The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts

Dear Homeschool Parent:

My name is Lee Binz. I'm just a regular homeschool mom who four years ago struck gold in the form of those two full-tuition scholarships.
Ever since then, parents have been asking me, "How did you create such beautiful transcripts for your boys?" Well, the truth is: it wasn't easy.

When I started homeschooling high school, I was filled with insecurity and self-doubt. I mean, who was to say what colleges wanted in homeschool records? The truth was, I didn’t know. Worse, I KNEW I DIDN’T KNOW and that truth terrified me.

My husband and I wanted desperately to graduate our boys from homeschool. We had tasted the bitterness of public schools when our kids were younger and we were positively committed to not returning. And we didn’t have the money for college, let alone for private Christian high school.

Besides, homeschooling our boys had been the most WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE of our lives and we would have done ANYTHING to finish the job right. Still, every time I thought about preparing and maintaining a high school transcript, I’d break out in a cold-sweat.

I’m sort of different in the way I deal with stress, though…. I research like crazy until I master the information! When I was studying how to create my sons' transcripts, I noticed none of the homeschool experts seemed to agree about ANYTHING!

I would read six different books and end up with seven different opinions on how to do a transcript! Each book would have an entirely different approach to grades, credits, record keeping, co-op classes, format and just about every other aspect of creating a transcript. It was SO FRUSTRATING!

So, I decided to look into the popular options of accreditation programs and alternative education. These groups, however, seemed to totally dismiss and discount my method of homeschooling and made me feel inadequate as a teacher and a mother.

Homeschooling

Advantages

* Educational freedom
* Physical freedom
* Emotional freedom
* Religious freedom
* Closer family relationships
* Well-Rested kids
* No Busywork


Disadvantages

* Time restraint
* Financial restraint
* Limited team sports
* Living outside the norm


Planning

* Prepare: Home schooling your child will take a great deal of work. You must be able to devote a larger portion of your time to your child’s education. Once you begin this journey you start to understand the tremendous responsibility you are putting on your shoulders. You will determine your child’s future.
* Determine the style and method of home schooling you will use.
* Plan the curriculum. The amount of material for home schooling is astounding. You must do your research and determine which method you will use.
* Find support: Chances are there are others in your community who are home schooling their children. There may be a support group available in your area. Joining such a group will give you support when you need it.
* Legality: Find out what is necessary in your state to make home schooling legal. Each state is different and it is important that you register correctly for your state.


Highest Rated Resources

The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts. Lee Binz Shares The Secrets Of Creating Great Homeschool Transcripts That Will Impress Colleges. No Matter How You Homeschool, Parents Are Capable Of Creating Effective Transcripts That Provide A Clear Picture Of Their Students Academic Record.

Knowledge Quest, Inc. & Homeschooling ABCs. Classes And Resources For Home Educators.

Homeschool Cash – Make A Full Time Income By Homeschooling. 6 Month Membership That Teaches You How To Make A Full Time Income Within 6 Months By Homeschooling Your Kids! Great For Home School Moms And Parents Looking For Extra Cash.


Research on childhood education

In earlier days, enlisted professional tutors were an option for elite group of people. Hence most of the children were educated by means of homeschooling. Compulsory education came in to existence in 17th century. Many researches were done on early childhood education and their effect on children physical and mental development. The research results were as follows:

Formal schooling before ages 8-12 was harmful to children. Earlier enrollment of students also caused nearsightedness, increase enrollment of students in special classes. The bond and emotional development of children developed long term with parents are cut short by earlier enrollment in schools. This can not be replaced by any institutional policies.


Methodology

Children in homeschooling are taught by various methods and materials. Some of the methods are “unschooling”, Montessori, school at home, Waldorf Education and others.

Unit studies: This approach integrates several subjects in to one topical theme

All-in-one-curricula: This is also called school in a box. This cover many subjects, usually an entire year’s worth of material. They contain all needed books and materials.

Student-paced learning: This is similar to all-in-one-curricula. This method allows students to progress at their own speed.

Online education: This method improves the quality of homeschooling. Parents can be with their children during online learning. Also, online tutoring helps disabled students or students who cannot travel to learn.

