Life in Bangalore: Schools II

This is the second in a three-part series. Parts I and III appear here and here.

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In my previous post, I limited myself to the Montessori curriculum and the pace at which it is taught at N's school. By stressing completion of portions, the school pays no attention to an individual child's learning speed or process, which principle is at the core of the Montessori method.

As for the social aspects, it was his teacher herself that I had to complain against. N heard her referring to his classmates as "stupid" and "slow poke", and witnessed a smacking incident. He came home angry with his teacher. Apparently he told her whatever she did was wrong. The teacher herself told me a couple of months later (as a complaint against N) that N gets angry even if she so much as raises her voice against the other kids. And of course, I thought, "good for you, N!", while nodding my head in sympathy.

Schools tend to be the center of discussion whenever we go out to meet our friends, and they all have one story or the other to tell. A couple of weekends ago, a friend recounted this story in which her daughter's entire second grade class was locked in the classroom because a few of the girls had misbehaved. The teacher padlocked the door and left. The door was finally opened half-an-hour later when another teacher heard cries coming from the room.

In an ideal world, all teachers, not matter what type of school they are in, are supposed to treasure the kids that come to them and do everything to build and nurture their self-esteem. This requirement is not unique to Montessori schools.

Then there is the story of a 4 year-old who did not come home on the school bus. He had gone off with his friend to his house and no one on the bus or among the school staff realised that the boy was not on his bus (although the minder on the bus did take a roll call - go figure). The mother finally came to know where her son was when her son's friend's mother called her up to tell her. She of course raised a big ruckus at school, but realised that nothing had changed a week later to ensure that children went where they were supposed to go at the end of the day. She promptly pulled him out and put him in another school.

I do agree that all parents need to do their homework about the schools and more importantly, make the teachers and the management aware that you know what's going on in the school and that you are concerned. But no matter how much homework you do, the first year will be the transition phase where you are figuring out everything - from the methods to the curriculum to the processes in place.

At the other end of the spectrum from N's school is another Montessori that a friend's son goes to. Complete lack of structure there. If a child wants to water plants all day, fine, he can do that. At the end of the year, my friend realised that her son had not learnt anything to do with reading, writing or math. And the management takes offense to any inquiry from the parents as to what their children are learning. She finally pulled her son out of that school two months into the 2005-2006 school year and put him in a new one. Because, as all parents are, she was concerned about her son having to pass those first-grade entrance tests.

International schools have entrance tests too, but they are sympathetic to the diverse learning environments their students come from. In that sense, their tests may not be as bad as those at some of the established old schools in Bangalore.

As for a plan, here is what I think might just work:

For a pre-first grade child, a neighborhood school will be ideal. The child will not have to travel to and from school by bus (it's such a pitiful sight to see little kids trudge off to the bus at 7 in the morning) and again, most neighborhood schools have a better student/teacher ratio. The only caveat is that the parents need to watch what is being taught and how it is being taught.

In terms of homework, there is no alternative but to have your child do it (I did not want N to think that I did not expect him to finish the work his school had given - so he did everyone of those horrid 8 pages every weekend for 5 months last year). The bright side is that of course, he is learning a lot, and I provide other outlets for his creativity.

When the time comes for first grade, there are alternatives (a friend mentioned the National Academy for Learning (NAFL)) to the international schools that are not very expensive and that discourage learning by inifinite repition and rote. The NAFL, for example, says that it uses an "alternative approach to education, through an integrated curriculum and innovative learning techniques".

There is a wonderful book "Bangalore Mums' Guide" (by Reena Mehta, published by Navneet) that lists all the schools, various kids of classes (music, dance, drama, etc.), and other information for parents in Bangalore which is a great reference to have. It lists the contact info for the schools and the facilities available at each school, and the admission process.

With a little bit of homework when the child is still in kindergarten, it's possible to whittle down the number of schools you want to approach and only target the ones you are comfortable with. Parents with kids already in those schools are excellent sources of information regarding entrance tests, the teachers, and so on.

N will have to move to a new school at the end of this year for first grade, if we decide to stay on longer here. Our plan is to steer clear of the old schools and go to an international school, one to which a couple of our friends are already sending their children. Apart from the diverse international student population, the one other advantage I see is the student/teacher ratio. I hear that it's much better than at the regular schools (1:20/25 vs 1:60).

That admission process will begin in a couple of months for the 2006-07 school year. I will keep you posted on what transpires.