Remember those days when your parents used to say that you would be put in a boarding school if you did some mischief...Or do you still believe that only in disciplined, naughty brats are put in residential schools...These two logic does not work wonders today as students by choice opt and prefer living by themselves. An 'independent life' is what the parents can gift them at an age when they get moulded. But deciding to put the wards in residential schools requires lot of spadework form the parents.

There are hordes of well acclaimed international schools which form exceptional teaching foundation for students to achieve well in the global picture. A host of top quality boarding schools dot the city. Residential schools are usually built on enormous area of land, giving provision for vast playgrounds and building structures. For this reason they are usually located away from the city.

Reasons ranging from international standard education, self reliance, independence and a lot more for opting residential schools. These schools not only promise a great future in terms of academic knowledge but also a wholesome development for the kids. Most residential schools around the city concentrate more on extra curricular activities and creating a home like atmosphere.

So how does the family and the child accept to this sudden change in environment.. Though it might take time for them to get settled with their new surroundings and to make good friends, the students get busy with their activities so much that they forget about their home."We put our son in a residential school because we could not spend time with him on a daily basis for his studies and he was going poor on his grades. We meet during the weekends. Initial we were finding it very difficult to adjust but we are used to this now" says Poornima, Marketing Executive.

Chennai as a metro city is fore runner when educational institutions are concerned. Having umpteen engineering colleges, there are also good residential schools like St John's International, The Crescent Residential schools. Most of such kind of schools promises nutritious food, recreational weekends and life skills training for the students.

A good residential school is one which will let students be themselves and like in the movie Taare Zameen Par, any child will get accustomed to their atmosphere as days pass by. And by the end of the academic year they would not even want to return home leaving their friends.

SOWJANYA.S