Natural learning: Also called “unschooling”. This helps students to pursue subjects of their interest. The term “unschooling” was coined by John Holt. This method recommends that you “educate children by doing”.


International status

Countries with most prevalent home education are Austria, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Some also have regulated home education as an extension of the compulsory education such as Germany and Brazil.


Famous home schooled individuals

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of United States taught himself how to read, write and do arithmetic.

George Washington, 1st United States president.

Che Guevara, Guerilla leader in Cuba, Africa and Bolivia.

Elizabeth II, the queen of the United Kingdom received early education at home.

Thomas Edison, an inventor and businessman received most of his education by reading on his own.


Summary

Home schooling is a great way to stay close to your children. At the same time you can help them become well rounded adults. It gives parents the opportunity to help shape their child’s future. Parents are more able to inject their lifestyle and beliefs into their children’s educational experience.

Home schooling is also much safer that attending public school. Parents have much more flexibility to individualize their child’s education. Home schooling is not as easy as it sounds. It is more difficult than most parents are ready for.

Parents have to brush up on their own education in order to home school. Many parents are unprepared for the curriculum their children need in home schooling. If you are thinking about home schooling your child you should do some research first. You need to make sure that you can understand the curriculum necessary to teach your child.

A few of the steps to home schooling your children are:

Many parents are not prepared for the challenge of teaching their children. It is hard for many parents to separate teaching from parenting. But by using some of the resources available, it can be a rewarding experience for parent and child alike.

Look Before You Leap

Figuring out how to pay for college isn’t easy. For most people, savings, grants and scholarships don’t cover all the costs. Working helps, but working too much while you’re in school (more than 15 hours a week) can hurt your grades and chances of graduating. Using student loans to fill the gap can help you stay and succeed in college, but it’s important to shop around and borrow only as much as you really need.

If you’ve been offered student loans as part of your college’s financial aid package, talk to a financial aid officer to see if you might be eligible for more grants. If your financial situation has changed, or there are relevant circumstances not reflected in your FAFSA, you may be able to borrow less. If you’ve decided that borrowing is a good choice for you, here are some tips to help you get a fair deal:
Start with the safest loans

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Federal loans are the safest place to start. Interest rates on federal loans don’t change over time and aren’t affected by your credit rating. Federal loans also come with some guaranteed borrower protections in case you’re unemployed or have other financial problems after college.
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Perkins and Subsidized Stafford loans are the safest and most affordable federal loans. If you qualify for them, they’re a great deal, because the government pays all the interest while you’re in school. The interest rate for Perkins loans is fixed at 5%, and for Subsidized Staffords it’s fixed at no more than 6.8%.
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Unsubsidized Stafford Loans are the next best option, and they’re available to everyone, regardless of income. Interest builds up while you’re in school, but you don’t have to start making payments until six months after you graduate, and you still get the federal borrower protections. The interest rate for Unsubsidized Staffords is fixed at no more than 6.8%.
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PLUS Loans, which are only for parents and graduate students, have a higher interest rate of up to 8.5%, but they are generally a better deal than private loans (except, perhaps, some home equity loans).
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Private student loans, sometimes called “alternative” loans, are much riskier. They’re a lot like credit cards: even if they start at what seem like low rates, those rates can shoot up at any time, and the interest costs can quickly surpass whatever you borrowed to begin with. Also, they don’t have the borrower protections that come with federal loans.
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If you have a lot of financial need, use federal loans before you consider a private loan.
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Beware of private loans in disguise: some schools put their own name on private loans, or the loans may have other brand names that make them look safer than they really are. Lenders often offer both federal and private loans, so make sure you know what you’re getting before you sign on the line.

College Information

Budgeting, financial aid, SAT prep, scholarships, admission requirements...applying and choosing a college can, indeed, be overwhelming.

Tips Classroom Learning

Knowing more about educational psychology and the different instructional strategies out there can help you work with your child's teacher to provide a better, more tailored learning environment. Read on for comprehensive descriptions of classroom teaching techniques, educational theories, instructional strategies and classroom management strategies.

School and Academics

You want the best possible education for your child, but knowing how to choose your child's school and get involved in their education can be as challenging as your child's math homework! We've gathered top-notch articles on everything from helping your child learn to read to communicating with your child's teacher. We've got you covered, so that you can ensure your child develops a lifelong love of learning.

