I have had many queries about the age group for Kindergarten children here in Bangalore. Typically, each school has its own cut-off for when a child can start Kindergarten classes. On a broad scale, what I can say is that a child must be 4 to go to Lower Kindergarten, 5 to go to Upper Kindergarten, and 6 to go to First Standard.
The only thing is there are some schools that are extremely particular about their cut-off dates. For example, at Viday Sagar, the child MUST have completed 4 yrs as of May 31st, to start LKG on Jun 1st of any given year. But, there are lot of schools where they are not very particular and take in even 3 and 10 month olds into LKG. So, if you have a Jun born child, you do have to figure out how to go about the admission process; some of the schools may take in your child for LKG even if your child is completing 4 only in Jun and other schools may not.
In our case, our older one was born on Jun 1st '03. One of the reasons we moved in Oct '06 was to start her schooling here from Jun '07. The process in Bangalore is fairly long, what with schools giving out applications as early as Oct/Nov. Most of the schools are done with the admission process in Dec/Jan. And the important thing to know is, it is easier to get seats at LKG level than at any other. All of the seats are available, unlike for other standards when only a few seats are available for 'outsiders'. A lot of the good schools also restrict the number of students per class, so unless some kids choose to leave school, typically there aren't any seats available at higher classes. First Standard would be next bet, since some schools open up another section to accommodate more students. But from First Standard onwards, the kids have to go through aptitude tests etc to "qualify". So, R2Iing for LKG seemed like a sane choice. Please do share your experiences if you have gone through something similar.
PS: I have been so flickred, it is unbelievable! I have avoided flickr for a long time, because I knew how addictive it could be for the likes of me. But, now with the DSLR, flickr is such a default hang out. Sheesh!
I have not been active here, but I will. I promise I will.
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31 comments:
Lovely pics
Ah..so we are in luck then. Our son is born in March, and by the time we return he would have just completed four years..:)
Awesome pics....starting to wonder what more talents you got.
It is a little strange in bangalore though. For instance in Chennai, you can enroll your kid in LKG when they are 3+ even in CBSE schools.
to Mahipal: Your kid can actually enroll in UKG if you were in Chennai
That said, the general impression all along is that in India kids study one grade higher for the same age compared to US and this is true in most cases except Bangalore. The anamoly arises because in some schools in Bangalore the cutoff date is actually sometime in November or December which makes little sense given that your school year starts in June. In California, the cutoff date is Dec 10th (or 1st) but the criteria is the kid must be 4 yrs and 9 months when the school starts (in Aug/Sep) to start Kindergarten that year. Remember US has only 1 year of kindergarten. It doesn't translate quite as easily considering in India the school year starts in June. One way to argue for it would be to say that all kids born in the same calendar year would go to the same class but even that would not be true since kids born in December would be left out in the race.
As with any cutoff dates, some win some lose :)
SS, thanks!
Mahipal, thanks! Like Vidya says this post is very Bangalore specific. I know you are planning on R2Iing to Hyd. And I am not aware of how it is there. But, I do know, Karnataka has by far some of the oldest kids for any particular class in India.
Thanks Vidya for your inputs.
PS: I have added another para to the post.
hey i just came here via another mommy blog! i live in blore too and have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. and while i didnt R2I (i was here all along!), i did plenty of research on the stuff you write about too - mainly schools of course.
will be gald to share info...
d
Ah, so that's where you've been ! Lovely pictures ! Malleswaram ? Awesome my most favorite area, the part that's still the Bangalore I know/remember.
BTW you've been tagged as a Thinking Blogger by me ! So stop taking pictures and come write :)
My kids got into Std 2 and pre-nursery. Most schools had closed their admission in NOvember and December but when we spoke to them and mentioned that we arrived in May, they were more than willing to accomodate us and give my son a test. It was extremely simple. He did not know the language part( I was looking at a non-international school), but they were willing to over look that. My son did great on all his aptitude tests and I picked an ICSE school close to home. The only thing is we didn't have more time to see more schools since opening date was getting very close. If you have no choice and you cannot be here in NOv/Dec,a lot of schools are still willing to give your kids a chance to take a test. All the tests seemed quite easy for their level. I was shown the tests once he finished them.
As for the language, with some help my son writes and reads Kannada now. He starts Hindi in school in std 3. Overall it was not so difficult as I thought it would be. so far so good!!
