ST Mary’s School Pune Closed till 13th September 2009, Reopen on 14th sep ?

St Mary’s school pune has extended it’s decision to close the school upto class 1, till next sunday.
The school has not yet decided if it will open on the 14th sep 2009 yet.
Classes from 2nd std resumed on the 31st august 2009.

Looking at the weaker immunity of younger kids, the school will remain closed for classes nursery to 1std.

But looking at the media underplay, it’s a decision that parent’s should appreciate.
Better safe than sorry. 🙂

Pune Schools Closed till 30th August – DPS,ST Mary’s,Bishops,Vibgyor..

Thankfully all schools will remain closed till the 30th August 2009.
DPS School has decided to open on Monday 24th August, but has cancelled off the monday test.
The following guidelines to be followed by students risking to go to school on 24th august to DPS .
•
The school will now reopen on Monday, 24th August, 2009.
•
Second set of Practice Sheets for all classes are available on the school website under SCM Section.
•
There will be no Weekly Assessment on 24th August, 2009. New dates will be intimated later.
•
Students to wear masks and carry small bottles of hand sanitizer liquid for maintaining personal hygiene during school hours.
•
Students must carry clean handkerchiefs.
•
Students exhibiting flu like symptoms to avoid attending school.
•
Students to reach their designated bus stops ten minutes early.

Like I had mentioned in my last 2-3 posts, looks like better senses prevails our schools and the governing bodies.

Dear parents, it may seem that everything is cool and things have returned to normal in Pune, but it’s only because the media has been instructed not to continue focusing on the Swine Flu 24 by 7.

So just because you are now not bombarded with continuous updates on the H1N1 flu, do not start to relax. Continue avoiding crowded public places unless very important. Leave your kids in the house or with friend’s if you must visit the malls for grocery etc.

Again a reminder , Swine flu is dangerous to younger kids who have still not strong immunity, and dangerous to people who already have respiratory, pulmonary or any other problems.

You can definitely visit your friends if no one in their house has any kind of flu.
Similarly, your kid’s friends can also visit you.

Make sure the hands and face is washed with soap whenever the kids are back home or before they eat food.

Make them use sanitizers if washing of the hands is not possible. ( Sanitizers should not be overused!)

Those kids who have any kind of flu, must wear a mask and avoid going to their friends place. Call your friend’s before you send your kids to their homes.

Eat healthy nutritious food and drink lots of water.
My kids are freaking out on chicken and chicken soup. Another very healthy complete food is Palak / Spinach soup for vegetarians. Make your kids drink lots of drinks like tang / rasna ( I have not researched them yet ). Make them drink tender coconut if they like it. Do not try to make fruit juice at home or buy juice. Give fresh raw fruits, if you want your kids to get all the nutritions in a fruit.

Be happy and keep your kids happy. I have still not started to send them to any of their extra curricular activities yet. I will start only in the middle of the September month.

Since my intuitions are working in sink with the current situation is Pune with respect to the schools and kids, I will continue to follow it and keep you all updated.

As per my intuition only, I would say 31 August our kids should be ready to go to their schools in a safe and healthy Swine flu free environment. So till then take care and be happy. 🙂

https://madhuriesingh.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/schools-in-pune-to-re-open-on-24th-august-2009/

https://madhuriesingh.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/swine-flu-all-schools-close-down-in-pune-till-16th-august-2009/

https://madhuriesingh.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/swine-flu-precautionary-move-st-marys-school-pune-closes/

Aman Setu School – an attempt to preserve Humanity!

Beautiful name isn’t it? Aman Setu 🙂

In today’s modernization how many of us maintain our culture in whatever way possible, is a question to be pondered over. Last year when I was looking for a good school for my younger son, I was introduced to this name ” Aman Setu” by a friend. Her son used to be studying in a school run by MKF. Her son was dyslexic. Now 14 years back, the word dyslexic would have passed off as another laxative or some kind of digestive brand name by an enthusiastic brand manager :).
She was disheartened when St Mary’s told her to take her son out of the school when he was only in 2nd std as he was not able to cope up with the class! She got him under the wings of Bhojwani School, Pune run at that time by Mrs Madhavi Kapur. Today the boy is one of the editors of his college magzine.

In India, schools are very partial and I hate to admit they will not take kids with any kind of learning disability, leave alone other physical disability. The so called normal schools do not like to see their results affected by any special child’s special abilities. I think schools have stopped thinking. They have a set pattern, a preset curriculum and a way to manage the school that does not encourage out of the box thinking. Neither the teachers nor the parents even try to think out of the normalcy. So what we see is a robot like teaching by robot like teachers producing hunderds of robots 🙂 each year.

I am reminded of an advertisement of NIIT, where everyone is walking, talking and behaving the same way, untill the girl from NIIT arrives.
Aman Setu is a school in Pune that is attempting to be a bit difference amongst the crowd.

I always wanted to write a review on Aman Setu ever since I visited the school last year and spent and entire day in the school. Now, which school will allow a parent to experience a day in their school with the teachers and kids doing their far from traditional teaching and learning! It’s like the 30 day money back garauntee offers that come with online product, which are 100% sure of their quality.

The school is located near the airport, close to the Diamond water park, in a farm area! I must tell you …read more…

Admission time for DPS, St Mary’s, Vibgyor, Loyolla, Bishops in Pune!!!

DEAR ALL,

I WILL NOT BE ACCESSING THIS BlOG ANY LONGER. FOR FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS PLEASE VISIT
WWW.MADHURIESINGH.COM

Kindly Subscribe so that you do not miss out on any new development on School Admissions.

