Schools in India and US - Part 2

Tutoring for kids

Many Indian parents love to advance their kids in Math, so they send kids to centers like Kumon, Gideon, Eye Level, Huntington, Sylvan etc. Since English is a second language for Indians, kids also attend English classes. There are also private tutors for kids in Middle School. Online tutoring is also an option.

School Selection

Public schools - You can attend a particular school depending on the community or street you live in.
Charter schools - It covers the predominant area
Private schools - You are free to apply anywhere

Where you choose to live depends pretty much on the ranking of a school district or what you want for your child. Some parents tend to put kids where the Indian community is more, some just prefer other areas.

Extra curriculars

Lots of opportunities for sports and hobbies. There are recreation centers, private centers, sporting fields and stadiums or just after-school campuses which offer a wide variety of activities.
Your kids college application will require filling up some of those, so its one primary reason parents tend to put their kids in classes.

Play

Playground, parks are available in suburbs. Sometimes kids get together for play dates if they are small and are located in long distances. Older kids play in school grounds or parks.

Parent teacher meetings

These are referred to as conferences. Elementary has parent teacher conferences year round. Some middle and high schools don't have meeting dates. You can either mail teachers, give them a call during conference hours or fix an appointment to meet them

Homework

Elementary kids have very less homework compared to India. In Middle school, the homework load starts increasing and high school is similar to India.

Indian parents love to have more homework for kids. Competition is paramount here also. Some parents just leave it to the school work.

Schools in India and US - Part 1

Q. How are the schools in US divided?

Most of the public schools in America are divided into elementary, middle and high school.
Elementary - Pre-K, K, till grade 5 or 6
Middle School - Grade 6 or 7 till 8
High School - Grade 9 to 12

Private schools and charter schools might have all the grades.

Q. What is the curriculum in US?

Most of the states in US follow the Common Core Curriculum. Some of the states like Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska, Indiana, and South Carolina follow their own syllabus.

Q. How is the homework load in schools?

Homework is less compared to schools in India. Once kids start their high school courses, the homework is pretty much the same. You can expect a heavy workload in high school
Charter and private school work loads might be a bit higher.

Q. How are students evaluated?

The system looks at continuous evaluation. All the work done in school and home is evaluated. There are also semester exams from middle school sometimes. Quizzes, projects, homework, unit tests comprise the assessment list. Depending on each state, the states test the students like a common state test from grade 3 till high school.
The state tests are like the public exams of the Indian school system.

The state tests might be used for evaluation of schools and teachers.

Q. What are the subjects in elementary school?

The students have English(Language Arts), Math, Science and Social Studies. They will have gym or PE everyday.

Q. How is the school atmosphere is elementary?

The atmosphere is mostly friendly. Mostly a single teacher is assigned to a class and they handle all the subjects except PE. They get to know the students well.

Q. About the teacher interaction in elementary?

Many schools have websites or many send paper newsletters home. The syllabi covered or work done will be notified in the newsletter. Parent - Teacher conferences are held through the year. You can fix appointments with the teacher or you can email them. Most of them are prompt to reply.

Shame on playschool

Young little children, abused in a playschool is really shocking. Kuddos and Bravo to the parents who have come forward to bring out the mismanagement and abuse.

Don't the administrators think for a second what cruelty they are administering.

Kidzee playschool should have their license revoked and the admin should be publicly defaced so that they don't start another school

News Link:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/playschool-sexual-attack-case-six-more-complaints-against-accused-registered/article17346379.ece

Cursive handwriting

Have you looked at your child's handwriting and felt it to be terrible? Has your child not learnt cursive properly?

My child never learnt cursive handwriting in school. When I changed schools during class 1, the new school was already into it.
We have been trying to get him to write better, but it never improved. We tried worksheets, cursive books. It was always between block lettering and cursive.

It's been a few years now and I thought this summer might be the right time to properly reinforce the skill. So devoid of any school interruptions, I was looking at various websites and finally we have made good progress due to the "HEV Project".

The youtube videos go progressively and should be of great help.
We used it with a single line notebook and used up 3 lines for the writing. Then at the end, we adjusted our space to a single line.

Hope this helps those kiddos!

