The school update!

Always thought that parents talked too much about schools in our times. Before and after becoming a parent! And now, I know it is fact....we all do compare notes and do all it takes to get comfortable that the kids are getting a good education.

I think this is because

- as a generation, we are over involved parents. Be it getting into homework assignments, school exhibitions, play dates, birthday parties or school talk, we are over involved in our kids' lives. A throw back of the nuclear family or a change in parenting approaches? I don't know. Child centric for sure, maybe too much in some ways and not enough in others...like wanting them to do what we want them to do, yes, the engineer/doctor pressure still exists, maybe with more professions joining the list. Finally, accounting/commerce/economics are on the A-list, but I digress.

- we have more exposure to best practices in several fields and make this apply to kids' day cares, recreational facilities, schools, extra curriculars, you name it. Either through travel or reading or word of mouth from others, we know more of what we want and what we can't compromise on. Ergo, more talk of schools and kids in general!

- we are aspirational for our kids in things we did not have. Like many generations before us. The only difference being we are able to put our wallets where our mouths are much better than previous generations, for most part.

- we are thinking mch bigger for our kids than we did for ourselves. Parents tend to do that, again that cusp of prosperity, opportunity and thinking means that our kids have better access. What they do with it is anyone's guess!

- schools and systems in general are bursting. The confidence our parents had is less these days for us in all systems. Before a good quality english medium school was the criterion, people found one and stuck to it until they had to move home/city/town. Teachers mostly stayed put in the school, maybe progressing from one class to a higher one. Today's kind of teacher turnover was not a given. Schools do not now come with any assurance that their history will be an indicator of their future....they are also aspirational and why not?! The level of change, however, eats into parental confidence levels....leading to more involvement....and the cycle continues.

I am happy to report that my little one is thrilled to go to school and so excited and charged up when she comes out. She is exposed to so many activities in school consistently and is tired out at the end of the day with a solid session of sports, every day. Her appetite has increased, her level of enthusiasm has got to almost boisterous....something that is a stunner for people who know her.

I don't know if this move is an amazing long term one. Just know that today, it is a good one. And that the makings of a good school are worth supporting and strengthening. If the thinking is in the right direction, the school will do well soon enough. To me, they already are doing great.