Over the years, we’ve noticed that every student goes through their education in what we would like to call a messy manner, no matter how organized they may be while starting out. Don’t believe us?

 Remember that time you kept your books so clean and in ascending order of their height for the first few days of school, and were picking up pages and holding them together by the end of the term? What happens after the first term? We all know how that story goes.

Well, this analogy applies to almost all the students through their student life, regardless of what stage they’re in. Keeping this in mind we’ve compiled a small list of daily habits to help you guys make life a little more organised and a little easier to manage.

WAKE UP EARLY – This cannot be emphasised enough! We know that as a student, few things come close to getting in bed late and waking up at your own sweet time whenever you can, but there’s nothing like starting your day early. You get enough time to plan your day, organize yourself, and divide your time into things you WANT to do and things you NEED to do.

What happens as a result? You’re far more productive and go to bed satisfied. Try it, thank us later.

This is also a super important habit for life!

MAKE TO-DO LISTS – A student’s mind has a lot going on, we understand that completely. In all the mush going on inside the head, it is normal to miss out on things. Make lists, tick tasks off the list, and get things done!

EAT WELL AND REMAIN ACTIVE – Studies can sometimes take the forefront of your life, and you are going to be under pressure more often than not, In such times, eating healthy and getting enough sleep help keep your mind active and help you function well through the day with complete alertness. If you can take up a sport in your spare time or do some physical activity every now and then, it makes sure that your brain remains alert and is an ideal mind state to be in.

FIND A HOBBY – Reading, music, sports whatever it may be. Find a hobby that you can fall back on to blow off some steam and channel your creativity into, and who knows that might just open up new roads for you too!

Take it easy, don’t stress and just make simple positive changes that impact your life positively and clear up the everyday mess of a student life.

It’s that time of the year again! A new batch is all set to walk in. We’re getting ready to welcome those new faces, new goals and new ambitions as they walk through the doors of Vidya Mandir. Here, we don’t see numbers, nor do we see percentages. We see young individuals, people with potential, people with different talents and abilities but the same spirit – to grow and develop!

Here everyone is a winner, because we aren’t an institution based simply on academics. We believe in harbouring a healthy personal relationship with each of our students and we go beyond the conventional norms of teaching(the alumni can tell you all about it!) The student and teacher share a close relationship where a student can approach the teacher freely for his/her doubts and have them solved. There’s no hierarchy or one way communication, instead we believe in encouraging a free flowing two way communication to ensure the student has completely imbibed what is being taught. This is with respect to academics as well as personal life! We make it a point to understand our students, and believe that each individual is different. One size does not fit all, which is why we spend time in learning more about what our students truly enjoy. If you don’t believe this, ask some of our alumini, they’ll tell you how we still stay in touch over dinners, phone calls and news of achievements throughout the year, even after a decade of being a part of Vidya Mandir 🙂

The style of teaching here is also very open and interactive. We don’t just prepare our students for examinations, we believe in education year round. Even holidays are meant for active learning and interactions, study groups are encouraged and we encourage our students to learn through each other’s mistakes and experiences. There are weekly tests and revisions that ensure that every concept is well understood and imbibed before the final revisions just prior to the examination. We believe that if you study consistently and are in touch with your concepts, then there’s no room for panic! The style of learning here is such that you can freely ask your doubts and have them answered, there is no question that is ‘stupid’ or ‘silly’ and there in no limit to the number of questions you can ask!

We welcome you into our family with open arms, hoping that you can help us help you realise your dreams and develop not only your academic performance, but personality and character as well so that you’re a well rounded individual that can grow and progress in life!

Happy learning

Students need to add a new best friend to their friends list, especially during the vacations – Books! Everyone says reading is a good habit one must inculcate, everyone should read good magazines and books to learn more about the world, improve a language, stay updated, etc. But for students, this matters more than any other age group, especially during vacations, that part of the year when they have the time and mental capacity to involve themselves in whatever they’re reading to truly reap the benefits of the activity.

The benefits of reading are a plenty, but the student needs to be ready to absorb them. This is where the vacations play such a key role. The absence of exams and availability of free time must be used for fun learning, and one of the ways to make this happen is to pick up a book and read! Before you start, here’s a thing that you need to know- do not force yourself into reading something because everyone else is reading it. There are chances that you might not like a popular book at all! Spend some time experimenting with genres while picking up books and seeing what suits your fancy. If a book is interesting, you’ll know that within the first ten pages. Even the first ten pages have so much to teach you, see! For starters, you made a decision!

A lot of students look to books as an escape.  Mystery novels and science fiction are popular genres that transport people into a different world altogether. This not only helps keep the students stress free in a world that dumps expectations and academic pressure on students, but also helps broaden their horizons and enhances their imagination skills. Their mind isn’t limited to only one dimension anymore.

 Another key benefit of reading is that it unknowingly improves their career opportunities in the future by increasing their vocabulary and the usage of it. A lot of famous English professors, authors, content writers have evolved into doing what they do because they started reading at an early age. The immediate benefit of this will also reflect in their coming days, where they will find themselves using these words in their essays to explain their points.