That's a nice post. Something to think about and be prepared.
Can you write about comparison of CBSE, ICSE and State Syllabus schools? I studied state syllabus and know only about that. During my school days, CBSE kids were seen as smart kids and I think the fees for CBSE/ICSE was also more.
Great pictures !
Not really sure, but checkout: Jones Soda if you want to partcipate in the little picture promotion thingy they have.
Keep Flickering and Blogging !
Welcome to my blog, D. Sure, you are welcome to share your info and research. Thanks for your interest.
Thanks Poppins! You think I am a thinking blogger!!! Thanks! Sure, will write. :)
Yadu, I am so glad things worked out so well for you. Helps immensely in settling down post R2I.
The reason I mentioned about Oct is 'coz then we have the choice. Some of the popular schools do not bend the rules.
Thanks Nags, I have been thinking about the syllabus differentiation too.
Pallavee, welcome to my blog. Thanks! Sure will check it out.
Hi very useful post as usual. With all this struggle for good schools, cut off dates, lateral entry and what not - I am so glad I do not have small kids now!
Don't understand half of these things. Are parents planning their kids' birth keeping in mind the academic requirements? (lol)
Beautiful Pictures on Flickr!!
keep posting.
wow. this is great info - we will most be r2i-ing to bangalore in oct! have a 7 yr old and a 2 yr old. fingers crossed re schools!
wondering if i can home-school my 7 yr old till from oct to next june. basically if she isnt allowed to enter a school mid-session in october but given admission for the next academic year, i would prefer not to admit her in a 2nd school just for the few months in between.
do you have any idea how open schools in bangalore would be to home-schooling? i know its fine in schools in other places (like singapore for instance).
thanks in advance.
I am sure this is a useful post. When I (rather my son) was at that stage, we were in Hyderabad. But it's tragic that in India lower education is inaccessible and much more expensive than higher education.
Hey you, you're tagged :)
hey u have great shots in your flicker and thank you for this useful and informative post.
Thanks for penning down your experiences. Very informative. Saw you on flickr (u've a great collection). Will keep visiting your blog and you photo stream.
~Nalini.
Thanks Usha! For your last question, anything is possible now. :)
Hirisave, thanks! 'Coz it is especially coming from you!
namvor, all the best! It is not too bad. But, if you are particular about the schools, then just work towards that.
As for home-schooling, I have not heard of that here. I don't know if the schools would be willing to consider that option. Would you want me to call and check?
Pradeep, thanks! What you say is true like always!
SS, alright! :)
Nanditha, welcome to my blog. Thanks!
Nalini, welcome to my blog. Thanks for your kind words! I have marked on flickr too.
hi chitra,
thanks for offering to find out. after i wrote that comment i called couple of schools in bangalore but they didnt seem to be very aware of the concept (as you'd indicated). they did say we could work on it once we landed there and if we were mutually interested, which iguess is fair. if you come across anything relevant meanwhile please let me know.
thanks a lot again.
(will e-mail and share my id)
b,
gubbi here
we moved to bangalore 1 1/2 year back and now we got admission to lkg Ist std we waited for one year so we can plan for the childerens eduction so planning should be there for sending the children to good school, ofcourse my daughter born on april and son on mar so both studied kindregarden twice
Hi,
This blog is a small silver lining to the chaos of getting my young kid into school. We moved back to Bangalore about a month back from Detroit. My son is 3yr 2 months and I am struggling to find a good pre-school for him in New Thippasandra / Indiranagar. I called some on the more popular ones like Neev and Eurokids as suggested by some of my colleauges, but they are already full. Any advice will be highly appreciated.
could anyone tell me, which schools take in a 3 yrs 8mth (on June 1st) kid into LKG in Bangalore. i am finding it very tough to find such a school, around sanjaynagar, as most want kids to be at least 3 yrs and 10 mths. we shd be moving to bangalore by march this year
Hi
i am currently in Delhi & my kid goes to Class 1 in Amity International.
i will be shifting to banaglore this March. Any idea ob how i an secure a seat for my kid in a decent school for class 2. Is the admissions process ongoing or over.My office would be in North B'lore so, a list of gud schools around the area would help.
Looking forward for your help guys.
Thanks,
Great blog,Very Informative,Keep up the good work,
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