Click Here

.

Admission time is a big tensionful time for all parents looking to get their kids admitted to the schools of their choice.

I remember the two years I had tried to get information on the internet , from parents in my neighbourhood and from the websites of the schools!

So this is for those parents trying to get dates of the admission for each school. A lot of hardwork has gone into making this information available with surfing the sites to making calls to the school offices. But even after all that hardwork, there is still a chance of the admission dates being changed by the school authorities. 🙂

Delhi Public School(CBSE)

DPS is the first school in Pune to start its admission process. The non refundable fee being read more…

I WILL NOT BE ACCESSING THIS BlOG ANY LONGER. FOR FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS PLEASE VISIT
WWW.MADHURIESINGH.COM

Kindly Subscribe so that you do not miss out on any new development on School Admissions.

Click Here

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St Mary’s, Pune to reopen on 24th August thanks to Swine FLu!!!

All schools are closed till 20th August 2009. Including DPS Pune, Vibgyor, Bishops, Loyolla, Vidya Valley, International Schools, State Board schools, CBSE and ICSE board schools.

St Mary’s school will reopen on 24th August 2009 in view of the current status of Swine Flu in Pune.

How to keep kids busy at home?

Why keep kids at home in this panic infected city?

All About Swine Flu you need to know.

Where to buy medicine Tamiflu online?

Pune schools closed due to Swine Flu – How to keep kids busy !!!

All schools in Pune will be closed till 19th August 2009, in view of the current spread of the Swine Flu caused by H1N1 virus.

A lot of schools are fumigating their premises.

Both kids from St Mary’s Boys have recovered from the swine flu infection that they got in the last week of July 2009.

A request to all parents.

Keep your kids at home and do not send them to any coaching class, activity class or sports class.

I am allowing my kids to go to their friend’s place by making sure the family has no cold, cough or fever. Similarly my kids friends are also visiting my home. It’s important that kids are able to interact and play in safe environment. I plan activites for all the kids before they reach my home.

Scrabble, Word Ludo (my innovation), online games, good vcds, carrom, chess and story telling are a few good way I am keeping kids around me engaged. It’s still very difficult. 😦

I draw pictures for them and they have to colour these pictures within a time span as neatly as possible.

Another messy activity that they love is cutting aphabets and pictures from old newspaper. Then they have to make a story out of these cut outs.

Another interesting activity that I am planning is mixing the three primary colours to make secondary and tertiary colour right on the paper!

I found a set of very very informative and interesting books which keeps my kids and their friends glued to me for hours. But the only trade off for that is my time.

I would recommend all parents to get this set of books. Its from Time-Life-Warner . I will be publishing a review on it shortly.

There is another fun and engaging game, where like dumb charade, an object is drawn on the back of a kid with only a finger. The kid has to imagine and say the name of the object drawn on his back.

There are many more such avtivites that we mothers can think of and keep the kids busy at home.

If there is any interesting suggestion, you can send it to me or write as a comment.

Happy bonding ! 🙂

Teaching Virus and Vaccines to 4 -6 yr old !!!!!

Thanks to swine flu, I have loads of information that I can share with my kids as they are 24X7 at home !!!!

They are always fighting for the same stuff, be it the TV remote or the laptop, or their transformers or even the same set of crayons !!!

So my younger son suggested that we goto Mc Donald’s. Before I could answer, my older one told the younger one that because of swine flu its closed down. Then I found him showing the McDonald’s empty entrance from our window.

This is how their conversation went.

” There are swine flu’s there so we can not goto the Mc Donald’s today.”

“Bhaiya if we go there , swine flu will kill us?”

“yes”

“What if we wear our jacket and then go and kill the swine flu, then we can go to McD.”

“Yes we can try that. Mumma is superwoman, we will send her there at night. She will kill all the swine flu.”

“ok, come lets ask mom.”

“Mumma will you go tonight and kill the swine flu in the McDonald, you can wear your special dress.”

” Ok, I will have to first get one special injection, which will make me stronger, then I can go and fight all the swine flu virus.”

“Do you know what is a virus?”

“yes, friends of bacteria!”

“why should we be scared of virus?”

“Because they make us sick.”

“Where do they live?”

“They live in dirty places.”

“How do they come to us?”

“They come to us through cold water, nosey, cough, sneeze and dirty hands, mouth and legs.”

“And also if we do not brush our teeth.”

“What do the virus do in your body?”

“They kill our body parts.”

“How do we kill virus.”

“By injection and medicines.”

“Good”

“Do you know how that injection is made?”

“No”

“The doctor uncle takes out little blood from a person who has fever because of the swine flu virus.”

“One bucket?”

“No, one small syringe”

“Then that blood is mixed with lots of water”

“To bathe the virus”

“No, to make it weak”

“Then the doctor takes little virus-water that has some weak swine flu virus and puts it in your body through an injection.”

“Ok”

“When our body police sees one weak virus, they make more police who have to fight this weak swine flu virus. They wear caps too. And all cap has swine flu police written on them !”

“wow”

“Then whenever any strong swine flu virus comes inside your body, all the police with swine flu cap jump and kill the virus !”

“Yippy !!!”

Teaching Religion to 4-6 year old !!!!!

My son today wanted to know what is the meaning of St Mary’s; it’s the name of his school.
Here is how our conversation went, till both of us were satisfied.

“Mumma ! What is the meaning of St Mary’s? “

” Well, it’s the name of the mother of Jesus Christ.
Do you know about him?”