Study of Montgomery County Schools Shows Benefits of Economic Integration

The debate over reforming public education has focused mostly on improving individual schools through better teaching and expanded accountability efforts. But the study, to be released Friday, addresses the potential impact of policies that mix income levels across several schools or an entire district. And it suggests that such policies could be more effective than directing extra resources at higher-poverty schools.

The idea is easier to apply in areas with substantial middle-class populations and more difficult in communities, such as the District, with large concentrations of poverty. Yet it lends fresh support to an idea as old as the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954: Segregated schools - in this case, separated by economics, not law - are rarely as good as diverse ones at educating low-income students.

"Today, 95 percent of education reform is about trying to make high-poverty schools work," said Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in New York that published the report. "This research suggests there is a much more effective way to help close the achievement gap. And that is to give low-income students a chance to attend middle-class schools."
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The study tracked the performance of 858 elementary students in public housing scattered across Montgomery from 2001 to 2007. About half the students ended up in schools where less than 20 percent of students qualified for subsidized meals. Most others went to schools where up to 60 percent of the students were poor and where the county had poured in extra money.

After seven years, the children in the lower-poverty schools performed 8 percentage points higher on standardized math tests than their peers attending the higher-poverty schools - even though the county had targeted them with extra resources. Students in these schools scored modestly higher on reading tests, but those results were not statistically significant.

"The conventional wisdom - and I don't want to knock the foundation of it - is that we really need to infuse the poorest schools with lots of resources," said Stefanie DeLuca, associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, who has studied the issue and read an advance copy of the report. "This study turns that wisdom on its head to some extent. It says, actually, it's who you are going to school with."

Independent researchers call the report a step forward in studying the benefits of economic integration, which has been difficult to measure because it is hard to find large numbers of poor kids in wealthy areas. But Montgomery provided an ideal laboratory because of a long-standing policy of requiring developers to set aside housing for low-income families, who win spots through a lottery.

That randomness strengthens the study, researchers say. It mitigates a problem that hampered previous studies in which parents actively chose to place their children in better schools, making it difficult to separate the effect of the schools from the effect of having motivated parents.

Researchers see the results as especially significant because Montgomery, one of the nation's best and largest public school districts with 144,000 students, has been uncommonly aggressive in seeking to improve the performance of students in schools with higher poverty.

It has divided the county into a high-performing, more-affluent green zone and a high-needs red zone, where schools receive about $2,000 more in per-pupil funding. And yet, the low-income students in the study performed better in the green-zone schools.

Montgomery School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said that the report's findings were no surprise but that his policies are designed to counteract the ill effects of housing patterns that concentrate poverty in certain areas.

Labaree on why low standards for education are good

No education scholar in America throws an analytical knuckleball as well as David F. Labaree of Stanford University. You are reading along, enjoying the clarity of his prose and the depth of his research, thinking his argument is going one way when--whoops!--it breaks in another direction altogether.

It is dizzying, but in a fun way, like an intricate rollercoaster. In a recent book, for instance, Labaree showed that education schools like the one that employs him teach theories that have little to do with how schools work but--here comes the twist--that's okay because education school graduates ignore those courses once they start teaching.

He is at it again in his new book, "Someone Has To Fail: The Zero-Sum Game of Public Schooling." The book is only 280 pages long, but so rich in contrarian assaults on cherished American assumptions I cannot adequately summarize it. I will describe pieces of it instead, like the thrilling part where Labaree disembowels the argument for higher U.S. school standards made by Bob Compton, the high-tech entrepreneur who produced the film "Two Million Minutes" and completely skewered me once on cable TV.

Education for Sustainability The Energy Sector

We need to urgently enhance the services that energy provides, while improving efficiency of energy use. This would not just keep our energy consumption under control but also reduce the social and environmental impacts associated with energy production and use; and keep costs under control. This requires better choices by energy consumers, changed role of workers in the energy industry, as well as better planning by energy policy makers and implementers. In short meeting the mammoth goal of achieving rapid development while maintaining energy security and controlling impact on global warming needs changes in paradigm implicit to our institutions, reflected in planning as well as day–to–day operation of systems and consumer habits.

