Anyone from gateways at Randolph, NJ?

hai,
Iam sathiapriya presently living in India, planning to come tto US in the month of April or may, my husband is staying in newyork , he has come to this place from India 5 months ago, we are going to stay at Gateways at Randolph,NJ, I have 2 sons, elder one is studying class 3 and will be going to class 4,in the new academic year,and younger one is 3.6 years old.Iam in a big confusion to bring my children to US,regarding education i want to know which is best educationg in US or in India,my son is studying in cbse standard, i have planned to stay in Us for 2 years and again go back to India ,many of my friends have said that once the children get to this culture they wont feel like going back to India, is it true, children studying in 4 class in India will be studying in class 3 in US and again going back to India how they will admit,my son date of birth is 17-10-1999, Regarding my second son, preprimary is costly i have heared , if it is very costly what can i do, when i think all these iam hesitating to come to US.
please guide me,dear friends.

Hi Priya ,

In reply to ur query .. Firstly do u have an option of leaving your kids back in India ? Secondly , would you be able to live away from your husband for two years getting to see him once in a year ?

If for both of the above your answer was no .. then read on ..:)
Children wil never get spoilt at that young age. All they know is to make new frens and learn new culure. We indians have a myth that we could face a culture shock while in the US. which I dnt disagree to. But the children getting used to ' US culture ' and " not getting back to India " is wrong. As Indians outside US that is what we feel. It would be too early for your kids to make such decisions if you are sure to return by the end of two years where at your elder son would be 10 years.

About what being better the US or Indian education.. its very difficult to give you correct info. If you planning to settle here in the US for many years to come then probably this would be better for their future else it doesnt matter if they had 2 years of US culture and education in their life.. isnt ? :)

Check with your sons' school wether they would have no hassles admitting them back when you return to india for good except when there is a major educational law that gets implied in India in the future !!! ( I dont think our country is that rude !! )

If your husband and you do not mind sacrficing each others presence, if at all you are too worried about the kids education for mere two years.. then stay back. But remember you have lost that precious two years of family and fun.
You got to give up on certain aspects if you need to gain another.
Dont get too worked up on these issues and pack your bags and have some real good time !!

However I am not from NJ but stay in a state closeby to it ! Sit back .. Relax and think. You wil find an answer from within you. ( Do let me know wether my mail helped at all ... !!! )

Cheers , :)

Preethi

Dear Preethi,
first of all thanks you for your reply, I have the confident to manage after reading your reply.

thanks
bye

Hi Sathiya,

I am Nand(hini) from NJ. I have been here for quite sometime.

I understand your dilemma :) and its perfectly allright and to some extent I would have to agree that your fears might be true.

I slightly have to disagree with preethi :) (hope shes Ok with it) and following is my opinion. I hope it helps with your decision.

First, decide if its going to be only for 2 years or is there an option that it might extend. If its just temporary, then your decision making can be a bit easier.[why, I will come to that later :)]

US education Vs Indian education:

From as far as I know, US education is about kids enjoying their childhood and inbetween learning too. My friends kids are in 1-2grade and they are yet to read or write properly. I am not blaming the schools here. but its just that in India, from Kindergarden, kids are being shaped up and importance of education is seeded. Here its more practical learning with you get to do all by urself mostly. And most of the time, you get to do different case scenarios. I disagree with this approach since at this age, kids are like clay and we should be directing them instead of making them choose.

My personal verdict, ofcourse Indian education is the best for kids. When you want to do master or research US education rocks, since with all the
money and equipment, thats not available in India :)

Also, check the following site: All school reports are available online.

Randolph falls under Morris County. You can check the different schools and as well as the public middle school :)

NEW JERSEY SCHOOL REPORT CARD 2005-2006

US Culture

You mentioned that you would be coming to Randolph. Being a NJian, I would like to give you some facts.

