Choosing the Best School for Your Child
Choosing the best school for your child can be mind boggling, especially if it’s your first time. There are a lot of things you would want to consider as your child would be spending the most part of their day with total strangers whom you have to trust to not just take care of them but instill the right character and knowledge in them; The financial implications, proximity, the ethics and perhaps success stories from parents whose kids currently attend the school are some of the things you would want to consider.
Here are few points to guide you. Remember to take note of the things that are most important to you, this would help you in making the best decision for you and your child.
- Your child:
The most important thing here is that your child receives a quality education in a warm and nurturing environment. First, think about what you want your child to achieve at the end of each term, semester or year and if your child requires any special attention.
You probably know your child best. What kind of environment would help him or her learn better? Would you prefer an environment that challenges your child, helps your child to be creative? Does your child prefer to learn alone or in a group? Does your child learn better by listening, seeing, participating in physical activities? Considering the distance, can your child walk to school, or does he need to be driven by you or taken by someone else? Does the school provide meals for the child or you’d have to handle that yourself? These are some of the things you have to consider as regards your child.
2. The School:
Once you have been able to identify the needs of your child it would help you match it with the desired school by given you a blueprint for what you want or what you should expect from the school. In order to do that successfully, you would have to gather the necessary information about the school that would help you make a more informed decision. Here are some factors most people are interested in:
- Is it a public or private school,
- A day or boarding school,
- what’s the curriculum like? ask and do some research,
- their approach to teaching and learning,
- the overall academic performance of current and past students,
- their safety measures,
- the facilities and if they are well equipped to cater for your child’s needs,
- the services they provide (after school care, lunch, transport etc),
- their disciplinary policies and how they mold the character/behavior of their students,
- the admission process,
- the school community and parent involvement
- the school’s reputation and of course the financial implications involved in sending your child to that school, amongst others.
Read: Getting the best value for school fees
3. Visit The School(s):
Most of the information about a school can be gotten online but nothing beats being physically present and interacting with the school admin officer and/or the teacher that would be tutoring your child.
It’s a good call to visit the school environment and access their facilities with your own eyes. You can even take your child along to see for themselves if they like it. Prepare your questions before heading to the school. Find out if they carry the parents along while making decisions, the school’s strengths, weakness and how they plan to improve. When you’re done, you can as well ask around about the school from those around them i.e if there are any houses or shops around it.
4. Weigh the options:
After gathering the necessary information on several schools, it’s time to sit down and go through all the information you’ve gotten from the schools you have visited. You would most likely not get a school that checks all the boxes but it should check moist of them – at least for the things you wouldn’t be willing to compromise.
Good luck with your decision!