Students that read a lot of Dan Brown, or Sidney Sheldon and other mystery thrillers develop into more analytical human beings. Yes, the choice of books also has an impact on their personalities! Research says that these students use logic and analytical thinking more often to deduce current situations and analyse possible outcomes. On the other hand, students that read more of classical literature and timeless novels like Anna Karenina and Tom Sawyer have a richer vocabulary and are generally more verbose and better at explaining themselves and putting points across. So not only is reading an important activity for mental health, but from an academic standpoint it has a key impact on the immediate as well as long term future of a student in a positive way.

So if you’re a student reading this, pick a genre, pick a bestseller and just get started! And if you’re a parent, you know just what to gift your kid during the next vacation.

We live in an era defined by technology, defined by its quick pace and by the financial status of every individual running the race. However, when it comes to parenting, all these three factors have a key role to play – Technology needs to be regulated, the quick pace needs to be slowed down for your kids, and the financial status can take a back seat. What your kid needs is not the latest gadgets and smartphones, or a heavy pocket money amount, what he needs is your time.

We understand it’s hard to spend time in today’s day and age when most parents are working long shifts and barely get time to see their spouses, but now that you’ve made the commitment of having a child, you owe it to your family to spend quality time with them to help shape your child’s personality and mould them into quality individuals.

We’re not saying that you need to spend your entire day staring into the eyes of your kids, and not letting them leave your sight, but you can spend time with them each opportunity you get. Did you know that there are only 940 Saturdays between a child’s birth and their leaving for college? That may sound like a lot, but how many have you already used up? If your child is 5 years old, 260 Saturdays are gone. Poof! And the older your kids get, the busier their Saturdays are with friends and activities! Movie nights, evening walks, word quizzes, grocery shopping, take every opportunity you get to spend time with your little ones, and make sure you’re living that moment entirely, making memories as you go.

But why is spending time so important? How does it help?

Remember that kid that makes a scene in the middle of the departmental store, or as they grow older do strange things to seek attention? That stems psychologically from kids not getting enough attention from their parents. Good parenting which gives kids enough attention ensures that they develop into sound individuals that don’t indulge in harmful and attention seeking behaviour.

Another very important reason is that it may be the only way you get to know your child and really connect with him. You want to be your child’s go to person to talk to in case they’re hurt or feeling low, and for that you need to earn that trust and spend quality time with them. Spending time with them ensures you’re a good friend, and helps build trust too.

This activity also is extremely important because it builds self-esteem and makes kids realise their worth. This holds true especially to shyer, less outgoing children that keep to themselves. It helps them get over social anxiety, if any.

Most importantly, this individual time that you spend with your child will strengthen your bond at a nascent stage and ensure that it is a long lasting, loving one.

Take some time off, work never stops but this time with your child will never come back. Live it, Love it!

While making the leap from high school to college, it’s super important to make sure that you land safely. It’s not just hop skip and jump, since college is a whole other ball game altogether. That being said, you don’t need to get nervous or jittery about taking the next natural step in progression, but rather embrace it with excitement. You know what they say, ‘Your college days will stay with you forever’. That being said, here are a few things that you should keep in mind when you’re starting your college life and that could be of help to you in this transition period –

1. Master the art of Time Management – You can transition into college effortlessly just by optimally utilizing your time. A lot of students love the freedom, the hostel life so much that they end up wasting half the day in bed and get stuck in the vicious circle of trying to match the attendance towards the end of the semester, clueless of what’s been taught. Attend your lectures, participate in extracurricular activities and make time to blow off steam with your friends too. It’s all about the right balance.

2. Don’t be afraid to fail – This doesn’t just limit to your grades or academics, and no we don’t mean that you don’t need to study. What this means is that you shouldn’t be afraid to try out new things. Hobbies, sports, subjects, try out whatever attracts your interest. You’re still finding your feet and you’ll never know what your forte is or could be if you don’t try. Take that risk, you never know what you might learn. 

3. Find a Mentor – There’s nothing that smoothens the process of settling into college like having an experienced mentor to fall back on. Find a professor or teacher that’s passionate about the same subject as you, or a senior that you can relate or connect with and don’t be afraid to talk to them about your experiences and ask them for advice.

4. BE SOCIAL – This cannot be emphasised enough! You can’t be in your shell and keep to yourself when you join college, it’s the easiest to make friends in the start. You don’t want to be struggling to enter groups that have already been formed later on and not know what’s up. Learn with each other and grow together, talk to your peers and find a group of individuals that you’re most comfortable talking to. Talk to everyone and maintain friendly relations with everyone. Help whoever you can, it comes back to you!

