Schools are just different here...

Two weeks in and still no phone!  I may go crazy soon.  Although, I am getting used to being without a phone and Kyle can always get in touch with me via the driver so I'm not entirely out of touch.  As I keep saying...Gotta love India!  It is impossible to apply my typical western logic to anything that happens in India.  I am slowly but surely getting used to the differences (not good or bad, just different.)

One of the big differences we are coming to terms with is the school.  The private schools in India run on various schedules depending upon the type of curriculum/student makeup.  The schools we looked at typically start in early August and finish around mid-June.  We knew we would miss the first few weeks of school because of the timing of our move, but the schools all assured us that given their large expat population a late start was typical and would not be detrimental to their progress.  I'm thinking we were sold a bill of goods!  In any event, we chose Indus for a variety of reasons:

• it is closer to where we live than the other schools
• it has a nice ratio of expat students and Indian students
• we received word of mouth recommendations
• the curriculum is challenging but not over the top difficult as it is at some private Indian schools

Surprisingly to me we are finding a huge divide between the expectations/rules of the traditional US schools and Indus.  For instance, students of all ages are in the hallways at all times.  Apparently, if a student wants to leave the classroom for any reason they simply get up and leave.  No raising their hand, no asking permission.  Don't want to go to art class, no worries, just get up and wander the hallways or walk around outside.  Need to go to the bathroom or the nurse, just go.  The teachers have no idea where the students are if they are not in the classroom.  

Even more disturbing to me is the culture of talking over each other.  The teacher may be speaking to the class but half of the students are engaged in side conversations that are interfering with the lesson.  No one stops the side conversations.  Don't want to pay attention to the teacher, just talk to your neighbor.  There seems to be little respect for authority and little respect for each other.  This is very difficult for my boys because they know the behavior is "wrong" according to the rules they are used to, but it isn't being treated in the way they expect so it causes confusion and anxiety.  

I'm sure it won't take long for the boys to figure out that the rules are different here and they won't get in trouble if they start to act like their fellow classmates.  This is particularly difficult for the kids, like mine, who are four weeks behind and having difficulty understanding the heavily accented english anyway.  Add in the side conversations and other distractions and they may catch half of what the teacher is trying to teach them - creating more anxiety and stress.

Should be an interesting year.  I have written several emails to the teachers asking them to let me know at the first hint that my children may be out of line or falling behind in class.  But I'm not sure that the idea of "out of line" even means anything to them.  

On the positive side, all kids, regardless of grade, have a long break for lunch/recess.   Kids need exercise and they need to have breaks throughout the day.  I love that the kids at Indus get to run around before school starts and in the middle of the day.

I keep reminding myself that there is going to be an adjustment period and that the boys are learning more in life experiences than they ever could in a classroom anyway.  That said, I'm seriously considering removing the kids from school and using private tutors for next year (or sooner) if this year continues along this path.