Things To Consider When Choosing A School For Your Child
Decisions about where your child goes to school are very personal and can be difficult, but the feeling is common and normal with parents because no one wants to leave their child’s education to chance.
Every parent’s wish is to give their kid the best type of education and or opportunities there is in life, but when it comes to picking their schools, there are more deliberate steps to be taken beyond wishing.
Things to consider depend on where you live, you and your spouses’s collective values, your child’s needs, school-specific considerations, your financial strength among other factors.
Let’s take a look at a few things to consider:
1. Personal Values:
It matters to many parents whether their kids attend a public or private school. In developed countries where systems work, public school is popular, but when it comes to facilities, and exposure, many Nigerian parents will choose a private school over a public one. There are definitely good public schools even here in Nigeria despite the general bias towards them.
If you had a poor background, it may influence you to want to give your child all the chances you did not get, it is fine to seek a good school, rest assured that your child will have access to quality learning among other privileges.
Some parents know that their are different teaching philosophies and they know the exact one they want their children to be taught by. If you are particular about a teaching style, you should consider that in choosing your child’s school.
2. Practical considerations
At the top of practical considerations is your family’s finance; can you afford the type of education you really want for your child, or you have to settle for a cheaper school pending when your finances climb up?
But even if you have to wait till then, you can choose a good school for your child and still get excellent results, you only have to be deliberate and find out all there is for you to know. Not all expensive schools are good schools, and not all affordable schools are substandard, the evidences are all over the place.
Location is another thing to consider when deciding your child’s school. Would it be practical for your child to be in a school that takes several hours to get to from home, and would they manage on their own if you are unable to go drop or pick them?
What do you make of them taking public transport as a option?
3. Family Considerations:
Are there arrangements in place to keep your child safe and comfortable after school before you return from work, is the creche close to the school, among other considerations?
If you have other children, is it important that they all go to the same school? Perhaps they can watch out for each other? not to mention, your child’s needs are equally important. If there is a good school popular with other kids and their parents, would attending a totally different school from his friends and acquaintances cause your child to be withdrawn at school and perform poorly?
4. School Specific Factors
Is the school small or large? What size is likely to suit your child best? Worth considering is the facilities available at the school to support your child’s learning – playgrounds, library, music programs, clubs and sporting teams.
Information about how the school has improved its academic results over the past few years coupled with its performance in other areas like the arts, sport or community engagement are definitely vital.
Important to note also is what values and etiquette are taught or modeled by the school, this you can tell from the manners of the teachers and staff when you visit. Your evaluation of the character of the school can help you decide if your child’s home-taught values are enhanced or threatened.
How well does the school support children with additional needs, if your child has a disability, developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder or other need?
Maybe most importantly in this regard is safety, what is the physical state of the school structures? Read about ItaFaji school collapse here.
5. School Communication and Connections
What opportunities are there for parent and family involvement with the school, and how is communication between home and the school managed?
The decision on what type of school is pretty simple for some parents, but for many other parents, it is one that must be thought through.
However, it is safe to say that all parents want the best for their children and will employ every reasonable tool in their power to give their child what is best relative to their own resources.
Even if you are sending your child to a relatively average school, still carry out your checks and take informed decisions.
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