Stay in touch with your family and friends back home, share your day with everyone, and see how easy it gets to enter the world of college 🙂

At Vidya Mandir, we don’t just want to focus on coaching the children that seek our help in education.  ‘Help’ here at Vidya Mandir is not merely academic assistance but a lot more than that. We prefer to pick on the roles of counsellors and mentors that don’t just help them improve their academic performances, but also help them become better human beings and understand the small nuances that help an individual make it or break it in life.

Let’s break down the process simply. In most other coaching classes, there are just lectures or classes with a couple of calls for coordination or clearing of doubts. At Vidya Mandir, we follow a different culture altogether. We have the basic classes and lectures where we encourage student to student, and student to teacher interaction. We also incorporate emails and phone calls in our communication to share feedback, have one on one sessions with students that need extra attention, have dedicated social media platforms and blogs to address common doubts and issues and share valuable tips, and most importantly – Share a personal connect outside the classroom.

In the early stages of life, a student has numerous dilemmas and obstacles that society expects you to tackle by yourself or with the support of your family, not realising that it is this age when children can’t be completely open to their parents, be it matters of studies or personal issues like bad habits, company, etc. We understand that, and aim to extend a helping hand to guide them onto the right path so that they go on to become individuals of substance that are not only learned, but well educated too and share a set of values.

Remember those intense formulas that you learnt in school? Or those endless hours you spent studying the history of the world and always wondered, ‘This stuff has already happened! Why am I wasting my life studying this?’ Or “Will I ever really need this formula later in life?” Here’s then thing- the curriculum has been designed in a certain way for a reason. The syllabus aims at holistically grooming you so that you can grow and develop into knowledgeable human beings that can take rational decisions after being well informed and in the best interests of society as well as yourself. Sounds intense, doesn’t it? But what this simply means is that education is not just for personal or social use, but a well-balanced combination of both.

In fact, the history bit is so that you learn from man’s past experiences and the outcomes, so that you know ‘his’ story and make life decisions, big or small based on previous experiences so you have a vague idea of how the world works. Knowledge of history helps you understand the current affairs in the world. Why are people of 2 regions at war? Why are certain political parties more favoured than the rest? It all comes down to a good knowledge of history, geography and civics.

We look at the science formulae and think,” there’s no way in hell that this is going to be useful to us when we’re grown up”, but these subjects have daily applications and practical applications in our day to day life, and we’re exposed to it so much that we don’t even realise the science that’s going into simple things happening around us!

Remember that paper fight you’d have in the class room right before the teacher was going to enter? You don’t know it, but subconsciously you’ve used some practical physics right there. How? Let us show you. You took a flat sheet of paper, crumpled it into a ball and then hurled it at your mate. You didn’t throw it just as sheet because the sheet has a larger surface area, making the terminal velocity lesser. You crumpled up the sheet into a ball with less surface area,then hurled it so that the higher terminal velocity makes It reach your target with speed. Amazing, isn’t it?

This is just one instance! Changing a punctured tyre, lifting heavy weights, driving, designing a house/club/restaurant/fitness space, all these are other small examples of how everything that we learn in school matters.  Even simple concepts of biology such as Osmosis can be seen when you water different plants differently and just observe the many concepts and facets of gardening!  Opening the door uses force, breathing uses the concept of gases and volume that pushes out the CO2 from your lungs and fills them in with oxygen. Even exercising uses concepts of science- physics, chemistry and biology!

The point here is, that studies and subjects are taught for a reason, that may not be visible right in the beginning, but they have both personal and social use in your life and ultimately play a huge role in moulding you as a human being.

It’s that time of the year. That time, when kids turn to their books like they never have before – one last time, one last hurrah! The feared, the dreaded, BOARD EXAMS! It’s only natural that they feel intense levels of stress during these months leading up to the boards because of the mentality and the sentiments around these exams that have been harboured over all these years.

“IF YOU DON’T ACE THESE EXAMS YOU WON’T GET ADMISSION ANYWHERE!”

“YOU HAVE TO DO WELL OTHERWISE FIND A NEW HOME”

“YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN SHARMAJI’S SON”

After statements like these from Indian parents, you can’t expect children to not feel pressurized when they already have a lot on their plate. It’s kind of natural though, and you shouldn’t blame yourself since this is the norm that has been followed since the past few decades, but NOW it’s time to change that and that change can start from you! Imagine if your child’s mind was at ease and he could focus without a gun to his head, wouldn’t he perform better without the risk of anxiety and panic attacks on the onset?

Here’s a few ways in which you can tackle anxiety and pre Boards stress –

1. A calm, composed environment – This one is for the parents. Don’t be angry for small things, and don’t pressurize them to study every hour. Trust us when we tell you, THEY KNOW their exams are coming. Rather than pressurizing them, reassure them and make sure they’re in a calm environment that harbours learning and ensure that they aren’t taking stress.

2. Leave the old school ideas behind – This goes for both parents and kids. While it’s important to fare well in your exams and make sure that the marks actually reflect your potential, it’s not just academics anymore that determine how a child’s future will turn out. It’s more about all round development, extra curricula’s and social skills that play a big role too. Telling your child that only marks matter will put him in a state of constant anxiety. Show him the importance of studying with relevant examples, and not simply force him to get good marks. Chances are, he/she will understand why studies are important.

