Magic Years Nursery

What are the questions parents don’t know to ask? Like most parents, we didn’t know what to ask the private schools when we were choosing a school for our child in Boulder County, Colorado. Through dumb luck and some good advice, we ended up at a private school we’ve been thrilled with! However, why leave it to chance? A few years down the road, we’ve learned a great deal about the differences between the schools that can really matter in helping a child live up to his or her full potential. Now you can have the advantage we didn’t have, with our list of 12 questions most parents don’t ask the private schools.

1. Does this school teach academics to the exclusion of crucial subjects like the arts, physical development and foreign language classes? Most parents would agree that academics are crucial for success in today’s world. However, for many parents, a well-rounded education includes music, art, drama, physical activity, and language learning. Does a school have to limit their curriculum to the “Three R’s” to support academic excellence? Fortunately, you don’t have to settle for a restricted academics-only curriculum to end up with high college entrance exam scores. Actually, certain well-rounded approaches can show evidence of creating better results measured by future academic achievement.

2. How well are your graduates prepared for college and for “real life”? Do you instill in your graduates a life-long love of learning? The main purpose of school is to give our children the foundation they need for a happy, successful, fulfilling life. To find out whether a school is producing good results, the achievements and life skills held by the school’s graduates will tell you more than first grade test scores.

3. How happy are this school’s graduates with their education? It can take some time for students to understand how their schooling prepared them for life. One key question is: How many of your graduates would send their own child to the same type of school?

4. How does this school approach discipline, and what conduct do they accept from students? Ideally, a school will have policies that clarify the conduct they allow, as well as what they do not allow. Optimally, discipline will be administered with respect as well as firmness. The school’s disciplinary policy will have a significant effect on your child’s school experience. Too strict, and it can stifle a child’s normal exploration. Too lenient, and it can allow chaos to reign in the classroom or on the playground.

5. How do teachers assess their students’ learning? Conventional schools focus on testing, which has both advantages and disadvantages, especially for young children. It does give an objective measurement. However, for many young students, a fear of testing detracts from their enjoyment of learning. Kids who hate school may not learn as much. Poor test scores, for some children, creates a limiting belief that they can’t learn. In addition, objective tests are generally limited in scope, and are often poor at evaluating creative ability and social skills. Whether you prefer a focus on testing or not, it is probably a good topic to ask about. And for those schools that de-emphasize testing, how do they communicate students’ progress with parents?

6. Does this school’s curriculum and approach fit with a child’s developmental stages? Because of the importance of learning to read, many educators are pushing the envelope with introducing reading skills at younger and younger ages, with the assumption that younger is always better. But what if that assumption is false? A young child does not have the same mind that an older child or an adult has. A great deal is known today about the developmental stages children go through. To us, it is important for a school’s philosophy to take these developmental stages into account, rather than simply pushing academics earlier and earlier.

7. Does your private school have a particular approach to spiritual subjects? Many parents have strong beliefs about spiritual or religious subjects. To play it safe, many schools simply avoid the subject altogether. Some schools teach a specific spiritual belief system, and others communicate a general spirituality that can support a wide array of individual beliefs.

8. What expectations or requirements does this school have of parents? You know that the way you raise your own child makes a difference in his or her behavior. For better or worse, the same is true for the parents of the other children in the class. Their parenting will end up strongly effecting your child’s learning. If you are willing to make the effort to be the best parent you possibly can be, wouldn’t you want the other parents to be doing so, too? It can be greatly to your child’s benefit if a school gives some guidance to parents, and this will also attract conscientious parents to the school.

Take television watching, as an example. Time spent in front of the tube is linked with poor attitudes toward school, learning and attention difficulties, and underachievement. And kids who have behavioral and learning difficulties make it difficult for other children in the classroom to learn, also. So if you are supporting your child’s learning by limiting TV viewing, you will benefit from a school that encourages or requires all parents to do so.

9. How does the school support emotional and social development? Meaningful, healthy relationships are an important component of a truly happy life. Does the school emphasize cooperation and relating well with others? Does the school support healthy emotional development?

10. How are the young children invited to play at your private school? If you are looking for a preschool or kindergarten, you might want to know if they let children be children. Active play and using the imagination are so important for a young child, yet many schools divert much of a young child’s energy toward learning academics.

11. Does your school focus on rote learning, or developing cognitive skills? Many schools these days spend more and more time memorizing facts and learning to regurgitate pre-packaged ideas. These are useful skills, but sadly, too much emphasis on rote learning can come at the expense of creativity and reasoning skills. Do you believe your child will do the best in life if he or she is taught what to think, or how to think?

12. What else makes this school special and unique? It’s useful to include an open-ended question, so the school administrator can tell you anything that your more specific questions have left out. Who knows where this can lead?

As you consider the 12 questions I have posed, there may also be additional questions that you want to add to your list. The more complete your list of questions, the better your chances of getting the information you need to be truly satisfied with your choice of private schools.

Before you choose a private school, be sure to ask the private schools all the important questions! In addition to these 12 in-depth questions, check out this list of 10 basic questions parents ask private schools. To read more about choosing among the private schools in Boulder County, Colorado or anyplace else, visit www.PrivateSchoolsBoulder.com.

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