” No”.

“Hmm”.

” Ok what is our surname?”

“Singh”

“You have 48 kids in your class, and each has a different surname, right? “

” No, mom, there are three singhs”

“Ok, so you have 45 other surnames and 3 singhs” ” Now do they all live in one house?”

“No”

” Ok now where do you and all your friends live”

” In houses in Pune.”

“Right. And where do dada dadi, nana nani live”

“Delhi”

“Right. We who live in Pune are called Puneites, those who live in Delhi are called Delhites. But is there any difference in any one living in Pune or in Delhi?”

“No”

” Now when we all, Nana, Nani, Mumma, Papa go to Mama’s house in US, we are all called Indians. But Mamas, Mamies, Kriti, Siya and Sanaa are called Americans, because they live in America.”

” Yes”

“Is there any difference in any one who lives in India or America?”

“No”

“Do you know we are Hindus?”

“No”

“Hmm, tell me whose pooja do we do?”

“My friend Ganesha, bal Hanuman, Ghatotkach, Krishna and Ram.”

” And have you seen whose pooja Janak does?”

“Sardar uncle’s.”

” Ok yes, he is Guru Gobind Singh, and so Janak is a Sikh.”

” Whose pooja Aimaan does?”

” I dunno”

” He does pooja of Allah and is a Muslim.”

” Who is Irene aunty’s God ?”

“I don’t know”

“Her god is Jesus Christ, and she is a Christian.”

“Ok!”

“Is there any difference you see in Aimaan, Janak, Irene aunty, and yourself?”

“No and Yes !”

“Is it? Tell me how?”

” No because they all are living things and look same. Yes because we all do pooja of different God’s”.

“So, does that make anything different in any way?”

“No, then what is the use of different religion and god?”

“Like you ask mumma and papa for everything and do what we tell you mostly, same way different gods and religion tell what to do and how to do. Nothing much.”

“Ok”

” Now do you know what is Jesus Christ’s mumma’s name?”

“No”

” Her name is Mary. And because her son is a God to all Christians, she is called St Mary. And your school is
named after her as St Mary’s School. Got it?”

“Yes got it.” But what is Alien’s god called and what are they, hindu or christian? And mumma are Transformers god?”

Swine Flu – DPS, St Marys, Bishops, Vibgyor and All schools in Pune till 16th August 2009!!!

Updated at 5:00pm on 10th Aug 2009.

DPS school Pune closed till 17th august 2009.

All malls, schools, multiplexes will remain closed for three days as per the government orders. Phew !!! Finally . Bloodshed has to happen to even save our lives. Still there are a few thick-heads who are advising the schools to remain open. We must find out if their kids are in any of the affected city or have they packed off to their kids to a monsoon break to some hill station or abroad ! Don’t they understand simple logic of quarantine?

A minimum of 7 days of total shutting down of the city is all that is needed to eradicate this H1N1 virus. So is 7 days asking too much as compared to hundreds of lives that they are staking? How much sense is lacking in the people WE have chosen?

Ok now if the govt. authorities are like duh… People , use your common sense. Choose between a week of shopping at malls / movie halls /socializing OR be ready to get infected. Is this a rocket science?

Written on 10th august at 1:05am

All schools in Pune will be closed till 16th August 2009, by the order of the Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, if the school is willing.

Thank you dear authorities for better late than never sense which prevailed to save the kids from getting infected and saving the poor parents from the dilemma of whether to send their kids to the school or not !
I wish a month back this step was taken preemptively, but Pune people learn things the HARD way always!
Anyways since I have not been sending both my kids to the school even before the schools declared to close down, I am extremely pleased for the step I took.

Sadly there are two kids infected in St Mary’s 1D and one child from DPS. The kids who did go to the school last week have been exposed to the H1N1 virus. My advice to parents of these kids whose kids went to the school until last week, kindly check your kid’s throat every morning yourself. If there is even a slightest redness or soreness visible, get him tested. This you must do till the seven days from the day your child stopped going to the school.

Read this for detailed reason. What if you came in contact with swine flu affected person ?

A few steps for all the worried parents:

*First thing first, get your kid tested.

*Avoid sending your kid out anywhere.

*Keep other members in the house away from your kid to prevent any other member getting infected, cause you still do not know if your kid is infected or not.

*Order Tamiflu online, as there is shortage of the capsules. Order Online Tamiflu.

*Make hot chicken soup with lots of whole garam masala and fresh ginger garlic for the kid to drink. This will not cure the swine flu, but will provide good strength and stamina to fight the virus.

*Do not hide the fact from anyone if your kid is infected. Its criminal offence to hide the disease and let other innocent people come in contact with the virus. On the other hand, sharing the information, keeping the kid in isolation will actually hurry up your kid’s recovery.

*If infected or have any doubt that your kid is infected, please make him/her wear Mask N95 only. The other masks are useless and do not prevent the virus from spreading. Other members in the house must also wear the N95 Mask.

*Keep all maids, drivers, workers away from your child till your child recovers.

It’s this category of people who should not get infected, else the real Pandemic will show up ! Thankfully only the upper class is infected due to their globetrotting. And since upper class have the money and resource, the disease can be controlled in Pune to the level of epidemic. If the lower class gets affected, the virus will do the deadly taandav and show its ugliest form. One maid or one driver will infect his whole family and neighbors within one single day as they live in congested rooms and slums. Definitely they will not afford Rs 5000/- worth Tamiflu! And then the result is something we don’t want to see.