Awareness and education at all levels is urgently required to achieve this mammoth task of doing a course correction and adapting a to new paradigm. Educational efforts need to reach out to all major actors in the energy sector, that is, consumers, the utilities and other implementation bodies, and policy makers. This short article gives examples of the large task we have in front of us along with the large impact that can be achieved through a modified vision and behavior.

Education for Consumers
Energy consumers need to be educated on the impact of their actions and provided information which can help them to change their actions. Hardly any consumer is aware of the wide difference in the energy consumption of similar looking appliances that are being sold in the market. Figure 1 shows the large potential saving by choosing a specific model of refrigerator. Less dramatic, but similar story exists for almost all appliances and industrial processes. Education through such means can improve consumer choice and reduce energy consumption in addition to increasing sales of efficient appliances, creating an incentive to produce more efficient appliances.

The Akshaya Prakash Yojana is a good example of what education for consumers can do in terms of community action. This was a Voluntary Load Reduction Scheme in villages and Small Cities run by the Maharshtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. (MSEDCL) under which the MSEDCL offered to substantially reduce the load shedding hours on the conditions that (a) the citizens/users do not run any power intensive appliances, such as flour mills, water pumps during the evening peak hours and (b) the community comes together to identify and stop the power theft (hooks — that powered the water heaters and electric hot-plates). As a result, the agricultural pumps got reliable supply at good voltage, overall electricity consumption reduced and MSEDCL could reduce or even remove the load shedding in these villages. The scheme rapidly expanded to nearly 5,000 villages and resulted in saving over 900 MW. But unfortunately, the scheme was wound up due to reducing benefits — due to lack of proper monitoring and control by MSEDCL. Figure 2 shows a heap of water heaters removed by the villages under the Akshaya Prakash Yojana. Community actions such as these are important and are possible only after education campaigns that preceded the Akshaya Prakash Yojana.
Water heaters voluntarily removed in Maharashtra village under Akshaya Prakash Scheme

Courtesy Mr Girish Sant

Although sizable power theft is by urban rich and industry, the rural areas are not free of the malice. Power intensive devices such as water heaters and cooking hot-plates are being used in conjunction with power theft by rural poor.

A spectacular public awareness campaign was carried out in Thailand some years ago. As a curtain raiser, a country–wide advertisement campaign was done to sensitize people about resource wastage in their daily life. The campaign culminated in a one-hour programme which was aired on all TV channels, at prime time. The programme itself started with a series of statements from experts within the power sector and celebrities who spoke on energy efficiency and the need for demand side management and how individuals can make a difference. The key point in the programme came when the consumption of electricity through the day was shown as a graph, including the consumption at that moment. At this point, viewers were requested to switch off any one appliance that was not being used at that time. And within a few minutes, the graph that was being generated in real time, showed a significant dip in consumption as one–by–one gadgets were switched off all across the country. To put this example in our context, just one lamp put off by each consumer in India can reduce the power need by as much as 7000 MW — three times Enron’s Dabhol plant!

Education for Industry
It is not uncommon that industry and appliance manufacturers themselves have little idea of potential impacts of their actions. There have been several examples of major awareness campaigns for the industry, which have yielded significant results. Under a program, some of the European countries initiated series of actions to improve awareness among the industry CEOs. In addition to pointing out the potential saving in their industries the governments instituted tax benefits to industry meeting targets of reduced energy usage. In several cases, these targets were met much earlier than expected, resulting in government announcing new targets for increased energy saving.

Appliance manufacturers have a much larger impact on the economy and energy consumption. However many manufacturers are too small to have the capability to invent or adopt efficient designs on their own. In the mid 1970s, California commissioned the Berkley National Lab to carry out a detailed study on mechanisms to reduce the energy consumption of refrigerators. This source–book was freely given to all manufacturers and then they were told to ensure that their products meet the efficiency standards being set by the government.

The case of Japan is very illustrative. The Japanese government promoted awareness on the importance of efficiency in a big way, following the oil price shock in the mid–1970s. Even today, Japanese products — are recognized for their energy efficiency. Japanese cars and motorcycle designs lead in efficiency. This has contributed to their success in terms of capturing major share the in world market. Another indicator of this has been the Japanese oil consumption level, which remained steady for decades after mid 1970s despite the country achieving major economic growth.