3. Be a Support System – Kids need reassurance mentally, to really unlock their true potential and put their mind to studying and not worrying about failure. This is where the parents can act as huge support systems for their kids and stand by them in probably the biggest test of their abilities till date. Talk to them, listen to them, be around for them.

4. Know your child’s ability – You as a parent should know your child’s ability better than anyone else and know the marks they’re capable of.  Don’t be too hard on them and expect results that they’ve never got in their entire school lives. Know their ability and back them up. Accept them the way they are, every child is special in their own way. Let your child know you’re proud of him, and that you acknowledge all the effort he is putting in, and that you know he can do better.

Sounds fair? These are tips you can inculcate not just during the boards, but for life in general!

Get in touch with us if you are a student who’s stressed, or are finding parenting during this time difficult. We are here for you 🙂

In today’s times, staying updated with tech trends isn’t really a choice that parents have any more. It’s more of a bare necessity and falls under the mandates of ‘good parenting’. Today’s times are pretty tricky from a parenting standpoint. While the advancements in technology have made it much easier and more convenient to learn and imbibe information as kids, the evils lurking have also increased. We’ve often talked about the omnipresent social media and how they affect the child’s attention span, along with the plethora of games and apps that can have a lasting impact on a child’s impressionable mind – both positive and negative. In such times, when a child is not old enough to know what’s good for him and what isn’t, it’s the parent that needs to step in and take that call.

Now it isn’t just smartphones you need to worry about, we’ve come a long long way from that. Today’s kids have more specific demands, seeing the behaviour and usage of their peers and the gadgets that the parents themselves use. Smart watches, VR devices etc. are used by the children in a lot of cases and need to be properly supervised. These watches can run apps from the play store, and the Virtual Reality headsets give you an immensely real feel as if the world around you has changed. In a kid’s case, both these can mould their character in different ways and strict supervision is required to ensure that the apps that the kids are using are age appropriate and will do more good than harm!

But as parents you probably have a lot on your plate already. With jobs, responsibilities, added pressures that keep you occupied how can you possibly stay updated with the latest tech trends and supervise your kids? It’s really not that hard.

The key here is to ‘Get Wet but don’t drown’! What we mean is that keep an eye out for latest trends and developments that are being spoken of, but don’t read just any and every article out there. There are literally a million blogs and websites with information, but only a handful are actually relevant and true. Trust reliable sources and verified portals for your reviews and then form a judgement. A quick 5 minute internet search takes care of 90% of your task!

Find your Tech Whisperer! It can be anyone, a friend or family member that has a lot of tech knowledge, an online personality you meet at a forum or even a trusted blog that you can follow. Reach out and don’t be afraid to ask questions and queries and get your doubts cleared! Better to know something than be afraid to ask and stay in the dark.

Reach out to us for any queries/comments you’d like to leave and we’d love to get back to you. Cheers, and happy parenting!

Board examinations are a rather stressful time for all students. These students are geared to score well, and prepare religiously as the marks often determine the next step. It is common for students to get stressed before writing their exams, and often even while writing the exams! Over the years, I have noticed some common mistakes that students make in their mock up exams leading to their boards, and often, even their board papers. I am noting them down here along with solutions-

1.      Misreading and missing instructions – students are often in a hurry to finish their paper as soon as they get it. Every subject paper in a board examination provides choices to the candidates. I have come across so many instances where students have attempted an extra question thereby leading to a time crunch, or even left a question because they didn’t pay enough attention…or simply forgot to turn the page! It is very important to be completely alert and scan the paper during the reading time, and plan out all that you’re going to attempt.

Here’s how I approach the 10 minute reading time – first, skim through the paper quickly in a couple of minutes and read all instructions. Next, read each section carefully and see what you can attempt, and plan your answers out. Always check and understand whether you have to attempt all sections, or only a few!

2.      Time crunch – Always keep a check on time! I’ve often noticed that students spend too much time pondering over answers, and sometimes too little time and thereby making mistakes. Balance it out – decide the amount of time you will take to tackle each section. Do not be anxious and hurry up – be patient. And if you can’t find a solution, skip to the next question and come back to this right at the end.

3.      Following a hierarchy – It is essential for students to be mindful of the marks that each section and question carries. Look at where the long answers are, and look at where the short ones are and weigh it out in terms of time. Usually, short answers are attempted first before hopping onto the section with long answer questions. Be brief, and to the point, and don’t ramble when you don’t need to!

4.      Copying the question wrong – this is another common mistake among most students. The only way to control is to not be anxious or in a hurry. Be patient, read every question carefully, and double check to ensure that you’re copying it right.

5.      Diagrams – Diagrams are often marked on their neatness and how they are labelled. Make sure that you are not drawing and redrawing – and don’t get frazzled while attempting diagrams or geometry and graphs in your boards. Leave ample amount of time for your diagrams and make sure that they are neat, precise, and well labelled. The hack to being efficient is to once again, be patient and systematic while drawing diagrams.