SO PLEASE KEEP YOUR DRIVERS? MAIDS away from anyone infected with the Swine flu in your home. DO the cooking/ cleaning / driving for the infected kid yourself. Another option can be to see that these helpers if they are in contact with the infected person stay in the same house premise. This will at least prevent spreading of the virus. Then if any symptom arises, admit the person to the hospital that can handle swine flu.

These are all advice from non medical person, so kindly do not avoid going to the doctor if any symptom arise. You should take a doctor’s advice before taking Tamiflu.

*I pray for the speedy recovery of all the kids. May I request the parents to not send their kids to any day care, playschools, activity classes or even movies and malls.
It’s tough to keep them home, so sending to known friends who do not have any flu or running nose should be wise. Mothers at home can continue with the daily studies for an hour or two. There are several online games that you can allow kids to play to keep them busy.

You parents can use this time to bond with your children and teach all about viral flu etc. Check out good sites that easily explain it. http://www.X-plain.com. Check out online stories or activities . I like http://www.starfall.com.
Paint, draw play with your child and make the most of this break. Be thankful that you are lucky to be healthy and fit.

Vibgyor, St Annes, St Helena’s, DPS, Vidya Valley, Loyola High close down –Swine Flu !!!

The following schools have decided to close down in Pune in order to contain the spread of the Swine Flu.

Delhi Public School will be closed till Aug 9 2009.

St Helena’s will be closed till Aug 13 with 1 positive H1N1 cases.

St Anne’s will be closed till Aug 12 2009 with 3 positive cases.

Loyola High School will be closed till Aug 9 , 2009 with 1 positive case.

Vidya Valley will be closed till Aug 9 with 2 positive cases.

Vibgyor High has closed down till sunday the 9th August 2009 with no positive cases of H1N1 virus in Pune.

Bishops Boys and Co-Ed have also closed down from 8th Aug 2009 to 20th Aug 2009, including the holidays that were preplanned.

The first school to take this sensible step was St Mary’s when they decided to close down the school from 6th Aug to 11th Aug 2009 with two positive cases in class 1D boys section.

Today on the 9th Aug 2009, St Mary’s has declared to close down till 16th Aug 2009.

swine-flu-precautionary-move-st-marys-school-pune-closes

The school management have sensibly taken this step as a precautionary measure against the H1N1 Virus on advice of the Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade of Pune.

My kids go to different board schools, DPS and St Mary’s!!!!!!

My kids go to different schools with different education board !

Every time I mention this, I see people reacting only one way , and that is with great astonishment slowly turning to pity my state, suggestions and help never intended to give :).

But trust me, it’s not as difficult as it seems !

It has infact given me the opportunity to spend time with each of my child separately for their various needs.

I get to spend time with only the elder one (who goes to 1st std St Mary’s) in the morning as he wakes up at 5:30 am. It’s easy to get him all ready and make him eat his breakfast peacefully. He is off to bus stand at 6:45am. Now handling two of them would have driven me nuts as both are still totally dependent on me for all their chores.

The second one who goes to Nursery class, DPS, wakes up at read more

SWINE FLU precautionary move — St Mary’s School Pune closes !!

St Mary’s school, pune will be closed from 6th to 9th August 2009 as a precautionary measure against Swine Flu.

School will assess the situation on Sunday to decide whether to reopen on Monday 10th August.

Even though no case of H1N1 virus was detected in St Mary’s School Pune, the management took this wonderful step to prevent any spreading of the disease amongst it’s students.

All Schools must close down for a week just to ensure the kids stay at home and do not get in contact with any one who is a carrier of H1N1. A week’s holiday will not make much of a difference in the life, as compared to endangering lives of small kids who are most susceptible to H1N1 virus.
Also parents should take the decision independently, as to what is more precious to them, the stress of sending the children to school now when ideally all schools should be closed down or to wait till the school declares holiday !

Schools in Pune close down from 7th Aug 2009

Read Swine-flu-is-villainous

Swine Flu is known to infect the children more than the adults.

The International Center for Infectious Diseases states the following:

1. What is Swine Flu ?

It is a form of influenza that infects respiratory organs.

2. Why is it dangerous?

a) Virulence – how quickly and spreads easily – H1N1 Virus spreads quickly.

b) How much tissue damage the virus causes resulting in severe illness or death – H1N1 virus seems to be quite damaging to the tissue

3. Why is the Swine Flu from Mexico considered to be a threat?

It’s a strain of influenza that results in the deaths of young healthy individuals.

1 in 1000 individuals who get ill with this flu will die, as per the data available from Mexico.

4. What are the symptoms of H1N1 viral flu?

a) Fever often upto 104 degree Fahrenheit.

b) Chills

c) Severe muscle pain

d) Headache

e) Cough which is often non-productive in normal people. Those with previous respiratory infection, symptoms may worsen.

f) Nasal discharge and stuffiness or a sore throat in few

g) Fatigue, often sever lasting from 7 to 10 days

h) Diarrhea in few

i) Any one already suffering from heart or lung related disease may notice their symptoms worsening.

How does this virus spread and infect?

Through droplets of saliva or running nose , transmitted by coughing, talking and sneezing.
The virus enters through nose when it’s breathed in especially in a crowded place like schools, bus, malls, restaurants or movie halls etc.
Through eyes or mouth when virus is touched by hand. (That is why thorough washing reduces risk).

2) When is someone with influenza most infectious?

After getting in touch with the virus, there is an incubation period of 2 – 5 days which is short. In case you cross 7 days after coming in contact with an infected person safely, it’s rare to get ill with this flu.

