Oct 19, 2005 03:53 PM
22948 Views
(Updated Oct 21, 2005 02:36 PM)
Around the time I was pregnant, a few colleagues were in a school selection process for their kids. The problem did not end there because after selecting the schools and appearing for the test and interview, the school has to select the child. Watching their worries for a few months after the process started got me tensed. After all, I had to do the same at a later stage!
This review is about our (my husband and I) journey of finding a perfect school for our daughter Soumya (everybody says the name suits her well as she is indeed a Soumya in nature).
By the time Soumya was 2.5 years, she had mastered the alphabets and the numbers as much she could and knew dozens of nursery rhymes and so I decided that she need not go to a pre-nursery. But then every one said that I was wrong, as the child had to be ready for interviews. Interviews at the age tender of 2.5? I dreaded interviews even after completing my engineering. To keep others mouths shut and probably because I began to think that I am not being a normal type of a mother, I sent Soumya to a pre-nursery for a month before she had to join the LKG.
LKG My husband and I had to make one of the biggest and the most important decisions of selecting the school. After a lot of thinking, discussions, rethinking, and more discussions, we decided to try out the new school near our house. The main reason was that they were giving admissions to most of the students who at least spoke a word or two. Secondly, it was closer home and Soumya did not have to travel much. She studied there for a year and then we moved from the outskirts of the Pune city to the city.
UKG Again we had to undergo the process of school hunting. One day while going to the office, I saw a place named Victorious Kids in Koregoan Park. I could see kids jumping on the trampolines, sitting and playing in sand pits, swinging away to glory, running around with the teachers or maids after them. I could see the kids’ smile. Smiling kids at school pulled my husband and me to that place and we went to check it out. It was a play school and a day care center and had classes till 3rd standard. What I liked about the place was that there were onlt about 10 kids in a class. The kids were not forced to do any activity. During the activity class, the kids could do what they chose to do. Children should not feel that they are in a zoo.
My husband was not too sure about the place. He felt that Soumya might not longer remain Soumya. But Soumya did her LKG in Victorious Kids. Where her friends studying in other schools had home works to do, I was not even aware of what they taught in the school. Once in 2 months the parents were called to the school and told about the progress of the child. We were given the worksheets, drawing and crafts items Soumya made at school. They used to be neatly labled and pinned with the dates on them. So we knew that she was learning something.
She used to come home and talk about photosynthesis, the solar system, the planets, and cruelity to animals etc. All these were told to the kids (not taught). The concept was to give information to kids and let them pick what ever they can. Don’t teach them or tell them to learn. It kills the fun of learning. Earlier I would have thought that it was just theory, but I realized that it was not so. Soumya would question me about everything around me and I realized that I had to update myself properly to answer to her the way a 3 year old would. But atleast she was thinking to be able to ask intelligent questions. This is something every child should be able to do. Children should be taught to think on their own and should be encouraged to ask questions. This will make then fast learners.
1st and 2nd Std. All three of us wanted Soumya to continue with that school, but it was not a ''recognized school''. Probably we are not that experimentive in nature! So we decided to send her for a formal school. Soumya was short by 2 months (the students have to be 5.5 years in June) to join the 1st standard. She was 5 years and 3 months. We did not want her to loose a year because of 2 months and we did not want her to go to a school that’s far away from home or is very strict just to say that she goes to a well known school in the city. So we checked the St. Felix School at Bund Garden. To out horror we saw the notice which said that the entrance exams and the interview were to be conducted the next day. We had accepted a party invitation for that evening and it was too late to back out.
We reached the school in the morning after instructing Soumya to be confident and write what she knew (if she knew it) and answer to the questions that teacher asked. Let me not forget that there were only 12 seats available and there were over 100 children. The other parents were still sitting with the kids and teaching and instructing them. I felt terrible. Did Soumya stand a chance with zero preparation. I felt bad for not being a good parent and for not preparing our little daughter for the exam and interview. After 2 long hours she came out saying she did well (she always says that, even now). After a week we just went to check out the result though we did not have any hope. She was ranked 3. Well that was a BIG achievement. We partied that evening. My daughter’s first achievement in her student life which she did so well without any preparation what’s so ever. I owe that to the Victorious kids!
The school was good, not much home work, but there were no other cultural activities. I remember that during the parents teachers meeting a teacher told me, Soumya is a good girl, she does well in class, she is smaart, but she talks at times. When I questioned Soumya about it, she whispered to me very innocently, Mummy how can anyone sit quite for such a long time? Is it wrong to talk a little bit?. I thought and decided that it is not wrong to talk a bit. I told Soumya that and hugged her for standing 2nd in a class of 55. The teacher was upset that I did not scold the girl. I thought that I had to show the little girl that I was happy by her achievement (I being a working mother who reaches home by 6.30 or 7.00 pm used to spend barely ablut half an hour with her studies). With that kind of a preparation, standing 2nd in class is an achievement (atleast I think so).
I slowly began to realize that Soumya who loved going to school even when she was not keeping well had started comparing the schools and it was not a very healthy thing to do. After she completed her 2nd standard we again decided to move her out. We did not want Soumya to spend a day in a place where she was not very happy. After all the child spends about 7 hours at the school.
3rd and 4th Std. Soumya joined the Bishops Co-ed School in Kalyani Nagar and she too a liking to the place from day one. Now her rant is: my school, my teachers, our principal, our school library etc.. She is very possessive about her school. She had not learnt Hindi (not even alphabets) before and here the kids had Hindi from class one. I wrote a note to the teacher and she understood the situation and used to write good remarks in her class notes. Soumya was encouraged and motivated to do well in Hindi.
Check the comments for the end of this review.
