We all have our own stories of the pandemic time. And for working mothers like me, it was a series of all-new motherhood struggles!
Amidst household chores, job commitments, and a restless child, my work-life-balance was taken for a toss. And like most couples, we did put our heads together to manage things.
But again! it wasn’t as easy as it seemed!
Because with each passing month, we were facing a new set of challenges.
The worst amongst these was our son Vivaan’s academic progress. And towards the end of the school session, our life took a sudden turn. Vivaan cleared class four with pretty decent grades.
I read the progress report comments again and again. But couldn’t get comprehend the workable areas within those typical sentences.
And his teachers too repeated the same robotic feedback that was anything but clear!
After a long discussion with my hubby, we concluded that this academic progress seems to be misleading. Because Vivaan is neither focused nor interested in studying anymore.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault! But as parents, we had no choice but to look at the bigger picture.
Perplexed for a couple of days, we decided to put an end to this dilemma. And in a casual conversation, I picked a volley of random questions (from the previous year’s textbooks).
My heart sunk! As Vivaan was in a terrible state!
He seemed to cook stories and covered up weirdly for concepts.
Pathetic was the word for his academic standing! And our fears turned into REALITY
Both I and my husband were worried. Until we recalled a common friend’s advice.
And now it was the time that,
We had to make a choice!
India now has 100% online schools. And if anyways, he had to study at home, why not through a structured online school
That friend of ours was away for some days. And we had some time to acquaint ourselves with this new schooling medium i.e. virtual schooling.
Through a random search engine survey, we got a hang of it!
And it seemed quite close to what we wanted!
After a few days, our friend suggested to go with her daughter’s online school. This is when we decided to check out, K8 School (India’s first accredited online school).
They did convince us to enroll. And we started with it!
After almost 10 months down the line, I am pleasantly surprised!
Vivaan has almost made up for his academic losses
& I can jot down some reasons behind his improvement
Virtual schooling turned on the active learning mode!
I observed something brilliant about this school. As there was no emphasis on ‘rote memory’. Vivaan was now actively involved in his learning. And this new change was working in his favor.
As far as I could gauge, it was a better schooling pattern!
He sat with just eight other kids in the virtual class. Hence, it was easier for the teacher to know the kids inside out!
Shortly, he was thorough with concepts like photosynthesis, gravitational force, and pollution. And for the first time ever, he could explain all these in his own words. He was now more into hands-on activities like germination (growing beans at home). And his cool experiments with simple props (like balloons, paperclips, etc.) depicted his delightful learning. My fridge magnets were now his favorite prop. And the best part was that he had gone the extra mile to enhance his knowledge. His leisure time was now also dedicated to interesting STEM projects. For which he used varied resources both offline and online.
Advantages of a Virtual School
Online schooling is less demanding for Indian parents
You can understand the turmoil when you try to get people off your back!
And you can relate that those days, our jobs were at stake.
Frankly, I could not spare much time for Vivaan’s handholding. And I had been honest about this in the virtual school demo session. By the grace of God, this happy transition to virtual schooling came at the right time!
And virtual schooling with K8 School did not demand much of our time. Of course for all the good things, the credit goes to his online teachers. Because they scrutinized his performance perfectly. And designed an individualized study plan for him.
It’s amazing to see how tech has taken over our traditional process. As I received in-depth progress reports with both auto-graded indicators along with the teacher’s feedback. We started living in the hope that now Vivaan will recover from the academic losses of the Covid times.
And this too happened at the right time!
K8 School recovered his learning losses
This transition to a virtual school revealed a brilliant side of my son!
And that too without much of my time!
K8 School was THE PLATFORM that could help my kid to overcome the year-long academic losses. It was not a regular school that would bank upon teacher-centric education. Instead, it was the other way round!
I could clearly see their academic planning around my child’s personality and his learning style. And for the academic freedom that this school gave him, was an added advantage. Vivaan need not sit for long hours, just staring at the screen. Instead, he used his flexible study schedules to utilize the evening time (when he is usually highly active)
He perfectly touched upon the basics of a concept and dived in inquisitively. And in less than a year’s time, we could see a genuine upward growth trend in assessments.
This time round his grades did match his actual knowledge! And he loved his new online school and even his new buddy, the COMPUTER!
My son is now more tech-savvy
Prior to this virtual schooling transition, Vivaan could barely use the computer to access word files and PPTs. Now he is into it at a deeper level with the basic knowledge of computer programming.
This school made him more tech-savvy, and their ‘technology course’ is now one of his favorites. This inclination has helped us to know more about his aptitude. And he even talks about taking up a 3D game design course in the upcoming years. All this was not hitting our pocket either. And this was another benefit of virtual schooling for us!
We found a respite amidst the pandemic hits
We are not an exception at this time when the Indian middle class shrinks by 32 million!
Online school in India saved our potential costs in the name of miscellaneous expenses, co-curricular activities, building funds, and what not?
We could save a considerable amount (for physical books, transportation, excursions, etc.) at that too at the time when it mattered the most!
Virtual school made all the study material available to us!
And I don’t remember spending extra, as I used to do with the previous school.
For now, Vivaan is a happy child and a happier student. And I conclude my story hoping to help more such families and children in India.
For all your parents out there, do a reality check for your child’s traditional schooling!
And do not hesitate to enroll your child with this promising Cognia accredited online school in India!
Thanks for Reading!
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION
Author Bio: Prerna Mehta is a supermom!
She has maintained a superb work-life-balance with her job as an HR manager. And pulls off her duties equally well for her sole child.
She made a futuristic decision to choose virtual schooling through India’s most credible platform, K8 School. And this choice added both quality and convenience in her son’s academic journey.
Disclaimer: This content was submitted by a ‘special contributor’. The views expressed above are true to the best of the author’s knowledge, and not meant to be substituted for formal advice from a qualified professional.