The virus is maximum in quantity within 24 hours of getting ill. It’s quantity reduces after 2-3 days, making lesser chance of infecting others.

3) How effective are masks in spreading the virus?

Not much effective .

Wearing a mask N95 mask, which fit tightly on the face can be effective when you are caring an infected person or when you are sick with the flu. N95 reduces the rate of spreading of the virus through nose and mouth by 80-90%, when worn by infected individuals.

A healthy person wearing the mask is not protected.

4) Flu shot in 2008?

No information is available that flu shot taken in 2008 will prevent one from this virus.

5) What and how effective are the current drugs?

No study on how effective the current drugs are on this virus.
But past studies in Canada of these drugs suggest:
Osteltamivir ( Tamiflu) taken orally
Zanamivir by inhalation
can prevent this flu if you are exposed or help in recovery and prevent seriousness.
The effect of these two drugs on H1N1 is still not very sure that they can prevent death.

Where-to-buy-medicine-for-swine-flu

6) Can I get swine flu from eating pork?

No

7) Does Quarantine work as a strategy to prevent spread of the flu?

Following strategies have helped to prevent spread of the flu:
a) Dispersion of crowds

b) Closing down of school/ workplaces/ tamples/ churches/ mosques/ movie halls/ public places.

c) Avoiding travelling / holidaying during this phase to prevent spread or getting infected.

d) Encouraging infected people to stay at home.

e) Air travel does increase chances of getting infected due to re-breathing of air.

For detailed report visit www.icid.com
email info@icid.com
contact Dr Allan Ronald, ICID, Canada

GOVERNMENT AUTHORIZED HOSPITALS FOR TREATMENT OF SWINE FLU
City
Hospital Address Contact
Chennai
King Institute of Preventive Medicine (24/7 Service)
Guindy, Chennai – 32
(044) 22501520, 22501521 & 22501522
Communicable Diseases Hospital
Thondiarpet, Chennai
(044) 25912686/87/88, 9444459543

Government General Hospital
Opp. Central Railway Station, Chennai – 03
(044) 25305000, 25305723, 25305721, 25330300

Pune
Naidu Hospital
Nr Le’Meridian, Raja Bahadur Mill, GPO, Pune – 01
(020) 26058243

National Institute of Virology
20A Ambedkar Road , Pune – 11
(020) 26006290

Difference between common flu and swine flu

Kolkata
ID Hospital
57,Beliaghata, Beliaghata Road , Kolkata – 10‎
(033) 23701252

Coimbatore
Government General Hospital
Near Railway Station,
Trichy Road, Coimbatore – 18
(0422) 2301393, 2301394, 2301395, 2301396

Hyderabad
Govt. General and Chest Diseases Hospital ,
Erragadda, Hyderabad
(040) 23814939

Mumbai
Kasturba Gandhi Hospital
Arthur Road, N M Joshi Marg, Jacob Circle , Mumbai – 11
(022) 23083901, 23092458, 23004512
Sir J J Hospital
J J Marg, Byculla, Mumbai – 08
(022) 23735555, 23739031, 23760943, 23768400 / 23731144 / 5555 / 23701393 / 1366

Haffkine Institute
Acharya Donde Marg, Parel, Mumbai – 12
(022) 24160947, 24160961, 24160962

Kochi
Government Medical College
Gandhi Nagar P O, Kottayam – 08
(0481) 2597311,2597312
Government Medical College
Vandanam P O, Allapuzha – 05
(0477) 2282015

Taluk Hospital
Railway Station Road , Alwaye, Ernakulam
(0484) 2624040 Sathyajit – 09847840051

Taluk Hospital
Perumbavoor PO , Ernakulam 542
(0484) 2523138 Vipin – 09447305200

Gurgaon &;
Delhi
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
Ansari Nagar, Aurobindo Marg Ring Road , New Delhi – 29
(011) 26594404, 26861698 Prof. R C Deka – 9868397464

National Institute for Communicable Diseases
22, Sham Nath Marg,
New Delhi – 54
(011) 23971272/060/344/524/449/326

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
Kharak Singh Marg,
New Delhi – 01
(011) 23741640, 23741649, 23741639

Dr. N K Chaturvedi – 9811101704
Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute
University Enclave, New Delhi- 07
(011) 27667102, 27667441, 27667667, 27666182

Bangalore
Victoria Hospital
K R Market, Kalasipalayam, Bangalore – 02
(080) 26703294 Dr. Gangadhar – 94480-49863

SDS Tuberculosis & Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases
Hosur Road, Hombegowda Nagar, Bangalore – 29
(080) 26631923 Dr. Shivaraj – 99801-48780

also see this site http://www.parentree.in/Parentree-editors/journal-1301/Swine-flu–H1N1—-Pregnancy—Precautions–Symptoms–What-to-do—.html

http://www.parentree.in/Parentree-editors/journal-1302/Swine-flu–H1N1—-Babies-and-Children—Precautions–Symptoms–What-to-do—.html

Vacation and Holiday Breaks for Dps Pune !!!!!!!

Summer Break 9th may to 21st june 2009

Dussehra Break 25th sep to 28th sep 2009

Deepawali Break 16th oct to 18th oct 2009

Winter Break 25th dec to 3rd jan 2010

Which Education Board to choose for my child !!!!!!!!!!

When it comes to confusing, the worst is when parents have to choose the right board for their children!
We have CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education)
ICSE (Indian Certificate is Secondary Education)
IB (International Baccalaureate )
and the State Boards.
There are other Boards too which will be added once enough information is collected.

