R2I Kids Transition..

kumarramu · Post by **kumarramu** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:43 am

I am not sure if we have separate thread to discuss R2I Kids Transition in terms of education and culture,

In my opinion, it is very difficult for the kids above 6 years, to adjust & compete in India born and brought up kids. Hope every one agree this,
Another concern is second language,

One option is to put them in International school.
Not sure it is worth paying in lakhs and lakhs. Are they good for kids' future in India?

Any other options, please share.. R2Ied people, please share your experience...

nand · Post by **nand** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:08 am

throw them in the deep end in a local school. they will learn to swim and it will toughen them up. Also in India there is a lot of pressure and pride in saying my kids are 1st in class etc. I was a very average student all through school, always in the middle or bottom of class but i made out ok. I will be perfectly happy for my kids to be in the middle, if not bottom, and scrape by, so long as they dont fail. With that mentality it wont be too hard for them. One thing though - make it a point to make them think and sharpen their brains that way. Give them attention and it will be enough. As USC they will get a 4 yr degree somewhere and in my experience there is no difference between a IIT or harvard grad and someone from a no name school once you are in a job. then it is up to you to prove yourself.

kumarramu;77001I am not sure if we have separate thread to discuss R2I Kids Transition in terms of education and culture,

In my opinion, it is very difficult for the kids above 6 years, to adjust & compete in India born and brought up kids. Hope every one agree this,
Another concern is second language,

One option is to put them in International school.
Not sure it is worth paying in lakhs and lakhs. Are they good for kids' future in India?

Any other options, please share.. R2Ied people, please share your experience...[/quote]

MrLong · Post by **MrLong** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:31 am

nand;77016throw them in the deep end in a local school. they will learn to swim and it will toughen them up. Also in India there is a lot of pressure and pride in saying my kids are 1st in class etc. I was a very average student all through school, always in the middle or bottom of class but i made out ok. I will be perfectly happy for my kids to be in the middle, if not bottom, and scrape by, so long as they dont fail. With that mentality it wont be too hard for them. One thing though - make it a point to make them think and sharpen their brains that way. Give them attention and it will be enough. As USC they will get a 4 yr degree somewhere and in my experience there is no difference between a IIT or harvard grad and someone from a no name school once you are in a job. then it is up to you to prove yourself.[/quote]

I buy into this theory too...I will feel really bad, to push my kids to be the uno numero on the ranking system. I prefer, that the kids are well polised and all round, in sports, gym, other activities, etc.

Gone are the days, during our upbringing, where you have to be good, secure a med/eng school etc...

when our economy is firing on all cylinders, opportunity should be abound for our kids....

Old-Spice2 · Post by **Old-Spice2** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:37 am

>>>Gone are the days, during our upbringing, where you have to be good, secure a med/eng school etc...

Nowdays the trend is to get MBA and get into bank, finance or investment banking. I heard there is a decline in rush to CS after seeing huge starting salaries for IIM and other MBA grads in the country.

r2i_100 · Post by **r2i_100** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:23 pm

MrLong;77132I buy into this theory too...I will feel really bad, to push my kids to be the uno numero on the ranking system. I prefer, that the kids are well polised and all round, in sports, gym, other activities, etc.[/quote]

This is easier said than done, you can talk all sorts of "ideals" that you want sitting in US, when rubber meets the road in India you will be pushing your kids as hard as you can. Simple reason: In India Kids doing well in studies is a prestige issue, you cannot ignore when folks around you talk how good their kid performed in exams, or how good their kid ranked in IIT, I bet you will feel left out...sports, gym etc are just for namesake, they add "0" to you job prospects....

MrLong;77132
Gone are the days, during our upbringing, where you have to be good, secure a med/eng school etc... [/quote]

I doubt this is true, I still see same rush for JEE, CET coachings...you still need to be good to get into good college, with easy flow of information more good candidates are in field unlike 10yrs back when a small town fellow did not know which exams to appear in...

MrLong;77132
when our economy is firing on all cylinders, opportunity should be abound for our kids....[/quote]
with 100 crore+ heads competition can never be less.....

kumarramu · Post by **kumarramu** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:36 pm

r2i_100

I completely endorse & agree your comments, but what is the solution for Kid's better transition when they move to india in their 5-10 years???

I really surprised that there is no detailed discussion on this important matter,
I seen many people saying , r2i at their 40s.. what happened to kids transition?? I see this as a first priority & issue for R2Is..

2 big issues to R2I kids,

1) Academic challenges : Every one knows that Indian born kids are much ahead in schoolings and talking .. thanks to TV serials and grandmas..

2) Cultural shocks..: Kids in India are better in fighting with others, & talking well with others.. R2I kids will get a shock after seeing kids there, this might develop complexity...

Old-Spice2 · Post by **Old-Spice2** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:54 pm

>>>This is easier said than done, you can talk all sorts of "ideals" that you want sitting in US, when rubber meets the road in India you will be pushing your kids as hard as you can.

Agree with this. Soft skills, games and all round capabilities should be left behind in US. In India, marks and rank matters the most. Soft skills are nice to have but that is only add on. If the kid does not have these skills, he/she is not going to lose much.

India has huge population and many rural folks are moving to cities for better life. So the competition is severe and only the best can enjoy a good standard of living. In early part of my career, I noticed this difference. A guy with BE travels in a car, a diploma holder goes in a scooter and ITI technician rides a bicycle. In US even my maid and plumber come in a car.

>>>I completely endorse & agree your comments, but what is the solution for Kid's better transition when they move to india in their 5-10 years???

Initial few years may be tough on the kid but if they are provided proper support and guidance, they will be fine. After age 10 it gets harder due to language issue. And yes, if you want to live in India, try for CBSE or ICSE schools. No point in sheltering the kid in Intl School syllabus.

MrLong · Post by **MrLong** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:09 am

Old-Spice2;77282>>>And yes, if you want to live in India, try for CBSE or ICSE schools. No point in sheltering the kid in Intl School syllabus.[/quote]

Any comments from Parents who have their kids in these International schools? Since, I am sitting in US, I will not know the details...however, knowing how well my kids speak the local language, this will be a big concern.

I was hoping to take the easy route by skipping to local languages and opting French etc, for my kids upon my return.

any actual experiences will help me (and others, I hope) reset our expectations.

snow · Post by **snow** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:34 am

I am not sure if we have separate thread to discuss R2I Kids- health

We make short trips to India every 1- 1 1/2 years. Everytime we go to India we get travel shorts given to our daughter who is 5 now. Since those were short trips we never had any health related problems for her. Now we are planning to R2I this nov. We heard from few of our friends who moved to India that R2I kids will always have some health problems, is this correct?

R2Ied people, please share your experience...

layman · Post by **layman** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:18 am

snow;78336I am not sure if we have separate thread to discuss R2I Kids- health

We make short trips to India every 1- 1 1/2 years. Everytime we go to India we get travel shorts given to our daughter who is 5 now. Since those were short trips we never had any health related problems for her. Now we are planning to R2I this nov. We heard from few of our friends who moved to India that R2I kids will always have some health problems, is this correct?

R2Ied people, please share your experience...[/quote]
This is not a big problem. It depends on how you take care of the kids. If the kids eat the food you provide, use bottled water etc, they won't run into health issues except common cold which even in US they will get from the classroom kids.