(1) This town that you are planning to settle is a predominantly hispanics crowd.
(2) Also the taxes are very high here.
(3) Since your kids will be in the public school system, its highly possible that there might be lots of influence from the general crowd there.

For Example, Edison NJ schools are one of top ranked schools in the whole of USA. The reason being, its predominantly Indians. 1 of every 3 kids is an Indian. Now you might understand what I mean right :)

One of friend has to in the middle of her kids school has to relocate from piscataway (another town in NJ) to Edison, the reason being the arrogant attitude that suddenly got into her sons. They are in 4th and 6th respectively. piscataway and Brunswick are mostly blacks. She came when they were in 3rd and 5th, its not like they were born and bought up here :)

I am not blaming a particular race. Its just that, they way of household is different than us. We dont raise our voice against our parents, but in their household, they all are treated as grown up independents in childhood itself and thus they voice up as an adult.

Anyways, my personal opinion is yes at this very young age, when they will be spending most of the day time in school, yes they might be influenced, they might get a shade of the culture here.. but knowing your kids and how you have managed them so far, its upto you to make the decision if you can still uphold whatever you have been doing so far :) So I am leaving that to you. End of the day wherever you are bringing them, if you feel confident that you can streamline them in the correct path with your parenting, I dont think you need to worry !!

Now coming to the first question I asked, if its a short duration of stay (2 years) then either you can stay with them and meet your husband on school vacation. (thus both u and ur kids will enjoy America from the outer circle ;) and not actually see deep into it :ee:)

Anyways sathiya romba pesiten nenaikuren!! take your time and evaluate your options.

Good luck!!

Hey Am glad it helped in some way, priya ! And yes I do agree with Nandu.. I am not the rite person to comment on education here in the US as Im not aware of it in toto ! But I havent heard of anything unpleasent from my neighbours / frens who have put their children to school here. We must know that not everyone would have similar experiences be it like what Nandu got to see nor what I havent seen !! :) I have a group of frens here in Boston ( indians ) who have formed a small play group of their own and teach children the best of Indian and US culture ! However .. am glad both the the vws will get your answer from within you !!! :) Good Life Ahead !!

Originally Posted by sathiapriya

Dear Preethi,
first of all thanks you for your reply, I have the confident to manage after reading your reply.

thanks
bye

Originally Posted by Drpreethis

Hey Am glad it helped in some way, priya ! And yes I do agree with Nandu.. I am not the rite person to comment on education here in the US as Im not aware of it in toto ! But I havent heard of anything unpleasent from my neighbours / frens who have put their children to school here. We must know that not everyone would have similar experiences be it like what Nandu got to see nor what I havent seen !! :) I have a group of frens here in Boston ( indians ) who have formed a small play group of their own and teach children the best of Indian and US culture ! However .. am glad both the the vws will get your answer from within you !!! :) Good Life Ahead !!

Hey Preethi, Thanks for taking it in the right sense.

Very true..we never know how that individual might turn up :)

May be the reason is... I am in NJ (you know which race is predominant here ;) ). I used to stay in a place called Framingham.. I guess in MA, their population is very less when compared to us :(

hi ,
I thank both nandu and preethi , I have deceided to come to US, and as a mother Iam confident that i will develop them very well, and this is the age for them and me to visit here, suppose if i miss this , it will take many years to visit this place, so i will come enjoy and go back to India.

bye

Hey wow ! Good decision .. Am glad your mind is much clear now .. Believe me you will be one happy couple for all to see. ! and neverthless a super mom !

Welcome to US .. and keep in touch. Let me know if you need help in getting the rite stuff !

Take care and enjoy !

Originally Posted by sathiapriya

hi ,
I thank both nandu and preethi , I have deceided to come to US, and as a mother Iam confident that i will develop them very well, and this is the age for them and me to visit here, suppose if i miss this , it will take many years to visit this place, so i will come enjoy and go back to India.

bye

Awesome!!!!

Let me be the first to welcome you to our Garden state :)