Studying can be rather tedious and takes up most of the student’s time – and is often, undesirable by students. It thus comes as no surprise that teachers have stringent rules about homework! Over the years, I’ve understood that there are a few hacks that make studying quicker, and easier – these are essentially hacks to improve your concentration while studying. I tell my students about these in my classes too, and would love to share it with everyone here too.

Here are some tips that will help students focus on studying-

Study out loud – you are 50% more likely to remember what you read out loud as opposed to reading the same paragraph again and again. Another tip is to play teacher and student – and explain the subject matter to yourself, solving your doubts, and raising questions to make yourself understand the subject matter better.

Create mental associations – The ability to make connections is not only an easier way to remember information, but it’s the fuel of creativity and intelligence. Creating these mental associations are an easy way to connect ideas by creating a visual overview of different connections (example- an easy way to remember the first 20 elements of the Periodic Table is to make a mnemonic) You can also draw diagrams to memorise.

Re-energise yourself every few minutes – Do not sit in a place for a prolonged period of time. Walk every 20 minutes and keep yourself well hydrated while studying. This will make you active and more interested in your topic.

Take power naps – If you are studying for long hours, do not beat yourself up or drink coffee or energy drinks to keep you up and about. If your brain has to concentrate consistently for hours at a time, it loses processing power and your concentration levels slip. Power naps work very well, and help you look at all the subject matter completely refreshed.

Do one thing at a time – Do not get ahead of yourself or take the easy way out; and don’t attempt to kill two birds with one stone. Not only does this leave you scattered and distracted, it makes your memory strained – i.e, you forget everything very easily. Instead, focus on one topic at a time and ensure that you understand it very clearly.

Meditation, a long term solution – Seek and practice guided meditation. It is a great tool to sharpening your senses and improving your focus in everyday life. It also improves both mental and physical health.

These are some basic hacks that help students improve their focus and master concentration while studying. I do hope that this is useful!

When it comes to taking the next step the education cycle, it’s always a question for the parents whether or not to send the child away to a hostel. Even the children are apprehensive at the thought! Well, you can’t blame them for not wanting to get out of their comfort zone, it’s human nature after all. No one wants to leave the comfort of their homes and move out to a new place. But going away to a hostel to study has its own pros which outweigh the cons by a huge margin. Let’s discuss these further-

The good part about going away to a hostel is that you get exposed to a whole new world, a whole new lifestyle. Till now, it was not just you but your entire family involved in almost every choice you that you made. Hostel life means brings about a new level of independence! You learn how to take your own decisions, you learn how to own up to your mistakes, and most importantly you learn how to watch out for each other. Hostel life teaches you team-work and leadership in ways you couldn’t even imagine! 

Another good part about living in a hostel is that it isn’t just you who’s going through this period of change and transition from the pampered life to the solo life, it’s a whole lot of like-minded people of the same age group, experiencing similar feelings which helps you bond with each other and find a family away from your own. It’s no replacement of course, but it makes life that much easier to deal with and a little more enjoyable.

Hostel life gives you a sense of belonging, and a sense of attachment to your peers. These people come to care about you, since you’re practically living with them and learning, eating and growing together. You have people looking out for you, people to interact and grow with and ultimately you guys learn through each other’s experiences and mistakes.

Hostel life also teaches you one very important life lesson – Money Management.  Living in a hostel means living in a budget, and not running to your parents every time you want to eat, drink or buy something. It teaches you to budget and plan your finances and spend your money judiciously.

All in all, the hostel life is one that every kid should experience for at least a few years, and take as much learning from it as possible, so that they can continue molding themselves into able, responsible students that know how to find the right balance in life!

At Vidya Mandir, our mind set is very different to other educational institutions. We do not believe in comparing students, but simply focus on imparting education to each of our students in a way that is comfortable for them. Here, we believe in promoting Growth Thinking and broadening the horizons of the minds, so that our students can tackle any situation at hand and face whatever comes their way.

The training methodology is such that it challenges their brain at every step, forcing it to evolve and take their thinking to the next level through rigorous tests, revisions and discussions that reinforce the topic in the student’s mind without making it a tedious task that requires last minute studies and mugging up, like most pre-exam scenarios.

We promote Critical Thinking and analysing the situation to take the best possible route to get to the solution. For this purpose, a lot of the learning at Vidya Mandir happens through group exercises and group projects. Why does this help? This helps mainly because when you’re working in a group you learn a lot more as compared to when you’re going solo. You have a broader outlook to the problem at hand, because it’s not just your analysis of the situation that is considered, but that of your teammates too. You interact, discuss and then take action after weighing the pros and cons.This is a practice that is also very helpful in daily life, since it ensures that you’re on the best possible track! Not only this, but through group activities, you learn through your doubts as well as the doubts and mistakes of your teammates.

