1.

My categorization of schools is as follows -

1) Govt. and public schools - govt. schools, Army schools, central schools Fee - Free or very nominal? Donation/Bldg fee/Admission fee - none

2) Neigborhood and private schools - Ryan, DPS, NPS, Josephs, Cottons, Freedom Intl, Frank Anthony's etc., etc. Tons of schools in this category. Patronized by the Indian middleclass, upper middleclass, NRIs etc. Fee - INR 30k to 50k Donation/Bldg fee/Admission fee - Some require yrly donations

3) Academy's and wannabe intl schools - Gear, Greenwood, VIBGYOR, Inventure, Vidyashilp, NAFL, etc. Patronized by the Indian upper middleclass, NRIs, etc. Fee - INR 60k to 100k (a new school like VIBGYOR are exceptions) Donation/Bldg fee/Admission fee - Most don't take yrly donations and bldg fees. They do take admission fee and some refund part or whole.

4) Intl school - TISB, Canadian, BLR Intl, Sarla Birla, JIRS, Deccan, Valley(?), et all Patronized by expats, NRIs and the wealthy Fee - Over 1 lakh Donation/Bldg fee/Admission fee - Most don't take yrly donations and bldg fees. They do take admission fee and some refund part or whole.
Originally Posted by sramalin

-I am looking for schools that will be easy on the elementary years. While the web shows a lot of stuff, not sure if all these schools provide it.
Most schools under category 3 and 4 seem to follow the western style of teaching up to grade 5 (i.e smaller class sizes, smaller units within a classroom, no tests and exams(?), one does not even prescribe homework. Each school seems to follow its own methodology. There doesn't appear to be any standard or benchmark.

-I don't want the added pain of teaching Kannada as a second language. I have managed Tamil (at home) and now have taught Hindi to my elder one.
I'm not 100% sure about this, but some Kannada exposure (at least as a third language) is a must for all schools (except Central/Army schools)? And that 3rd lang. requirement starts 6th std. onwards? In most category 1 - Severe Kannada "pain" for sure Category 2 - mild to moderate - Can be substituted w/ Hindi or Sanskrit pain Category 3 - mild Category 4 - Students can opt for Spanish or French pain instead? We plan to opt for Kannada as a third language starting middle school.

-What about the security?

What about security? Category 2 - usually boasts of an old man in blue uniform sitting by the gate. Category 3 - could have restricted entry and an younger guy in full (shoes and all) blue uniform. (Some like Gear is very strict - Prospective parents are not even allowed inside to inquire, prior to admitting their ward. They are strict and I'm sure they have their reason for it...) Category 4 - Security rivals that of any large multinational S/W firm since they are residential schools as well.

-What about the actual admission process itself. I am in Bangalore next week but I can't get the kids there if they want a written interview etc.
Kids presence and admission tests are dependent of school policies. Most require a test for higher grades. In the lower grades, one could get a child admitted w/o making the trip -we did. Hope this helps. Please post your experiences here in detail for everyones benefit. Thanks

http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/showthread.php/259-MT-Schools-in-Bangalore

What is CBSE Syllabus? What is ICSE Syllabus? the two national syllabuses, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Indian Certificate for Secondary Education (ICSE). The CBSE board prepares the syllabus for students from Lower Kindergarten to Class 12, for schools affiliated with it. The curriculum is set by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The board conducts Indias two nation-wide board examinations: the All India Secondary School Examination for Class 10 and the All India Senior School Certificate Examination for Class 12. The CBSE syllabus follows the concentric curriculum, where the topics taught are built on top of what was taught the year before last. For example, in Science, the topics motion, force, and pressure are presented in the 6th standard and the ideas of force, frictional force, and pressure are dealt with in more detail in the 8th standard. Competitive entrance exams at the all-India level are based on the CBSE syllabus, as it is with IIT-JEE, AIEEE and AIPMT. Typically, parents keen on their kids taking up any of these entrances prefer the CBSE syllabus for their children. What is ICSE Syllabus? The ICSE was established by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Previously called the Senior Cambridge, it was adopted for Indian requirements. The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is the examination conducted by the Council for Class 10 and the Indian School Certificate (ISC) is the examination for Class 12. The ICSE board follows the spiral curriculum approach. First the basic facts of a subject are learned, then more details are introduced. The basics are re-emphasised many times over to help get them into long-term memory. What the student studies this year is built on top of what was learnt the previous year, says Nitya Ramaswami Head child development and Academics at the Zee schools. However, when it comes to taking up entrance exams outside of India, for example SAT and TOEFL, teachers seem to recommend the ICSE syllabus over CBSE. In the ICSE syllabus, theres a clear emphasis on English and its literature. Most CBSE students say that they find it harder to switch to ICSE at higher levels, whereas ICSE students are able make the shift easily. The ICSE syllabus is quite heavy when compared to that of CBSE syllabus. An ICSE students who recently finished her 6th standard exams wrote her final exams in 13 subjects English, Environmental Sciences, History + Civics, Geography, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Hindi, Kannada and General Knowledge.

Subha, who is an MCA graduate and who consciously chose the ICSE syllabus for her two daughters says, We chose ICSE because of its tougher standards. If and when the girls move to CBSE or state syllabuses, they will find it easier.

What should parents take into consideration when deciding between ICSE, SSLC, CBSE and IGCSE based schools? http://www.deccanherald.com/content/1054/choosing-syllabus.html http://www.studyguideindia.com/Schools/international-schools-bangalore-266-ka.html

http://nriinformation.com/articles4/schools_india.htm Good information about the fees for NRI children.