Parents Concern

Questions asked by various parents

It appears from the description of Project based learning that a huge amount of advance Planning would need to be done. How will you do that? Have you already started?

Yes it looks overwhelming task for the person who is introduced to this way of working with Projects for the first time. Once you get used to - it looks easy and interesting. In my example of

Asawari's story we told you that past 15days I did not do anything with her - and she herself came up with the planning of WATER project. That is the beauty of KIDS centric education - we empower them to be their own in charge of learning - not adult dependent learning.

In our experience this approach is completely driven by kids and Faculty role is there as a guide not as a teacher.

Some design of Modules mgiht be done in advance, other on the fly - that again is our strength as well as thankfully there are loads of ready resources available (books, inernet, people, organisations).

Project based learning will take a long time - will you be able to cover the curriculum?

Kids at Aarohi are learning always. For example kids in KHOJ do not restrict their learning to A for Apple or D for Dog - they experience the letters everywhere. an auto looks like a letter D to a child whose name start with D. The colour red is not only "red apple" but ALL the red things around the child. The point is that the kids are learning all the time when they are experiencing - at home, during holidays - every time.  - like a child who is learning to crawl does not stop till he learns to crawl and look forward to walk and ......the learning is endless. Kids at Aarohi will experience learning as a part of them. They will learn ALWAYS.

Also importantly we are not trying to cover the curriculum. Then we just go back to the regular school system where the whole objective is to cover the curriculum. Interestingly the children this way actually end up :learning" more than the boundries created by the curiculum.

Have you done any survey of "success" of kids passing from alternate education?
We are not selling a "product" to you so we convince you that this approach will bring "a particular kind of results" - we are presenting you Alternate ways of education which is CHILD centric and holistic. We are training kids for LIFE not for passing exams. The basis of approach are thinkers like Gandhi, John holt, J Krishnamurthi, Vivennanad and so on.

What is the measure of success? Also realise that the way success is defined - no education system has been able to guarantee that - so the LIFE school is not a particular kind of success as the out put - in fact it is not about the success, but about a process. We have listen to people who are believer of Alternate education - you too can have a look at  http://geniekids.com/search/node/alternate

You can also pick a book from Sutradhar - Alternative Schooling in India - Sage Publication. For your reference a copy of the book is available in GK library also.

Will you start the school even if there is one child?

The school has started with one child of 10yrs old

How much commitment Parents have to make in the school ?

Well here is an opportunity for you to be completely part of the process of your child's learning - so make maximum out of it. We want you be active in the process so you understand the process and more important understand your child. The story of "animal school" is best example that without knowing our kids we are just pushing them into EVERYTHING.

• You can take up one or many modules to teach at the school - the module can run from 3 days to 10 days
• You can be a hunter for resource people
• You can take kids for field visits
• You can be part of research, documentation.
• You can just come and do project with kids
• You attend training sessions which empower you to BREAK your beliefs and helps in understanding the child
• You do not have YOU driven acceptance from the child as well as from the school
• You understand how your child is learning
• You do not compare your child, school, parents

How will the kids of Aarohi face the examination? At Aarohi they will get used to freedom - while in the 10th they have to give board examination - they will be assessed by the standard format ?

The format of most competitive exams (IIT- JEE for example) is different from the board exams in school - and for these the kids in regular school still need to prepare (with coaching classes etc). Similarly the kids at Aarohi will be prepared for any exams they have to appear any time in their life.

Children do not need to be pushed into a system - rather they can be empowered and trained to flourish and win over a system requirement (for example board exams).

How will the child adjust in the real world - outside Aarohi. How the child is going to face the outside world after  9th. 10 th is a board year and other kids in other usual school would come with marks oriented approach toward the exam.? Getting marks will be equally important at this stage for a child coming from a life school background.

Aarohi presents them the real world - so there is no question of adjustment. The kids at Aarohi will look at life without FEAR or FORCE. They will be thinkers and empowered to take decisions. We are not against marks - if they need to get high marks to move ahead  in their professional life - they will work on themselves to achieve that. They will be self reliant. But the training will be THEM (child) driven and the willingness will come from them.

In this system you have one project facilitator and many people coming and going to teach modules - how will the kids adjust to new faces?

Well this itsef  is a learning - how to accept different kind of people. at least in this systems kids can express what do they think about different adults - they can give us feedback and we value their feedback - we improve ourselves, our faculty, resource team and parents.

 Why coaching less sports?

