<p>I meant archaic not arcane whoops.</p>
<p>OK let me share my two cents here.</p>
<p>I lived in US when my daughter was in 2nd grade and when she was in the 4th grade we had to make a choice. My H was on a 2 year assignment. The possibility was to either continue for another 2 years or head home.</p>
<p>Now what impacted our decision most and that helped us made up our mind was our D academics. When she left India she was probably just one of the many smart kids in her school here. In US suddenly she sort of was the most well read, already in grade 4 she was in more challenged math group. And we as parents found it amusing as well as worried that her growth curve was not what she was capable of.</p>
<p>The problem that I see is the kids in elementary schools in India and the US, are on the opposite end of spectrum. And I am only talking about the environment relevant to my D. If here in India kids in certain schools begin appearing for weekly/monthly test nursery onwards, the kids in US are having the time of their lives and being allowed to live like 6-7 years should be in a perfect world. But unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world. </p>
<p>If we do not push, ok that is a bad word, and encourage and expose them to challenges early on in our lives we are setting them up for failure. The world out there is fiercely competitive. And you should get a sense of that by just being on CC.</p>
<p>So although the people we met in the US were wonderful, warm and considerate, the quality of life excellent, the weather is beautiful, dignity of life is incomparable to the rest of the world, the infrastructure is mind boggling, the theme parks are anything you can imagine and beyond, the cleanliness is part and parcel of life, the concept of ‘my space’ is phenomenal but at the end of the day a child requires an academic environment which will allow and encourage him/her to give the best that is possible. And for that nothing to beat our system of education with all its flaws. Nobody said we are perfect.</p>
<p>So having lived there and also here I am able to appreciate what both the world so different from each other have to offer. When time came for Higher education and we had to take call what now college here in Mumbai or Delhi OR Stern,NYU, it was not so difficult. The college is whole different ball game. The environment that NYU can provide not just in terms of academics but also location, faculty (2011 Economics Nobel winner ), the living conditions, the internship and job opportunities, the whole concept of ‘let your child be in charge’, figuring a meaningful and productive lifestyle on your own, finding a balance as an 18 year old,exploring a city like NY and traveling on your own. So take what life has to offer and if you are fortunate enough to think and afford, you will appreciate what you had here in India and what future you are going to be blessed with. Make the most of it.</p>
<p>Great post, anailways. Yes, both sides have their positives and it is upto us to take the best of both. We have had lot of our indian friends move back for precisely the same reason and when it comes to college, some kids chose to come back here or stay in India. </p>
<p>Private schools in america are very expensive here and most of us chose public schools. Depending on what public school you go to, the standards can be pretty different. If the kids are motivated, there are different programs that they could be put in. Additionally there are summer programs for ‘gifted’ kids to challenge them. But unlike India, obviously there isn’t a one size fit all where everyone has to do the same classes, whatever the mental ability is. When I lived in India, the only time I took tutoring was for my 12th board exam, now everyone starts tutoring from 5th grade on. My nephew who is a great artist, is forced to sit through god knows how many coaching classes so that he can try for the common entrance exams. In the US, his artistic side would itself have gotten him to a college that would be more suited to him.</p>
<p>Anyway, like I said, public school standards depends a lot on where you live. Where my D goes to school, she is part of the 10% highly motivated kids who are taking AP level classes from freshman year (9th grade). Her 10th grade AP bio is similar to the biology I had in 12th in India. Her AP history (lots of analytical essays) is college level. Her math classes are the ones that I felt are a bit behind than in India, but she could have chosen to get ahead (unfortunately we didn’t know how) But she is now taking AP cal which is still ahead of her peer. At the same time, for 3 hrs every evening, she is with the a year around swim team and then school swim will be 15 hrs/week. And also she is part of some other academic teams in school where she has to meet 10 hrs/week before the competitions start in few weeks. At the high school level, she has tests/quizzes/exams every week/other week. Every grade is counted. She and a lot of the kids here are working AS hard as anyone else and subsiding on 5-6 hrs sleep at night. One bad day and she has a bad quiz, her grades dip. As you know, every semester grade (which includes every quiz, every test, every lab, every project) counts to your final GPA. So anyway, when I see these videos which portray american students jumping in football games and getting scholarships, you need to take it with a grain of salt :)</p>
<p>There are kids who are very active socially AND get a 4.7 GPA (with 15 AP classes) AND class president and start charity and perform well in sports/music. One such kid got into Stanford last year. So kids who do all that work really really hard and there is no free ticket to the big schools. And I also agree that there are kids here who take the bare minimum (bear in mind their class ranking wont be high) but they still get into a local community college or get into vocational schools. I think the greatest thing here is - you can be what you want and sometimes that is a good thing.</p>
<p>@Fall2016parent - I have a question which is piquing my interest. I have heard enough stats about there being XX% Indians/Chinese being there in the NASA, or being there as doctors, or running the Silicon Valley. I have no problem with that. But what percentage of Asians are there as historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and other occupations like these? It would help if I can get an idea. :)</p>
<p>“I think the greatest thing here is - you can be what you want and sometimes that is a good thing.”</p>
<p>Hey absolutely agree with you on that.</p>
<p>The thing about figuring that one is to realize how important it is to be exposed to a variety of activities.</p>
<p>I believe that if one has had an opportunity to be exposed to whole variety of activities academic as well other like sport, music both vocal and instrumental, forums and clubs that provide an opportunity to discover/develop various skills like debating, research, team work, creativity, sportsman spirit-which i feel extends beyond the playground, appreciation, critiquing with an open mind, presentation techniques, public speaking skill and confidence and many others, that individual will automatically be at an advantage compared to one who has limited or none.</p>
<p>So the point is that one learns to enjoy, absorb and gradually figure out what one wants do eventually. And the beauty is in the balance in foudation years without the pressure. Unfortunately in India we impress on academics only and in the US, for most part, the fun part is dominant. Here in India it becomes the Parent’s responsibility to make sure the young child recieves that balance. And since we all come from a different school of thought because of our upbringing (academics… academics…) that role for most of us still needs lot of change. We are getting there, I would like to think so.</p>
<p>And the opposite is true in US for the most part. The focus has to be to bring the balance from other stuff to academics as well. And as you rightly pointed out it is in process out their too. The young mind does require a parents active role in being able to push a little as far as studies are concerned. The child will always resist what is not fun and requires hard work but he also at that age does not know what is good for him. And that is why we are Parents and they are children and the roles need to be played accordingly.</p>
<p>Correction-It is in the process there too… Sorry for the typo error</p>
<p>"I have heard enough stats about there being XX% Indians/Chinese being there in the NASA, or being there as doctors, or running the Silicon Valley. I have no problem with that. But what percentage of Asians are there as historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and other occupations like these? "</p>
<p>@EminemFan - you are right, and I pointed that out in my original post. Indians/Chinese are more in the tech side of things and not in the traditional arts area. But the 1st /2nd generation of Asians are changing that as well. To be honest though, the ones that have made it [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_American]Indian”>Indian Americans - Wikipedia]Indian</a> American - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<a href=“Nikki%20Haley,%20Bobby%20Jindal”>/url</a> are really american first - and Indian american second. And that is ok, unless you totally integrate and you should, you have no part in politics here. I think Indian immigration here started more in the 1970s/80s. So the first generation is still coming up. Probably 50 years from now, Indians here will not be seen as Indian-american but as Americans (period). </p>
<p>@anailways - yes, there has to be balance on both sides. I have seen a lot of involved american parents here too, as you will see from the other boards. I think eventually everyone wants college education for their kids and to get to college, you can’t slack off high school.</p>