I have tried to do an analysis of all the important boards in India.
Since I studied in CBSE I have preference to it.

CBSE Board :
1: Read More
ICSE is also a good board.

1: Read More
IB Board

1: Read More
STATE BOARD

1: Read More

Which Education Board is closest to overall development of the children?(surveys)

SWINE flu is villainous !!!!

I have decided from today both my kids will stay at home for a week or two.

Reason, firstly , I think that’s the best way to prevent my kids from getting infected even if there is any remotest chance. They travel by school bus and definitely there is a good chance of getting in contact with dormant Swine flu virus. Since there is still no confirmed report on whether a person who has been cured of Swine flu may or may not be a carrier of the virus. What if the cured person IS a carrier of the virus? Then for next 5-10 days he /she will be easily infecting another 100 person who comes in contact. I as a mother do not wish to live in stress wondering what if’s .

In my opinion, if I were the Mayor or District Magistrate or any one in authority of Pune city, would have closed down all the schools, colleges for 15 days. Since as per the statistics the Swine Flu is infecting more kids than adults, it makes sense to keep the KIDS AT HOME. Citizens of Pune should be restricted to public places like Malls, multiplexes and restaurants as these places are the best places to get infected. Even going to the hospitals should be avoided unless emergency situation calls for going to the hospital.

My son’s classmate was down with fever for seven days. The paediatrician asked the mother to get him tested for Swine Flu. She went to the Naidu hospital which is authorised to do the test in Pune. There the hospital returned her back saying that we will not test everyone who comes here for Swine Flu ! Shocked mother came back and was very upset. Had I been there I would have taken the Naidu hospital to press and made their life hell for being negligent.

My request to all parents. Go by your instinct. If you have slightest doubt, stop your child from going to school and public places. And get him/her tested for the virus. Early detection is better than rushing in the last moment, knowing very well that Tamiflu, the only drug is not easily available in Pune, even in black.
One to two weeks of holiday from school will not matter anything. You have all the portions and books, you can very well teach at home. Working parents will have trouble taking this decision, but the trade off is between the short term trouble of taking off from the office or life long crying…

I am very upset with Dr Gosh from National Institute of Virology, Pune. In the process of calming the parents he passed an uninformed message to the parents about the Swine Flu. He may be right in saying that parents should not be panicked, but he should not have said that it’s like any other virus and getting infected is ok !

So parents without creating a havoc around you, listen to your instincts. DO not send the child to the school for a week. Wait and watch. Talk to the school is they can close down the school.

Two years back my son was suffering from fever for 10 days. I got him to Dr Sewani of Kalyani Nagar, Pune. She said, it’s nothing to worry about and sent me away. But my instincts told me some thing was not right, as my son was blabbering nonsense in his feverish sleep. I got his blood tested elsewhere. He was detected as suffering of Dengue !!!! SO my instinct did come true.

The passage below was written when we were called to the school by National Institute Of Virology ‘s talk on Swine Flu.

Today, we were called to the St Mary’s school for a presentation on SWINE FLU.
Thanks a ton St Mary’s Management for pre-emptive step taken.
DPS also had last week sent a circular about SWINE FLU and requested parents to not send their kids if any had any kind of fever. These measures are very reassuring for parents, as it proves our kids are going from one safe hand to another :). Also, it takes care of the psychology of many over protective/ carefree parents.

It’s just another variant of flu virus. It’s symptoms are all similar to the other viral flu that our kids keep encountering.

Just be careful and take the child to a good paediatrician if the child has SEVERE CHILL , shivering and redness of eyes , followed with high fever.
Else treat this poor flu like any other viral fever. Do not panic, but keep the child at home to prevent him passing on the flu to others. One can wait for 2 days of fever and if the fever does not lower on the third day, then contact the doctor around.

The virus became a villain only because, when it was detected as a new virus in Mexico, the hosts died , but all had other major diseases to blame. Due to globetrotting, this virus reached India too, but it’s variant got diluted after it mixed with Indian viruses. But the virus is infecting kids more than adults. Hence preventing kids from becoming infected will control the disease in Pune.

How to prevent H1N1 Swine flu and any other flu :

1. Wash hands everytime you come home.

2. After kids are back from school or play give them a warm water bath.

3. Use tissue paper to wipe and throw in a dustbin.

4. DO NOT SEND YOUR KID TO SCHOOL FOR NEXT SEVEN DAYS.

That’s all it takes to prevent any virus from spreading ! 🙂

Do not try to cure any viral flu yourself, especially do not pop in any medicine yourself that is antibiotics ! Anyways no antibiotic can cure any viral flu as antibiotics are for bacterias , not for viruses :).

