Parent’s Handbook
At Valluvan Tamil Academy, our main objective is to make Tamil learning a fun exercise for children and their families. Parents play a major role in the children’s Tamil education. We recommend parents to follow these guidelines to reap the maximum benefit from the Tamil classes.
Classroom (Online)
When classes are held online, VTA requests greater cooperation from parents and kids for the smooth functioning of classes. Please see the presentation below for online classroom etiquette.
Attendance
Attendance constitutes a good portion of the grades.
Students shouldn’t miss classes, considering there are only about 30 classes in a school year.
If your child is missing a class, you must inform your child’s teacher about the absence.
Feel free to ask the teacher regarding the lessons your child missed during that time.
If a child misses a class, then homework should be submitted during the next class together with their next week’s homework.
Completing the missed week’s homework will help your child catch up with the rest of the class.
Teachers encourage class participation from students. This includes answering, discussing, asking questions in Tamil.
Homework
Homework constitutes a major portion of the grades.
Encourage your child to do the homework every week, help them in finishing the homework and check their work and sign it.
Encourage your child to say the letter or word when they are writing or reading the homework.
Plan on spending 10 – 15 minutes or doing 1-2 page(s) per day on homework. Rushing them at the end of the week will be an overload for them and make them lose interest.
Plan on reading 10 – 15 minutes every day (Ask them to read the same homework lesson from lesson book).
If your child struggles with her/his homework or in writing, feel free to discuss with your child’s teacher via email or in person.
Please help your children with pronunciation and handwriting while doing their homework.
Do talk to your child’s teacher before/after the class or via email regarding your child’s development. The teachers can give you useful tips.
Grades
Term exams are conducted at least twice a year, and a final exam is conducted close to the end of the school year. Parents will be notified via email and in person before the exams.
Exams are important assessment tools for grading your child and are, therefore, mandatory. If your child is unable to take the exam on the scheduled date, talk to your child’s teacher to take the exam on an alternate date.
Besides the term exams, your child’s teacher may give review tests, assessments or quizzes. Encourage your child to prepare for every test and help them review the work before tests.
Teachers spend a lot of time to prepare for these tests, and they try to keep the children motivated by providing them a little appreciation in the form of stickers, compliments and small gifts. So, emphasize the importance of these tests to your children.
At Home
Encourage talking in Tamil at home. Children conversing with their parents in Tamil is the single most important activity that helps with improving their confidence and vocabulary in Tamil.
Talk to children about Tamil language, culture, festivals & heritage.
Practice short quizzes with children to increase their confidence in recognizing and pronouncing the alphabets. Test them by pointing the letters and ask for immediate answers, make them write more.
Keep them in touch with Tamil during school breaks. Kids are not only fast learners, but they also tend to forget things faster with lack of practice.
Have the children watch a few suitable Tamil programs on Radio, TV or Internet and encourage them to discuss it. Ask them to read the names or titles on the screens where applicable.
Have them read online Tamil Magazines and Newspapers and visit Tamil educational sites (such as Tamil Virtual Academy www.tamilvu.org) to practice computer-based exercises in Tamil.
Checkout the Resources page on our website for additional help.