Awareness building of CEOs along with change in incentive structure or imposition of standards / rules are critical for rapid and dramatic changes.

Education of Planners
Utility managers and energy planners are the most critical actors, as they can shape policies and government actions that have long–term and deep impacts on society. Most managers and planners have grown–up in a paradigm that has been supply–based and without limits to consumption. When we need to change the paradigm, they need to be made aware of the possibility of a different paradigm as well as tools required to operationalize the new paradigm.

California provides an example of how policy makers and manufacturers and utilities worked together to reduce energy consumption. The per capita consumption of electricity in California has remained stable since the mid 1970s while the US national average consumption has increased since then by as much as 50%. Figure 3 shows the per–capita consumption of three states and the US average.

Per-capita Electricity consumption in different states in the USA

The per-capita consumption of Texas or even the US average has been steadily increasing. California has been an exception. Since, mid 1970s, its consumption has remained constant. Utility and government led programs to conserve electricity; building and appliance efficiency standards and changed incentives have been the major drivers for this change. (Source – Presentation by Jayant Sathaye, Leader, International Energy Studies Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)

In 1976, California faced the possibility of having to build a nuclear power plant to meet energy needs. The California government realized that the energy consumption by refrigerators in the state was equivalent to building five plants of the type planned. Improving the energy efficiency of the refrigerators would offset the need to build a new power plant. Stringent appliance standards were adopted by California and this led to improved home refrigerators as mentioned earlier. California adopted a different mode than most other states. The utilities promoted efficient appliances through information campaigns and rebate schemes for consumers. In the process the utility avoided the need for building expensive new power plants.

Two years ago, Prayas and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (of the Ministry of Power, Govt of India) organized a workshop to promote the efficient lamps (called CFLs). In recent years, several states have embarked upon schemes to replace the incandescent bulbs with CFLs. The Uttar Haryana Electricity Company has taken up a massive campaign to replace the regular incandescent bulbs with good quality CFLs. High initial cost and lack of availability of good quality CFLs was a barrier for consumers — both were linked to the small market share of CFLs. Utility intervention has made CFLs available easily and widely, at a low cost. The Haryana campaign includes a publicity campaign, a guarantee on the life of CFLs, a scheme to take back/replace worn out bulbs, and a provision to avail of 3 coupons while paying the electricity bills to buy CFL lamps.

The role of education in radically changing the paradigm in transport sector is also noteworthy. Cities in several countries are changing the way they look at transport systems — these are being designed to move persons rather than creating space for moving cars! Efficient public transport, cost–based pricing of road tax on cars are some of the tools used for this transformation. Reduced congestion, reduced travel time, reduced energy consumption and air pollution have been some of the advantages of this change. Some cities in India have started this process in a small way. Interest free loans were given to taxi drivers in Delhi, who were willing to convert to CNG. Pune is experimenting with Bus Rapid Transit System and so on.

Policy formulation is not a one–time task and hence continued awareness and education is essential. Policies made today would bring about changes over a few years, which have to be assessed — did changes take place, what was effective, and if not, what prevented positive changes from occurring. Policy formulation is an iterative process and educational processes can help at all levels — policy formulation, implementation, evaluation and refocusing.

Conclusion
Education plays a key role especially during evolution of a paradigm. This is a large task considering that we have thousands of planners and managers in key positions in energy utilities. Media leaders are critical in shaping public debate. The numbers are much larger in the energy consuming industry and appliance manufacturing industry. If we do a good job in educating them, wider awarenesas building of consumers can become a manageable task.

Addressing Gender Issues and HIV/AIDS through Formal Education Institutions in India

Sandhya Chandrasekharan

The concept of gender emerges from the understanding that biological sex (male or female), is not the only factor influencing the formation of human identities as Men and Women. Various structures and institutions through the (unseen and unquestioned?) ideologies that operate within them create what is ‘commonly accepted’ as ‘Men’ and ‘Women’. This socially constructed identity is gender. It is about Femininities and Masculinities and the process of their creation in societies. For this reason, gender identities also lend themselves to analysis (and ideally, change) in relation to ideas of social justice and well-being.

