January - February 2013 Vol 2 - Issue 4 - `100 In This Issue Preparing for College: A Checklist Undergraduate Studies: Destination Singapore Dyscalculia: Connecting the Dots Inculcating Good Study Habits Road Trips from your City It’s good with lots of information related to children. One article I really like is “Places to See”. It’s good and very important for kids to know about different places. It is also helpful for them in schools, since it is related to their subjects like history and geography. One suggestion: Your team should include articles I guess I am paranoid over somethings that I feel with information for parents about what are the are unique between me and my 4 year old, who options available on the internet in the field of thinks she is 25! But again, I guess it's every Mom's education. story....! Madhukar Wakade, Bangalore The same stuff....getting up, school, food, sleep, behaviour, respect to elders, etc.......!!! I’ll give myself a break, get a tea time coffee.....thank you It’s a good magazine with a lot of interesting topics Parent Edge for being there....!!! Kudos!! for parents; I have read a couple of your issues, which are amazing. Bhagirathi Panchal, Bangalore Mohan Pandit, Pune It’s a good magazine with articles related to children, which are useful for parents and teachers, It’s a good magazine and informative, with lot of to know how to handle them. And over all its nice information regarding children, which helps parents magazine. to know what is best for their kids regarding schools, food, clothes, college etc.. K.Tamilselvi, Madurai Leeba Thomas, Delhi It’s a good magazine with lots of information regarding children for parents. The article on how I find the magazine very impressive and beneficial to encourage children to read is very useful for to parents, especially with regard to health-related parents as it helps them to know how to make topics. I feel it’s a good magazine, very attractive them read. Overall good. and covers intelligent topics. I like it. Prajitha Kulkarni, Nirmala Pandit, NES International School Librarian- One of the Founder Members of the Mumbai Madras Dyslexic Association The magazine is quite informative and useful for parents, articles related to children are good. Yamuna Chandra, Kolkata It’s nice magazine and very helpful for parents, and the articles on time management and some that give an overview of study options are good. Kavitha, Hyderbad Write to us at [email protected] Hello Readers And a very happy new year to you! 2012 whizzed by really fast, didn’t it? And in almost no time we are back to making new resolutions, planning for a fruitful year and analysing what we did right or wrong in the year gone by. One of the things the ParentEdge team did decide to do in the New Year is change the design of the magazine and introduce a cleaner and more streamlined logo. This explains our new look - do write in and tell us what you think about it. New year or not, one issue that all parents constantly worry over is their children’s behaviour. In a world that is changing almost by the day and where societal rules and expectations are a lot more fluid than they used to be, we are, naturally, concerned about whether our children are well-mannered or not. Read our Cover Story on ‘Raising Well-Mannered Children’ to find out what parents, grandparents and children themselves think about the evolving nature of manners – also read some advice from experts on how to inculcate manners in children. In this issue’s Education Across the Seas, we set sail to the island-nation of Singapore to discover the myriad available opportunities there for an undergraduate education that is affordable, enriching and closer to home! Our Building Blocks article on ‘Preparing for Primary School Interviews’ will come as a stress-buster for our young parents who are under immense pressure to prepare their toddlers for the all-important primary school interview. Complementing it nicely is the Cross Roads article on ‘Preparing for College: A Checklist.' And be sure to read our pointers on ‘Inculcating Good Study Habits’ in Tips, Tricks and To-Do Lists. Xchange throws at you the never-ending debate in many households: which is better for the growing child – a working or stay-at-home mom? In An Apple a Day, we feature an informative interview on ‘Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle.’ Our Bookworm feature this time around reviews some marvellous books for children and parents, written by Indian authors writing in English. Continuing our series on different learning disabilities, Different Strokes focuses on Dyscalculia; and Pursuits and Passions will give you some tips on inculcating a love for the outdoors in kids in our ‘Children and Gardening’ article. Some ‘Cheesy treats’ in Scrumptious, and ‘Road trips from your City’ in What’s Happening – all this and more awaits you inside. So, begin your new year with plenty of practical advice and parenting tips. Happy 2013! ParentEdge Editorial Team Panel of Experts Thomas Bunchman is the founder of JumpBunch, Inc., a leading sports and fitness programme for children. He has over 14 years of experience in Team creating a curriculum focused on the development of body balance, motor skills, and eye/hand coordination Editor skills for children in the age group 15 months to 12 Kritika Srinivasan years. Thomas strongly believes that physical activity can boost academic performance, and promote healthier lifestyles. Editorial Team Gayatri Kulkarni Swati Popat Vats is President of Podar Education Ramya G Network. An educator, educational activist and Sahana Venugopal (Student Editor) teaching expert, Swati Popat Vats also writes parenting columns in leading newspapers and magazines and has authored more than 13 books for children, parents and Art Desk teachers. She is the President of the Early Childhood Chalukyan Association of India, the National Representative for Jinin Mukundhan the World Forum on Early Childhood Education and Leader-Asia for the Raghavan Ravi Nature Action Collaborative For Children. Publisher Jaishri Ramakrishnan is a consultant psychologist Prayag Consulting associated with Billroth Hospitals and two leading schools in Bangalore and Chennai. She has over three decades of experience in handling children with Prayag Consulting Pvt. Ltd special needs. Jaishri has conducted several seminars, Jaya Kumar (Chairman & Co-Founder) workshops and training programmes on Parenting, Sudha Kumar (CEO) Handling children with Special Needs and Stress Management. She writes regularly for ‘The Hindu’ and ‘Times Of India’. In ParentEdge addition, Jaishree is associated with multiple NGOs in Chennai. 45/B, 2nd Floor, Front Wing 1st Main, J P Nagar, 3rd Phase Bangalore – 560 078 Sridhar Ramanathan is the Founder of IDEAS- Ph: 080-26593334 RS where he is also a Strategic Innovation Coach. [email protected] Sridhar’s mission in life is “to help those who want to do things better and differently”. His work involves www.parentedge.in conducting creative problem solving workshops for clients, and buidling competencies in creativity and Subscriptions innovation. Ph: 080-26593334 www.parentedge.in Nirmala Sankaran is the co-founder of Heymath!, [email protected] a curriculum based online programme that builds a solid foundation in Mathematics through world class Advertising Enquiry teaching methodologies and rigorous assessments. [email protected] HeyMath! has successfully impacted over half a million students in over 50 countries since 2000. Cover Photo Yadhunandhan Prabhu Sulata Shenoy is a child and adolescent psychologist. [email protected] A Ph.D in Psychology, she has worked as a psychologist at a number of hospitals in Bangalore. She is the Director of Turning Point Centre for Guidance, which This issue’s Student Editor - specialises in psychological assessments and therapies for children and adults. She also conducts workshops Sahana Venugopal for parents, children and teachers. Sahana Venugopal is a 16-year old Grade 10 student in Chettinad Hari Shree Prab Singh heads CollegeSource, an organisation that Vidyalayam, Chennai. She is an aspiring writer provides life coaching to adolescents and support to who has self-published a teen horror novel, their family through the process of deciding their "I Watched you Die". Sahana loves watching higher education and career goals. thought-provoking movies from around the world; in fact she filmed the book trailer for her novel herself. Trained in Carnatic Music and the veena, she is also learning Meena Sivaraman is an early childhood Kalaripayattu, a martial art-form from Kerala. development specialist. With rich experience in the Sahana is passionate about debating and holistic enrichment of children’s intellect during their travelling and can get pulled into a book’s formative years, Meena is a firm believer in involved, alternative reality no matter where she is! hands-on parenting. She is very well read on topics related to parenting and child development. Intent of the magazine Jyoti Swaroop is an educational consultant who Learning is a continuous process, and needs to happen both in and works with Ratna Sagar Publishing. Jyoti interacts outside of school; thus parents have an important role to play in shaping extensively with schools across India on many topics their children’s future. ParentEdge aims to expose parents to global including the interpretation of the recently introduced trends in learning and partner with them in the intellectual enrichment Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. She is also of their children. associated with a career guidance organisation for school students. Jyoti has authored several English Language text books for many leading publishers. Please e-mail your feedback on this issue and suggestions for upcoming issues to [email protected] Cover Story 6 Raising Well-Mannered Children The Expert’s Take 20 Ms.