Vahe Global Academy

Vahe Global Academy

Syllabus: CBSE, Cambridge (CIPP)

Address: Kachmaranahalli, Kodathi - Gunjur Main Road , Gunjur, Varthur, Bangalore - 560 087
Phone - 7022299634 ; 7022299635 ; 7022299636

Website: http://vaheglobal.org/ 

CBSE affiliation

I have been getting a lot of emails and comments asking about schools affiliation to CBSE board. You can verify whether your school is affiliated or not by visiting this link:

http://cbseaff.nic.in/cbse_aff/schdir_Report/userview.aspx

Select 'State' then enter the school name in the keyword.

Beware of these schools

It's been a painful experience reading the newspapers regarding the torture little kids have gone through in Bangalore. What pains more, is the insensitive nature of the schools towards the scenario and their failure to take appropriate measures to curb such acts.

For future parents, I am posting and continue to do so, the schools which have failed to be earnest in their behavior.

Vibgyor School, Marthahalli
Orchid International School, Jalahalli
Cambridge School, Indira Nagar

Edventure Academy - Special needs

Name of the school: EDventure Academy

Address: #1156, 23rd main, sector-2, HSR Layout, Bangalore- 560102

Phone: 9591080874, 9945343475
email: edventure.academy@gmail.com
Facebook page- EDventure Academy

Details: EDventure Academy is a Special Education & Remedial Centre founded with a vision to provide equal opportunity to all children with diverse level of abilities. Our learning group is composed of 1-3 students to ensure that every child receives individual attention. 

At EDventure Academy we offer two models of Programs: 

A) Morning School Program for kids who are rejected admissions in mainstream schools. This program is an amalgam of a special education and a regular school curriculum in a nut shell. Currently children with Autism, Intellectual disability, Down Syndrome, Global Learning Disability, etc are benefiting from this model. 

B) Evening Remedial Program for kids who attend regular schools and need support in specific areas like reading, writing, spelling, memory, attention, sitting tolerance, behaviour modification etc. Currently children with ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, Slow learners etc attend this program.

-- Contributed by school admin

Hats off - people of Bangalore!

Hats off to all of the supporters, parents who got together to fight against what had been done to a small child. A school by protecting its sinful staff is putting the rest of the kids in danger. Is a school's name more important than a child's life?

Irresponsible and insensitive

It was a shocking news when I read today's paper. The headlines of a small child being raped on school permises by the gym staff (Vibgyor School near Varthur and Kundanahalli ) and the irresponsibility of the school administration is just not tolerable. Who knows how many children have been affected and how many complaints have proved ineffective against the staff.

School survey form

Hi all, This blog has been of great help to many parents. We have added a survey form for your school.
Please take the time to fill up your responses. Your inputs are greatly appreciated. The results will be published after a substantial amount of responses.

Akash International School - a 4 syllabus school

Akash International School has 4 syllabus in its curriculum. They offer CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE and Karnataka State Board (this is what their website states) and they are affiliated to all four.

Syllabus: CBSE(class 1 to 10),ICSE(class 1 to 10),IGCSE (class 1 to12, CIE), State Board

Address: Prasannahalli Road
Devanahalli,
Near Bangalore International Airport
Bangalore - 562 110
Phone: 080-27681349,9379844449

Languages: Hindi, Sanskrit, French

Sports: Training for district and national levels in cricket, football, lawn tennis, basketball, volleyball, skating,
swimming, table tennis, carrom, chess, hockey, billiards.

Hostel: Available for 100 students

Admissions: Available from June. Forms can be downloaded online or from the school for Rs.1000.

Silver Oaks

School: Silver Oaks

Syllabus: IB (PYP from PPI to Grade 6)

With an experience of 12 years of successful schooling program in Hyderabad, Silver Oaks Bangalore was inaugurated in May'13 by Prof Pankaj Chandra Director IIM Bangalore. Started academic session from 19th June 2013.

Address:Silver Oaks 

Dommasandra Village, Opp. HP Petrol Pump 

Sarjapura Road
Bangalore 562125
Phone: 9739474900 

Greenwood High International School

Greenwood High International School

Syllabus: ICSE, IGCSE, IB

Address:
No.8-14, Chickkawadayarapura, Near Heggondahalli
Gunjur Post, Varthur, Sarjapur Road, 
Bangalore-560087 

Phone : +91 80 27822888,9740987028
Email: admissions@greenwoodhigh.edu.in

Website: www.greenwoodhigh.edu.in

Lets start prep school

LET'S START PREP SCHOOL AND DAY CARE
Playgroup, Nursery , LKG ,Day Care, Learning Center

Address: #400, 75/2 Sunrise Villas,
Bellandur Main Road, 
Bellandur, Bangalore-560103

Phone: 890467177, 903707954, 8904687176, 25746456

Email: info@letsstart.in

Website: WWW.LETSSTART.IN

Pure with the heart, presenting learning as an art,
We welcome you all to be our doting part,
Help your kid grow young, sharp and smart,
Play, Care and Love are few of the darts,
Let's come together now and make a start

-- Anuj Agarwal and Richa Agarwal

Reg. Legal issues

Hi All,
For all those who have been threatening this site with their legal notices please read on.