A good site http://www.parentree.in/Parentree-editors/journal-1302/Swine-flu–H1N1—-Babies-and-Children—Precautions–Symptoms–What-to-do—.html

To know or report about SWINE FLU contact :
www.niv.co.in

www.edc.org

Dr. Ms. Chadha
Deputy Dir- Influenza
Ph Nos – 020-26006247 / 26006217
email add – basua@icmt.org. in

Choosing Right Pencil, Eraser, Sharpner for kids !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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A pencil is a pencil is a pencil!!!!!
No! No! No! How many of us have ever paid attention to the type of pencils our kids are using when they started out to write????
Well I am a good mom, as I would always make sure the pencils were all sharpened and placed in the pencil box with an eraser and color pencils/ crayons.
But just a month back (June 2009) I realized that with respect to the pencils I was NOT a good mom !
Cuz, just placing sharpened pencils doesn’t make you a good pencil mom .
Since my son is very bright, I never paid much attention while he breezed through the preparatory class, which is very much a revision of the playschool learning. But when he reached STD 1 in St Mary’s life suddenly changes for both him and me!
No more casually sharpened pencils.
I found he definitely has my genes when it came to writing, which is quite illegible. Now I do know the importance of good handwriting now, so I started making him write every day a passage or cursive alphabets on three lined notebooks.
I found he was pressing the pencil too hard, leaving impressions on 2 sheets below! Also when he erased the marks, he would invariably tear off the sheet!
Now having an analytically gifted mind, I used it to first observe, collect related data and then analyze them.
So here are my observations which are the most important part of any analysis.
1: My son would hold the pencil too tight, which automatically led to applying too much pressure on the paper while writing. (There is a psychology of why some kids hold pencils very tightly) .
2: If the pencil has rounded smooth surface read more…
TIP of the Day:
Also after sharpening the pencil, I rub the tip off a bit before handling over to my kid. This ensures that the tip does not tear or snap while writing.

DPS MANAGEMENT is Excellent !!!

DPS school, its management and the staff never stops to amaze me !

The DPS bus which comes to Kalyani Nagar to pick and drop my child would stop at a very filthy place. At the garbage dump, right after the bridge ended . It was not just filthy but was a nuisance to be standing amongst ragpickers, truck drivers and scrap collection shop. My kid started only this year, so I was trying to bear untill the rains started this june 2009. It became a nightmare to stand in the rains, with cars splashing water, flies tickling and men staring at buffons like us waiting !
That’s when I decided, no more bearing this unwanted trauma everyday in the scorching sun or pouring rains.
I spoke to a few parents if they wanted to get the bus stand shifted to somewhere decent place. Everyone obviously nodded. SO I went to the school and spoke to the office lady, who asked me to get a letter from all the parents who wanted the same. Then my hubby darling spoke to the transport head too. He said if there was a good number of students from my society, they will defintely consider the change.
SO I again made a letter describing the situation, took names of all the kids who would come to the bus stop and gave it to the principal. I also showed the management pictures of the area in the rains with the garbage.
The principal without a single word approved the change of the stop from the shabby place to my society Lunkad Sky Lounge. Now that’s what I call quick decision and appreciate the DPS school even more.

What a SCHOOL you have madamjee ! Hats off !

Moral of the story …. When you want to get something, all you have to do is ASK ! 🙂

Kindly donate water by clicking at the social vibe on the left hand. Its free.

DPS PUNE SCHOOL, A Benchmark !!!!!!

A critic’s critic is what I can be best described as 🙂

I have very high set of standards when it comes to kids, education, hygiene and anything to do with the tiny tots. 🙂

Since my younger son was happily going to a kindergarten school “Kider Brook” at Kalyani Nagar, I was a carefree mom with no tension of homework, timing was cool 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Next to my home a lane far to be precise :).

So when he completed his nursery and was time for Jr Kg, I was not gonna repeat the mistake of hanging on to a kindergarten , which I did for my elder son. Read my blog on St Mary’s for more.

So come november 2008 and I started checking the DPS website for the form to be downloaded for admissions.
I was glad to find it in the second week of the month. Downloaded the form and took the print-outs. It was a pleasure to the eyes and mind to see very clear, no nonsense form with only required information that was asked for to be filled in.
There were only two things that were needed to be arranged for the registration time read more…

Yippy my son got through ST MARY’S SCHOOL Pune, India !

Feb 24, 2008

 

I am a very proud and free mom today..Why? ‘Cause finally my elder son got through the St Mary’s School in Upper KG ! I should have hunted for schools and admission when he was to go to LKG.

On the day of his written test (imagine that for a 4.5 yr old) and an oral test, I was quite sure he will do well as he is a brilliant learner!

U know, he likes to learn about everything and anything! Such intelligent questions?

One question in the interview was what objects do u use in a rainy day?

He told me all that he cud think of including umbrella, raincoat, gumboots….and then he added ..” teacher u can use newspaper also if you don’t have anything else   !”

I knew I don’t have to worry.

So on the  parents’ interview day , my hubby and I waited for one hour for our turn with butterflies in my tummy!…

  Mrs. Mathew, the director of St Mary’s was smiling and looking through her spectacles. She asked me, “So you are Shourya’s Parents?”  And we replied “Yes”. Not forgetting any of our etiquettes, we pulled the chair to sit down.
Mrs. Mathew who was beaming said with a lovely smile ….” Oh your son has done very well, he is brilliant child! 

Then she asked where my younger son goes. I told her as of now a playschool called Kidder Brook, but will be here after one year to join his brother in St Mary’s.

Hoping to see any change in expression or an answer to counter my far fetched thoughts, I looked into her eyes. read more…

Schools in Pune, India DPS, ST MARY’S, BISHOPS, LEXICON, VIBGYOR…..

Admission time in Pune is harrowing experience for all parents trying to select a school for their kid. I made the blunder of not taking admissions for my kid in Jr kg = nursery.

So when Nov 2007 arrived, I was all geared to get my kid admitted into Delhi Public School, Pune. Its a Co-ed school and CBSE board is followed there. Having done the same board made sense.

The website dpspune.com did not display any information till the first week of November 2007. Then the website mentioned that admissions for all classes except above 1st STD were open.