Here there’s no limit to learning, we harbour an environment for positive thinking where mistakes are encouraged and seen as opportunities to learn rather than something to put students down for. They should keep learning through trial and error and keep progressing, since stagnation is the enemy of growth!

Our method of teaching has proven to be successful, and so many names on our success stories are proof of that. At Vidya Mandir, your child is well taken care of, where his mistakes are not only corrected, but also encouraged, where positive thinking is the only way of thinking, where group studies form relations and also lead to better understanding, where critical thinking not only prepares the students for an exam, but for life.

Are you ready to be a part of our ever growing family?

Education as a value system is one that is built on the ideal of effective communication. Right from the time of the Indian Gurukul system, where oral tradition of passing on knowledge from one generation to another occurred, to modern times, where content is delivered on online platforms for students to access worldwide, talking and delivering as well as listening and receiving, form imperative parts of the process of learning.  The only way forward is to channel this communication to make the process most effective and useful.

Feedback is a relatively new concept, being used by teachers and students alike in order to identify and keep best practices and strengthen areas of development. While teachers/mentors/parents need to keep in mind that feedback must be constructive, specific and action oriented, the same applies for the approach of the person on the receiving end.

Following are a few tips that will help you make the finest use of feedback and create the best version of yourself.

• Trust the process and people

Understand that the person giving you feedback are ones with experience and learning in the field. There are no vested interests or partiality here, all is said and done for your betterment. Keeping this in mind, and trusting that you are being helped, will allow you to open your mind and thus facilitate learning and progress.

• Communicate and resolve any doubts

If you have been given feedback you don’t seem to understand, or feel is misplaced, take the time out to resolve this with your teacher/mentor/parent. Approach them with an open mind, so as to understand the context of the feedback and the reason behind them making a statement. When you do this, you will better know the place from which this feedback comes from and will allow you to change your mind. Incase you feel the feedback is not constructive, communicate this.

• Create an action plan

There is an effect of feedback only if an action to act upon that feedback is taken. Analyze the feedback given to you, and perhaps discuss it with your mentor in terms of next steps. If you have been given appreciation for a particular area, identify how you can keep your successes. Similarly if you are given suggestions on areas of development, try to plan a way to strengthen them. An easy and effective method for the same is backward planning. Look at the feedback, and set a goal with a timeline. Then break it down into small goals, and targets with smaller timelines.

• One step at a time

Set achievable and realistic goals. Talk to someone if you don’t feel prepared to set these goals. Remember, things don’t turn around in a day, nor can everything be fixed in one go. Take one thing at a time, and focus on your current priority. Even if feedback is given for various things to be worked on, choose what you think is most important and go for it!

• Review your feedback after a while

Somewhere down your timeline and action plan, go back to feedback. Check for progress. Approach the person who gave you feedback, and look for change. If you are still stuck with the same feedback, you need to tweak your plan.

• Celebrate yourself

When you receive feedback, human tendency often makes us stress on the things not in our favor and we tend to forget the successes. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, their life, context, strengths and weaknesses are vastly different. Look at all the progress you have made. Applaud your successes, however small they may be to motivate yourself and keep going.

Together, we can be better!

We often have an existential crisis not knowing about what’s going on or what’s going to happen, or even if the decisions we’ve taken are the correct ones or not. Have I chosen the right subject? Have I opted for the right stream? What if I change my mind? What if I can’t do this in a few months? Pause. Take a break, and allow us to tell you that you are ABSOLUTELY FINE! The good thing about this feeling is that it is completely normal and it’s in fact natural to second guess your choices and doubt the direction you’re heading in. We’re bringing you 4 tips that will help you realise that you’re doing alright! –

1. It’s been a learning process – Whatever you’ve done, whatever choices you’ve made, it’s been a learning process that has helped you become what you are today. You have made mistakes and learnt from them, and never repeated them again. You have been a part of some successful venutres, and the confidence has helped you learn a lot more about yourself. The most important thing in life is to be grateful for what you have or what you’ve become, because only when you do that can you truly move forward and realise your potential.
2. You’ve always bounced back – To err is human, they say. And you’re no exception! So don’t worry about the mistakes you’ve made, or the ones you’re going to make because you’ve always bounced back and kept fighting through it. ‘Grow through what you go through’ is something that’s more relevant now than ever, and the most important thing to remember is never to stop trying simply because of the fear of failure!
3. You are ready to Forgive – You’ve gotten past whatever’s happened and you’re mature enough to move on, forgiving all those that have wronged you. You may not realise it now, but in the long run the lesser baggage you carry, the freer you are to explore new horizons with nothing holding you back! Breathe in, forgive and forget!
4. You can make your own choices – Now that you’re mature enough to understand what works and what doesn’t, you can make your own choices. Right or wrong, only time will tell but what matters is that you possess the courage to take that call of making a choice for yourself and not thrusting that responsibility onto others! You are able to make your own choices, and that’s a big deal in itself. You’re fine!