• Coaching is coach driven - free play is ME driven
• Coaching restrict the EXPLORATION (the child begin the sport with set of instructions) - free play allows you to be YOU
• Coaching is result oriented (did the child learn swimming or not) - free play is endless ( I may not learn swimming but I will be friendly with water and explore water with ease)

 Later stage when a child has experimented with sports through free play - look for coaching if require. Look for coaching when the the child wants to learn from the coach not when you want child to LEARN a game.

 And this true for all the hobbies - do not put child TOO soon in their life in any structured coaching/ classes.

How will you sort out the differences of parents - this school is parents school and it is important that we have like minded parents?

The parents will know each other - we will understand each other after initial hiccups. And we will learn along with kids how to ACCEPT the differences - the vital training we missed in our growing up years.

Will you operate form this place?

Yes initially form the same place and as we grow we look for another place - ALL together. anyway at Aarohi the amount of place is not imp - what is happening inside the place is more important.

Which curriculum you will follow - (CBSE or ICSE)?

we follow NCERT curriculum frame work - have  a look
http://geniekids.com/professionals/ncert-curriculam-guidelines

Some topics in some subjects could be difficult to do through projects e.g mathematics. I have come across number of such mathematical topics that has no direct relevance to real life. I may be wrong because I didn't pursue my higher studies in mathematics as a major. I don't even remember those things but I am sure when I was in school I didn't find it very useful and same later. If i skip it, it is not beneficial because it would be used in yet another useless topic in higher classes (10th board or 12th board). If you ask me to site a example, I won't be able to give you now as I have left school more than 15 years back, and also because I didn't like it at that point of time, that is why it never got into my memory. But I am sure such topics exists in our syllabus.

Going by Multiple Intelligence approach that is followed in khoj. Will there be environment in this school to develop and master in other extra curricular activities. sports and games (inter school, intra school), platform to explore (literature, painting, acting, singing, dancing etc

Yes as we said on our "COACHING LESS sports " - we suggest weekends to explore any hobby - driven by the child. Or initially let the child explore many hobbies and finally pursue one or two of her interest. We all will work together to find meaningful avenues for the child to develop her hobbies.

At Aarohi they will explore all the skills -and finally at home they pursue one or two which they get interested.

Will the kids be allowed to do whatever they want to do?

At geniekids the FREEDOM comes with responsibility. You are free to choose but what you choose you are responsible for that.  We have experienced that when we do not push them to learn they push themselves to learn. We believe that they wants to learn and they are natural learners. In our experience kids live upto expctations - if you expect they will fail they will. If you expect they will Take their responsibility - they will.

I believe what most people were trying to figure out was would the alternate school satisfy the vast social pool a child gathers in his life. wouldnt he miss out on the skill of making relationships? of choosing form a vaast number of 30 or 40? wouldnt he miss out on the independence day assembly, on the ample opportunities the school easily provides to socialise, to go on stage in fornt of 400 students, to run races, to fall and get helped by peers, to be bulklied and then to learn to handle the bullies, to learn to defend abuse, to learn to defend friends? i believe in your philosophy that school kills creativity.......completely believe in so..........my only concern is the social skill development......can we work out and associate ourselves to larger sub groups to give that feeling of belongingness that a school does????

At Aarohi - The child will learn to make relationship with parents, adults and children of various ages not only his age. The child will also make relationship with the society directly - with the people by working with them, other children from various background and skills by understanding their life, And The child will learn HOW to ACCEPT people around him who different in skills, social background, nature and thoughts.

 At Aarohi - the child will go to assembly (yoga, and morning routine) to enjoy, to be heard, to express. In the assembly the child will understand the meaning of "independence" by experiencing. The child will not go to independence assembly to stand for few hours, wait for it to get over and come back blank.

 At Aarahi - The child will choose his opportunity to socialize and go on stage which will be set up by him - He will design his own dance, drama, show, costume, marketing, light and music. Read how Asawari took part in A social programme where she worked with underprivileged children to celebrate Christmas. No santa came to our home school and distributed cookies - but she became and Santa celebrated Christmas. http://geniekids.com/asa/content/chrysallis-cause-party-08

At Aarohi - If the child get bullied he will empowered to SPEAK and FIND SOLUTION for his problems. Aarohi is child centric not child pampered.

 At Aarohi - The child will run for his progress not necessarily to win from others but to win everyday from himself. The child will not run in front of the public but run privately to reach bigger goals.

 If that is your concept of social development - join hands.

 We cannot convince anyone but to present an alternate way of socializing. Aarohi will start small - "there are no hands so small that they cannot make  difference in the world."

Aarohi Team, Geniekids