 The forms were available in the office of DPS School, in NIBM road. When I went there sharp at 10:00 am, click here to read more

Kangaroo Kids Pune India

I am writing this as I want every parent who in interested in admitting their child to Kangaroo Kids Pune(kk) at Koregaon Park to know about the facts.

Today I had to drop my son to Nehru Memorial hall for the concert practice at 9.00am.  My son cried a little as he does not like new and strange places. I was given a card by the management ,saying that without that card I cannot pick up my son. The pick up time was written as 12.30pm.  I reach there at 12.25pm.  I am shocked to see my poor son.

I was very upset and angry that a school of this stature where all hoity toities kids go, has no one to take care and wait with my 2.8 year old son!!!  There were cars whizzing in front as the main door opens right into the main road called Camp area of Pune! There were men strolling around, beggars walking past him! Any one could have taken him away in 5 sec!! 

I waited there for 5 min which was like ages to see if someone will come. Then a teacher comes out and seeing me standing with him brings his bag. No word or even a thought to the fact that he was all alone. I asked her why there was nobody with him? And the answer was blank, and then another teacher comes by, who cooks up an excuse that there must have been miscommunication.

I was livid and shaking out of shock and anger and irresponsibility of the school. I felt betrayed! I was in tears to know that the child I take care and fuss about so much, was standing all alone in the middle of the busiest part of the city by the same school that I trusted and paid 3000 bucks every month! In that cost I cud keep him a full time educated nanny who would not only teach him but feed him and care for him.

Kangaroo Kids is well known as its Mumbai branches have actors n hi-fi ‘s kids going there. But unfortunately the Pune branch has only cashed on the name. It does not care about the kids. They don’t own up their mistake ever. Several times kids are found sitting alone with no one around after school time!

A year back my son was bitten by ants at 14 places and the school refused to own up that there were ants in the premises. On the contrary they said that may be in my car I should check for ants. It’s the most irresponsible school I have ever encountered. They don’t have water back up and there were times when the toilet was full of poop. How infectious it is to send your kid to this kind of unhygienic school. Just last month my son picked up urinary infection from the school. I am so fed up and today was the last straw.

It’s been a full day now and neither the principal, owner nor even the class teacher has called to find out if my son is ok and how are we doing.

I am still shivering when I think of what if someone kidnapped him, or just took him away! World is full of maniacs, what if someone did something to him? What if he started to walk in the main street with the heavy traffic all around him? I just cannot get myself to forget this incident. Anyone who has any query u can email me here .
I am taking up this issue with the owner Lina Ashar. If they can pacify me fine, else I will be going to the newspaper and TV channels to let the poor parent be ware of Pune branch of kangaroo kids school. Don’t think your kids are in the safe hands there. Infact if u leave them there, you are at the worst risk of harming your child.

Please everyone spread the word, about this damn school, b4 u let the silly teachers harm your kid!!! And don’t forget to make comments! I have taken admission in another school for my son today.

Yesterday was the meeting with the people from KK head office Mumbai. They were very professional and knew what they were doing. To the extent that they lacked empathy. They first wanted to ”tackle” each parent separately. I was not interested in 1-1. AS there were all the parents waiting to be heard. We all went in and with the Pune management in tow. I started to explain all that I had gone thru, the carelessness of the management, the coldness from the management and all other problems.

While the meeting was nearing end, I thought that since things were accepted by the management and were ready to take corrective actions, it was my moral duty to inform them that I have emailed to hundreds of people. So they should not be surprised if someone gave the mail for print. The moment I said print , they both panicked. Instead of realizing that when I wrote the mail, by then it was more than 2 days and no one had contacted me from the school. I had out of frustration made it my agenda to write to every one I knew to circulate the mail.
As I wanted to create awareness about the incident that had happened and then beware of the school. Then the principal mentioned that there was someone who was found distributing pamphlets against KK. But instead of understanding my condition and frustration, the female rep from KK, indirectly threatens me saying that anyone who maligns the name of KK will have to face their lawyer. Not once but at least 3 times she repeated that. The male rep had his wits together and was trying to take care of the situation. While leaving the female rep mentioned another comment against me. She said that ” the way Vaundhara whose son had pushed a bead in his nose, handled the situation very nicely as compared to me” . I was again very shocked, but by this time I realized it was no use talking to the management reps, for whom one child’s case was important as his mom was very well connected politically than a child who’s mom chose to approach the management directly with no backing politically.

Also she thought that in the times of crisis like I was facing, I should have sat down to analyze and strategies how I should approach the management. So now my dear readers, u have to decide if I should let them go as they threatened me (ha-ha) or I should now give a go ahead to the 2 reporters who are waiting to go live with the story. In either case I will need your support. As this is not my fight it is a step towards making our children safer, and these school take better actions.

Admission time for DPS, St Mary’s, Vibgyor, Loyolla, Bishops in Pune!!!

My kids go to different board schools, DPS and St Mary’s !!!!!

Vacation and Holiday Breaks for Dps Pune !!!!!!!

Which Education Board to choose for my child !!!!!!!!!!

Playschool and Kindergarten Pre Schools in Pune !!!!!!!!!!

DPS MANAGEMENT is Excellent !!!

PUNE St MARY’S BOYS STD 1 D are CONNECTED by YAHOO Groups !!!

DPS PUNE SCHOOL, A Benchmark !!!!!!

Yippy my son got through ST MARY’S SCHOOL Pune, India !

Schools in Pune, India DPS, ST MARY’S, BISHOPS, LEXICON, VIBGYOR…..

Kangaroo Kids Pune India