So it’s okay to feel low and confused, take time off and answer these 4 points, and you will realise that you’re doing just fine. No matter what stage in life you are at, you;ll sail through. Just keep these 4 points in mind 🙂

At Vidya Mandir teaching isn’t just about taking a class or sitting for a lecture, it’s much more than that. We believe in the true spirit of teaching and learning beyond the means confined to classrooms and buildings. Our ideology at this institution stands for something more meaningful and something deeper than just preparing students for a single examination or an oncoming test.

We believe in combining teaching and education in such a way that the students grasp knowledge in a solid, permanent manner through rigorous tests and discussions so that it stays with them in the years to come and helps them grow and improve at every step, so that they progress not just academically but overall as well. We discuss practical applications of the concepts learnt, and believe in preparing the student for life outside the classroom.

The teacher and student aren’t meant to share a relationship like any other service provider where once the service is given, the job ends. It’s a more intimate relationship that molds someone’s character and shapes a future.

At Vidya Mandir the teacher is also a mentor, a guide, a friend and a tutor who makes sure that the student has grasped what is being taught to him/her before moving on to the next topic due. He/she waits for the student to understand what is going on right now and become comfortable before moving to the next step. Our teachers don’t believe in rushing through topics just to get done with the syllabus. If a student hasn’t understood a concept even after several rounds of explanation, we encourage a private dialogue between the student and teachers. Our teachers will never proceed to the next step leaving children is doubt, and we can guarantee you that.

If you’re looking for a holistic education experience that ensures results by relying on the fundamentals of learning, then look no further! Come join our family 🙂

The biggest question that both students & parents have is that while it’s easy to stay in touch during the academic year, how does one keep the ‘Nerd Mode’ on during the vacations?

Once school is shut for the break (like the Diwali break now), the books take a back seat, collecting dust as they sit on the topmost shelves of the study tables. Opening them after the holidays are over feels like you’re opening them for the first time, which means that all the effort spent before the break goes down the drain if you don’t manage to keep in touch. Sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it?

Well, it’s really not that hard and all you need is a little streamlining and planning with which you can have fun during the vacation as well as gain an edge above the rest of the students in the vacations in terms of staying in touch with the syllabus.

The method we’re going to tell you now is a top secret that most scholars have been using but never spoken about, but since you’re the lucky ones we’re going to be telling the ultra-successful mantra to staying motivated during the vacations – Pick one or two study partners and have a group study session every alternate day or every day for even an hour, and follow a timetable.

The good thing here is that you have no exam to prepare for so you don’t need to study under pressure. Pick one or two friends that are like minded or who’s company you enjoy so that study sessions aren’t boring or demotivating and treat the study more like a game, ask each other questions in a friendly quiz and set up a weekly score card where the winner gets ice cream or lunch from the loser. If you manage to make it fun and give just an hour of your day every alternate day or everyday depending on your schedule, you can easily keep in touch with all the subjects and revise what you know, forming a strong base for the coming term.

Try it, and study to learn more and not just for marks…you might actually end up enjoying it!

At Vidya Mandir, Mathematics isn’t just another subject one has to study in order to pass their exams. Mathematics is much more than a subject we need to study; it is a way of living. Allow us to explain. We’ve all known people who’ve been scared of maths, or we ourselves have suffered from the fear of numbers, and given up at the idea of doing well in Mathematics saying, “I can’t do it” or “It’s not my cup of tea” But is it really the case? Or are we just too afraid to look beyond the initial layer and get into the depths of the subject?

At Vidya Mandir, we believe that anyone and everyone can learn to love maths, if only they give themselves a chance to open up to this fear.

At Vidya Mandir, we believe in understanding the subject before preaching it to our students. The reason that so many people have a problem understanding maths is that it is a subject different in nature to the more conventional subjects like languages, history or social sciences. Not being able to score well in maths leaves student with a feeling that they are not good enough. If you’re reading this, we want you to know that this isn’t true! You are all very intelligent, you just need to find what you’re good at, and work towards being happy. As far as mathematics is concerned, do not worry. We request you only one thing- come to us with an open mind, ready to accept failure, and ready to learn from it.

Personally, I see the relationship each student shares with maths. Those who love it- I discuss problems and solutions with them. Those who do not- II still do the same! The point is to treat everyone a equal; it’s just that someone who doesn’t understand a problem might take longer to learn compared to someone who is scientifically inclined. That’s not a problem, I make sure my students leave only once they’re confident of what they’ve learnt. It might take an hour, 2 hours, maybe 5 classes even, but I have the patience to make sure you love my favourite subject 🙂

We ensure our students not just excel in maths, but fall in love with numbers and understand the joy one can experience by solving puzzles and arriving at the correct solution! Numbers aren’t all that hard to understand as long as you understand the pattern behind them so that you can experience the thrill of solving each problem!

The good thing about studying is that as long as there are students that are willing to give their 100% our teachers make sure they leave no stone unturned to get the concepts across to the students/ Through regular tests and in-class discussions the teachers ignite the flame of curiosity in the student’s mind where they actually WANT to solve the problem and don’t attempt it simply because they have to.

