Choosing a school for my 2 year old: A story with a happy ending

We want our children to blossom, have fulfilling, happy lives, to face challenges head on, to trace their own paths, to be compassionate, thoughtful individuals who care for others, society and the environment as much as they care for themselves. 

That the school sets the foundation for the shape one's life takes is undebatable. No wonder then, that choosing the right school and ensuring admission is a daunting task for most of us parents. 

I was blissfully unaware that these choices and efforts need to start as soon as the child turns two. To me it was sort of obvious that Aahaan would attend the preschool (In Bloom) inside the residential campus we stay in till he needed to go to a "bigger" school. It couldn't be more convenient with a 5 minute walk to and fro and a 3 hour routine which would have him engaged and interacting with other children his age. What he would be learning, what he should be learning, was he being groomed to go to a bigger school, were there enough activities - were questions that honestly did not occur to me. I assumed these were for much later and I had enough time before I needed to worry about the bigger school and what he was learning. These were fun years - for both, him and me. 

That was a short lived dream. Soon all the other mothers and many concerned friends were asking me where we were applying, what was our plan, how long did we intend him to continue in this preschool because they didn't think it was a long term option - not even for the next two years. There was the choice between a "better" preschool (one that was guaranteed to get the child admitted to a "bigger" school) and a preschool in the "bigger" school itself. Fielding such regular questions left me confused - was I wrong to assume that there was no need to worry about schools till he was four? Should I already be giving such serious thought to which school I wanted him to go? My two fun years' horizon had shrunk to four months and there was cause for worry! 

So we made a few hurried inquiries, got a few forms, realized we had missed application deadlines for a few and I put myself through a fair bit of stress wondering how I could be so callous about figuring this whole application bit out. Some of the kids around got admitted to a preschool (let's call it W) that was a passport to some of the "bigger" schools that were renowned for their academic results. They were to go there beginning June 2014. We were in Nov 2014, all schools and preschools had closed their admissions and Aahaan was all set to attend In Bloom for another year. We had messed up - and could now only apply next year for the June 2015 session. I was blaming myself for being so disorganized. 

Somewhere in the middle of November, on impulse, I decided to call this passport preschool, W. Many mothers had told me that this was a good choice and whatever I had read about it online was promising. As luck would have it, the proprietress of the school, an elderly lady in her 60's, who had been running this school for the last 15-20 years, answered. She told me that she had exactly one vacancy for the June 2014 batch and I could get my child admitted. It was on a first come - first serve basis and I should meet her the next day, with the advance, payable by cheque. I believed this was a God-send and couldn't wait to close the admission. 

A was traveling so I went alone, not wanting to wait in case someone else reached there before me. She met me after a brief ten minutes and sat down to explain what the school was all about. Except that she said nothing about what the school was about. I was told that 80% of her students got placed in "bigger" schools whose principals she knew personally. All my questions about the methodology, what the school routine is, what the school philosophy is, were met with a similar answer - her students were considered some of the best mannered and quick to adjust into the "bigger" school environment. They could use the restrooms on their own and were not intimidated by the change in scale when they moved out. (This is exactly what I was told.). Despite the fact that this didn't quite feel right, I paid up the advance, which was largely non-refundable, and walked out. 

But something was missing. Something didn't feel right. Was this what I wanted? Did I want Aahaan to attend a "bigger" school that would ensure that he got 90%+ marks? What sort of education did I want for him? 

This is where I went back to the school I attended. Vasant Valley School started in 1990 when I was in Class 4 and I was part of it's first batch of graduating students. We were the senior most batch for it's first 8 years, crucial years as the school shaped itself. It would a well known fact that we were a pampered lot, and the batch that the school learnt with. It is highly likely that we enjoyed more extra-curricular activities and less academics than most batches that came after us. A large part of our day was dedicated to sports, fine arts and performing arts with classes for painting, sculpture, Indian music, Western music, drama, dance and a lot of time on the sports field. There was no concept of homework till we turned 12 and even then it was restricted to one-subject, 30-mins a day. Till Class 8 academics were evenly balanced with non-academics and only as we moved to Class 9, did the focus truly shift. I truly enjoyed school and its long hours from 7:30 - 3:30 PM were never a stretch. 

What struck me when I looked back was that despite its seemingly lower focus on academics through our early years, all my batch-mates went on to do well in the board exams and are fairly well placed in their chosen professions. I realized that I wanted Aahaan to enjoy his early schooling years - they needed to be more about play than work, more about experiences than about academics, more about values than about marks. 

I guess the mist started lifting from that point on. My foggy mind was becoming clearer and I was slowly realizing what I wanted. 

In Bloom, Aahaan's current preschool, follows the Waldorf method - an alternative education movement that is quite different from most of the other educational methodologies such as the Montessori or Playway method. As defined in the Wiki entry: 

Waldorf pedagogy distinguishes three broad stages in child development. The early years education focuses on providing practical, hands-on activities and environments that encourage creative play. In the elementary school, the emphasis is on developing pupils' artistic expression and social capacities, fostering both creative and analytical modes of understanding. Secondary education focuses on developing critical understanding and fostering idealism. Throughout, the approach stresses the role of the imagination in learning and places a strong value on integrating intellectual, practical, and artistic themes.

The educational philosophy's overarching goal is to develop free, morally responsible, and integrated individuals equipped with a high degree of social competence. Teachers generally emphasize formative (qualitative) over summative (quantitative) assessment methods. The schools have a high degree of autonomy to decide how best to construct their curricula and govern themselves.

The Waldorf method had struck a chord. It focuses on teaching through repetition, using songs for each activity, subtly hinting at the values that I wanted him to inculcate. And then there was a eureka moment - a friend, a mother of a child at In Bloom, pulled out her younger son from In Bloom, saying that he was learning nothing at In Bloom compared to her elder child who knew how to count and write at a similar age. 

Then it hit home, why Aahaan must continue at In Bloom. I did not want him to formally learn anything at school. I just wanted him to experience the world from his view point at 3 ft 3 in. Run sand through his tiny, pudgy fingers, sing, dance and clap to songs about the seasons, festivals, fruits and vegetables, splash around in rain puddles wearing his raincoat, make ladoos with his teachers for Ganesh Chaturthi, go for walks to the fish pond in the complex, learn to creatively reuse natural materials like coconut shells, match sticks and glass bottles, connect with the trees and plants. That was just what I wanted for him but it had taken me eight months, a little stress and a significant amount of lost advance money to realize that.