This site is a platform for parents to vent their woos and suggestions.
Schools have not been providing a platform for parents to express their concerns, that's why they are taking it out on the school in such forums.

I hope instead of threatening me with legal notices, you can take action on your school personnel and bring about a change in the environment of your school.
This will go towards a long way in making your school a better place for children.

The mentality of your staff is going get imprinted in the child's mind studying in your school.If the admin itself is not in a proper state to hande affairs, how can parents come forward?

If I take out all the comments of your school, the same thing is going to get repeated over again.
Finally parents are going to resort to other websites for venting out.

Schools are forgetting the impact of social media nowadays.
I hope instead of sending me all those emails, please read the comments of parents and take action in that direction.

Green County Public School

Green County Public School was started by the Bangalore Technical Foundation Trust.

Syllabus: ICSE and Karnataka State Board
Address: Green County Public School
Sy.No 106/7,
Opp. to Kodigehalli Cross Bus stop,
Bellary Road,
Bangalore-560092.

Languages: Hindi, Kannada
Vocational Courses: Carpentry, aero-modeling and toy making

Eligibility: Pre-nursery age should be 2 years and 10 months as of June 1.
Fees: Around 40K per year for tution (Please check)

Activities: Art, Music, Puppetry. Hockey, basketball, tennis, football, cricket, volleyball, table tennis, billiards, yoga, adventure sports, karate, boxing.

(Sports is conducted at a nearby place)

National Public School, Banashankari

National Public School (NPS) has started yet another school, this time in Banshankari 5th stage.

Syllabus: CBSE ( and maybe all other syllabi listed on their site).

Address: National Public School - NPS Banashankari
Syno-81, 3rd cross,
60ft road, Uttarahalli-Kengere Main road,
Banashankari 5th Stage,
Bangalore-560061.

Website: npsbsk.com
Phone: 080-28611799/28612180 

Admissions: You have apply through the office and admission test will be conducted. Application form are available online.

Classes available for 2013-2014 are from Montessori,KG, Class 1 till class 8. It might be still affiliation is in progress, since they have not got their class 10 yet. It's better to check with the school.

Activities: Yoga, music, craft, cookery. Basketball, throw ball, volleyball, table tennis, Chess and badminton.

To see more about the other schools from this group check out: National Public Schools

English Grammar and spelling books

Hi, It's the time of the year when parents are looking out for their kids. It's the exam season in most parts of the world also. I had been scouring the web looking for good grammar links and books.

The good old days of "Wren and Martin" are over now and I just could not seem to find a good book.
I came upon a book by Wren by it was just filled with exercises.

Finally I have got some of the best grammar practise books with instructions, that parents might want to download. Its from Mc Millan publishers and you can access it at:

http://www.mhschool.com/reading/treasure_workbooks/national.html

The grammar books starts off very methodically from the basics. All the mechanics of a particular grammar topic are covered. It has lots of exercises and kids will really get the hang of it.
( But maybe if your kid is in grade 4, you might need to see the grade 3 book.)

The link contains spelling practise books also.
Hope you find the great books as good starters and they work out as worksheets too.

Innisfree House School

Syllabus: ICSE and IGCSE 

Name: Innisfree House School
Address: 9th Cross, 23rd Main
J.P. Nagar 2nd Phase
Bangalore -560078 

Landmark: Near R.V. Dental College
Phone: 080-26597110, 080-26596005

Admissions: Pre-K to Class 12
Konkani people are given preference.

Activities: Music , Science, Cricket, Volleyball, Basketball

Remarks: "Children with learning difficulties work with a special educator, gifted children are put on fast track so that their mental abilities are catered. "

In news: The school was allocated land and the remaining nearby land was being used as a playground. But the BDA gave clearance for a petrol station. The BDA's stance being the school constructed fully buildings in the land allotted to it and did not make space for a playground.

(Hope someone can highlight if the school has lost its ground and whether a petrol bunk is nearby.)