to-death) students and I fled.

I came in the end to what was(supposedly) the best playschool in this part of Delhi. Yes, it was bright, sunny, cheerful. Full of nice helpful teachers and very  helpful staff too. They all looked very competent. The facilities – playrooms, dollhouse, splashpools, ballpools, mirror-houses, murals on walls, a fully equipped computer center notwithstanding, I hesitated. It’s too far, my mind said. Only half an hour’s journey, I argued back. I’m not sure

It was at that precise moment that I happened to glance at a child, all of four years old, standing in the doorway and putting on her bag. She looked like a confident individual, able to deal with the world on her own. And in that precise moment, my mind was made up. In a split second, I saw my shy baby standing there confidently. Everything just fell into place after that.

Decisions can sometimes be so simple.

It didn’t end there…….

I would be a liar if I said I never regretted that decision. * It was a longish journey – as I found out every time I had to cut my working day to half for a parent teacher meeting. How many times did I curse those sports meets and annual functions held at lavish scale in huge auditoria? Even birthdays were nerve-racking occasions!

I disagreed with the school over many things – teachers, teaching methods, students, individual attention and most notably the amount of showbazi that went into everything. This club, that show  – it was never-ending. By the time we came to the fashion show(!) to be held at the annual day at the end of the session, I had learnt to refuse firmly and politely.

Yet, there were nice things – very useful ones, too.

Traditional festival celebrations – Rakhi, Holi, Lori…

A computer savvy three year old…

Gardening – yes, growing your own little tomatoes can be such soothing activity.

Good manners and habits

Safety habits…

Discipline…

Visiting farms to tend to the chickens…

Picnics, going bird-watching….

Most importantly, she was always safe.

Did I get what I wanted?

Yes, it did happen. Ananya did grow into a quiet but confident child. They could never make her very aggressive, she is still the quiet sorts. They could never take the shyness out of her. But I like that. And when she got selected for formal school admissions, I wasn’t complaining.

Would I do it again?

Frankly speaking, I don’t think so. But you can never tell.