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Family plays an important role in forming the personality of a child. It is probably the most effective social support unit providing a secure and safe atmosphere for the child. In a joint family, even if parents go to work, grandparents can take care of the children. They instill the right manners and educate kids with the vast knowledge they have. Unfortunately, today's nuclear families do not have that luxury.
Priya Krishnan, CEO of a chain of high quality preparatory schoolsand daycare called Klay Prep Schools and Day Care knows the value of these joint families. She was in London when she had her first kid – and she had to rely on daycares to take care of him. Even when she returned to India – with two sons – a few years later, she faced a similar problem. None of the daycares matched the quality and care she desired for her children so she founded Klay in Bangalore, along with Jerry Rao, founding Chairman and MD of Mphasis. Kids, Learning and You - KLAY, the name itself says reams about their philosophy. Founded in 2011, Klay now has more than 21 high-end, high-quality preparatory schools across India. But Krishnan's focus is not on children – it is also on the mothers, who are forced to quit their jobs for motherhood. This is why Klay centres are located very near to the corporate hubs in the country. For instance, in Bangalore, Klay has schools in Whitefield, Prestige Shantiniketan, Electronic City, Yemalur HRBR, and Domlur near Embassy Tech Park, and in Beary's Global Research Triangle in Kadugodi. "At present, a lot of women do not go back to work because they have to look after the kids. This bothers me a lot and we want to help them," says Krishnan. |
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A Day at Klay
"If I cannot learn the way you teach me, teach me the way I can learn."
Understanding the evolving needs of children, Klay has structured programmes encompassing all areas of development – Social, Personal, Emotional and Physical. "We believe that the formative years in a child's life and the quality of interaction he gets in these are extremely crucial," says Krishnan. Klay incorporates two approaches: teacher-facilitated and child-oriented curriculum. The curriculum is designed based on the Multiple Intelligence Theory, which ensures all-round development of each child. This approach uses hands-on activities, real-life and age-appropriate experiences. Constant assessment via daily observation is the highlight of the Klay curriculum. Apart from just designing curriculum and classroom time-tables, the self-structured programme at Klay also makes a whole day's routine for kids. A typical day at Klay starts with kids sharing their feelings and thoughts with teachers: how the morning was for them, how they are feeling at school, activities they will be doing at schools etc.After this, children are guided to do age-appropriate activities such as reading, writing, numerical and outdoor activities. After classroom time, children eat lunch and then take a nap. In the evening, there are some more learning and development activities lined up for the kids. Klay also provides afterschool day care and activities like martial arts, dance and theatre are conducted for these children. |
The staff at Klay is given extensive in-house training by Klay – apart from the pre-requisite qualification they have.There are also constant workshops, online trainings and feedback sessions for the staff. All the staff at Klay undergoes thorough background check and police verification. Klay ensures that there is only female staff on campus.
With features like flexible timing -- parents can drop their children for anywhere between two to nine hours -- emergency day care for one day, and providing schooling and day care under one roof, Klay is truly a home away from home for children.
Innovative Curriculum
KLAY has been setup by a group of highly experienced educationists, teachers and education leaders with extensive experience in Early Learning pedagogy, methods and setup. They regularly analyse, and study different teaching methods and standards across the globe, and evolve their curriculum by incorporating best practices from standards like National Association for the Education of Young Children and various pedagogies like Montessori, Waldorf, Head Start, High Reach Learning, High Scope, The Creative Curriculum, Reggio Emilia approach, Bank Street and Forest kindergartens. KLAY schools is an initiative of VBHC Education Services (VES), a school education company with expertise in school development, curriculum development, teacher's training and information and communication technology (ICT) for schools.
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