You don’t really have to fear Mathematics, come to Vidya Mandir and develop a new relationship with your arch enemy and who knows, it could be a love affair of a lifetime!

At Vidya Mandir, just like any other institution, the focus is on ensuring that our students do well and get exceptional results in their examinations.  And we believe in keeping our promises, and hence boast of an exceptional track record year after year, consistently churning out board toppers that excel in their examinations.

With our surprise tests,weekly tests, mock tests, examination schedules, and vigorous revision, the majority of learning AND revision happens at the classes itself, thus minimizing the home work but maximizing the results. Over the past few years, we’ve had an exceptional record of students scoring 100’s in math and science, with majority of our students pass with distinction!

In the tenth standard board examinations, shining stars such as Anoushka Tyagi secured 100 in Math, while other talented students such as Ipshita Ghosh scored 99 in BOTH Math and Science! Khushi Gupta also scored an amazing 98 in both the subjects in her tenth board exams.

The story isn’t much different for the 12^th Standard boards, where our students Agrima Sahore, Karen Hudlikar, Mariyam Ahmed and many more scored a blistering 99 in Math, while others like Aravind Bhardwaj, Vaibhav Sethi, and Supriya Aiyer scored upwards of 95 in Physics and Chemistry! It’s no surprise that not one but so many of our students have made their mark on the score cards, via a new and interactive way of learning that actually helps them learn their work and not just mug it up!

For the entire list of students and their marks in the 10^th and 12^th standard board exams, visit the following links :

10th Standard

12th Standard

To change your future and take a step in the direction of success, join us at Vidya Mandir and sign up for a brighter tomorrow!

At Vidya Mandir, the words ‘TIME MANAGEMENT’ are more than just a jargon expected to solve all your problems. It is in fact a skill that we look to impart in our students, via the various teaching methods and programs conducted so that they learn to balance their academics and manage time well enough to fit in all that’s necessary, without leaving anything neglected. Most importantly, we teach them effective time management keeping in mind that this is a skill required for life.

This is why time management is important, not just for school, but for life too-

1. Lesser Stress: When you know that everything is taken care of, or scheduled to be taken care of, the feeling is unlike any other. A student feels light, care free, and can focus his energy in the right direction towards something productive, rather than constantly panicking or fearing that something has been left out or the guilt of not being able to make time for what’s important.
2. More ‘Me’ Time: Better time management means you know exactly where your time is going, which basically frees up the time you were wasting to spend on something that actually needs it – YOU! More ‘me’ time could be whatever you want it to – extra football practice, music classes, whatever you want!
3. Better Organizational Skills – The students may not realise it now, but later on in life this training to get your time management skills on track will get you places, in whatever field you choose to pursue, and help you stay organized and spend your precious time judiciously.
4. More Self Confidence – Better Time management means you know what you’re doing and what you need to do, you have everything in place and you’re in control of your life. Nothing is left to chance and there are no ‘if’s on whether you’ll be able to do something or not. It’s planned for, and gives you a certain sense of confidence about yourself.

People often underestimate the importance of time management, especially at the school level which is the very base of a person’s identity and if learnt at the right time, will stay with you for life and make it comfortable. We understand the importance of this, and make sure our teachers inculcate this habit into our students’ lives.

At Vidya Mandir we use the most lethal weapon that the educational arsenal consists of – Tests. But there is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. We do not believe in conducting tests just for the sake of judging how much our students have learnt. We believe in doing things differently. Read on to know what we mean.

The tests we conduct are not meant to differentiate the smart students from the weak students or as a means for some students to show off, and brag about marks. We use our tests as a tool to accurately show where our students stand in terms of preparation and understanding of the subject matter.  The idea behind the tests is not to rule out answers based on right and wrong. We don’t believe in “right” or “wrong” answers.

 Confused? Continue reading.

Our tests show us how much our students have understood a topic. Instead of concentrating on how much has a student scored, we concentrate on the student finding out WHY he went wrong. This way he/she understands his roadblocks, and learns how to solve them. We believe that simply telling them they’re wrong won’t serve any purpose, and will only scare the student away.

At Vidya Mandir, every class starts with quick fire verbal tests that increase the tempo and energy of the class, and this way we make sure that the students have remembered and absorbed what was taught in the previous lesson. As a student we believe you don’t need to go home and study a lot, as long as you’re on your toes in our class you’ll be on top of your game throughout the school year!

Once the corrected answer sheets are handed back to the students, there is an open discussion as well as an individual discussion of the papers to see where each student went wrong. Problems are approached on an individual level. The open discussions address common doubts where questions are encouraged and students can learn through each other’s weak points too.

Here, we encourage our students to learn with examples rather than just mugging up the theory. When they leave our doors, they know a concept through and through well enough to explain it to anyone simply using apt examples from things around him. Once you know the concepts well, the battle is as good as won!