The word gender has become a politically correct synonym for the study of women. Gender, however, does not refer to women, but to the manner in which male and female differences are socially constructed.Is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) an extension of Environmental Education (EE) which has been in vogue since the 1970's? Without going into a detailed analysis, it may help to start from what exists and reflect on whether within formal education systems like that in India, EE has largely became nature appreciation and ‘do and don’t messages about the natural environment.

The United Nations-Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-14), by giving prominence to ‘ESD’ has at one level encouraged a shift in focus from ‘natural environment’ to ‘sustainable development’ that encompasses a broader environment or surrounding shaped by ecology no doubt, but also social, economic, political and cultural realities.

Secondly, several consultative processes of educators and education policy makers at the international level, have tried to emphasise that ESD is not so much education about sustainable development (information being passed on), but education for sustainable development (facilitating certain thought, feeling and action). These serve as important starting points in this attempt to establish the link between ESD and addressing HIV/AIDS.

1) From EE to ESD: While the content area of 'traditional' environmental education has been topics on energy renewal, science and technology, nature studies, biodiversity etc. ESD is also about equity education in various realms including political and social life, intercultural understanding and gender.

2) Because ESD is education for SD, traditional examination-based classroom centred teaching-learning methodology that tests retention of information (ie: education about something) but not the affective or the capability-enhancing dimension of that information, need to be enlarged and broadened with teaching-learning spaces and processes that are both effective and capable of catering to the specific nature of content.

Central to both tasks, is the need to construct within educational institutions the ability to intervene in gendered roles, relationships and stereotypes that shape young men and women. Essentially, given the appropriateness of or learner-readiness for certain kinds of information at certain stages of physical and psychological maturity, gender-aware education can lay the foundation for more empowered and responsible behaviour in relation to sexuality in both young men and women at a later date. Given the prevalent 'South Asia pattern' of morbidity due to HIV/AIDS where entire families are affected normally through the male 'head' of the family, ESD provides an imperative to examine dominant gender socialisation and cultural norms on sexuality often reinforced or ignored within educational institutions. The dominant gender division of girls and boys (as two very different, rather than as two very similar groups with only different reproductive roles, which they may or may not take on) find expression even in schools’ every day routines in terms of delegation of tasks and roles and specific arrangements such as classroom seating and assembly formations.

The educational institution is often unaware of the processes by which it, along with other social institutions like the family and the media are engaged in socialising children into accepting and naturalizing iniquitous ‘gender roles’. The mass media works most commonly to strengthen the traditional social norms related to gender identity and gender values. The stereotyping in the portrayals of men and women, and the asymmetric roles that they are depicted in, reinforce the relative space accorded to men and women in society. Advertising is increasingly 'objectifying' the body (more often the female body and placing it under the 'male gaze') for the purpose of selling products. As a result, while women may take on new roles — as economic agents and social actors, the fundamental unequal relations between men and women remain unchanged.

Spaces for questioning the disempowering effect of these messages can be created within the formal curriculum and in so called extra-curricular ways in a manner suitable to different stages besides in certain overarching ways (eg: rethinking assembly formation).

Teaching social studies in a challenging manner would involve wanting children to learn to think independently, make well considered choices, and reflect on what goes on in their minds and around them. Understanding the importance of support for the educator, several non governmental organisations have taken up the cause. Avehi-Abacus is one such (http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ams26/adoptaproject/avehi.html) that one school educator recommends (Seshadri, A (2004) A New Way of Thinking for Children: New Approaches to the Curriculum). The Abacus project developed materials that have been tried in the government school system and has helped influence overall curriculum modifications in Maharashtra. It is committed to empowerment through education and to using the potential of audio-visual media to facilitate rational thinking, social awareness and social change.

A toolkit called Sangati comprises six teaching-learning kits, each on a specific theme, two each for classes 5, 6, and 7. They consist of a teachers’ manual, and set of visual aids. The titles are:
• Myself, my body, our needs
• Our earth and the web of life
• How societies developed
• The way we live
• Understanding change
• Preparing for our future

The kit is not about subject matter alone which closely ties up with social studies but one that provides a new way of thinking and learning for children, of looking at and interpreting the world around them and themselves; of helping them see the links between everyday experience, and what they learn. The Teachers’ Manual contains detailed plans for the sessions to be conducted during the year, background and supplementary information, and skill building inputs for teachers. The methodology enables teachers to build a confidence in the children that they will be heard, their views are valuable, that there is space for differences and divergent opinions… a key element in more egalitarian gender socialisation. The structure of the class is built into each kit: there is a component of information dissemination, space for discussion and debate, and opportunity for individual exploration and learning. The kits have visual teaching aids such as posters, flip charts, picture cards.

The manual for class 6 on ‘The World We Live In’, deals with a wide range of issues including families, gender and stereotypes. The note to the teachers explains the reason for inclusion as deliberate and necessary. The presentation of the issue is such that it is as relevant as possible to the children’s reality and ensures that the discussions do not remain at a theoretical level, but actually draw on the experiences and opinions of the students. For instance, the story-cum-discussion based on the flip card ‘Maya’s Story’ is about a young girl Maya who tells her story about the male-dominated and autocratic family structure which does not allow her to make decisions about her life. A 16-year-old, she is unhappy about the fact that her father is deciding to get her married. Her mother gives her all the old arguments such as, ‘...put up with it, that is the way the world is and it is all for your good...’ her uncle tries to intervene on her behalf but he is not given any space. Maya thinks of how her father had loved her when she had been younger. She wonders if she could draw out that affection and talk to him about her feelings. The story ends there. Children are invited to imagine what happens when Maya steps out to talk to her father, and then through a discussion, look at gender-based norms in relation to marriage, right to education, economic independence, freedom of expression and in decision making, family support, societal response and so on.

For the slightly older child, adolescence, the crucial time of marked internal development and massive cultural indoctrination invites thoughtful interventions. Family, peers and society communicate in various ways strong social norms that can be disturbing or damaging, or simply difficult to cope with. It is a time of adjusting to physical changes and being authentic in ‘owning’ emotions and thoughts related to the body. Adults tend to be moralistic about adolescent expressions and experiences: ‘Don’t do this and don’t do that...’ or ‘Your clothes are provocative and that is why you are eve-teased’. Peer pressure that surrounds the period of growing up merits special concern. Schools have taken to addressing these concerns in meaningful ways. It could take the form of a workshop, or an open forum like a bulletin board. Some schools (especially if they have branches in a region) formalise a youth organisation for their older students, with local and regional chapters and a scheme of activities concurrent to the academic calendar. The Chinmaya Mission Schools Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (abbreviated as CHYK) is one such. Informed and sensitive guidance, in whatever form, is the key. This may also mean access to a competent social worker/ counsellor if need be.

For high school and college students the psycho-physical and socio-cultural elements of HIV/AIDS can be introduced more directly. The epidemiology of the HIV/AIDS in India, the societal response, and the related issues, can be discussed in relation to key trends — say, the higher rate of growth of infection in, and mortality, among Women, the Urban-Rural pattern of spread, and increasing prevalence of infection among teenagers and young adults. Audio-visual media can powerfully supplement the messages and engage young people.

One such attempt by CEE used a 17minute clipping from Anand Patwardhan’s documentary ‘Father, Son and Holy War’, and the music video ‘Babul’ by Shubha Mudgal to examine Masculinity and the Woman’s status within marriage, respectively. Besides students’ involvement as ‘subjects’ in the theme, they can be engaged as potential ‘agents of change’. Examining various interventions to address HIV/ AIDS serves to highlight their role as citizens in supporting the challenge of bringing about a more comprehensive socio-cultural response.

The concept of gender emerges from the understanding that biological sex (male or female), is not the only factor influencing the formation of human identities as Men and Women. Various structures and institutions through the (unseen and unquestioned?) ideologies that operate within them create what is ‘commonly accepted’ as ‘Men’ and ‘Women’. This socially constructed identity is gender. It is about Femininities and Masculinities and the process of their creation in societies. For this reason, gender identities also lend themselves to analysis (and ideally, change) in relation to ideas of social justice and well-being.

The word gender has become a politically correct synonym for the study of women. Gender, however, does not refer to women, but to the manner in which male and female differences are socially constructed.