Website design By BotEap.comSmart School Choice Creates Strong Kids

Website design By BotEap.comDevelop a selection scorecard to place your student in the best school to meet their needs

Website design By BotEap.comI recently had dinner with my friends Bill and Nancy Palmer and the subject of school choice came up; mainly because at some point they had each of their five children in five different schools. If you think that schedule sounds crazy, then you’ve never met the five extraordinary young adults they raised and successfully launched into the world. It was extremely stressful at times to keep things organized, but they were committed to building strong children and creative enough to always find options to help each child grow in strength and confidence. How they did it? Simple, they chose the educational experiences that best suited each of their children at each stage of life, regardless of convenience.

Website design By BotEap.comParents are often afraid of changing schools, or don’t realize that they have so many options available to guide their children into their strength zone. Let’s first look at what makes a ‘good’ school really ‘good’. Since it’s not really one thing, it’s a combination of many factors that, when combined, can create a learning environment that can bring out the best in your child. These are some of the most common items to consider when beginning the school selection process to bring out the best in your son or daughter.

Website design By BotEap.com-Key factors of a ‘good’ school:

Website design By BotEap.comStrong Parental Involvement As the old saying goes, a school is only as strong as the level of parental support it receives. Clear community support, especially from elected officials. Focused school leaders, especially in administrative roles. Well-structured academic programs to cover different learning styles. Committed and supportive teachers focused on the needs of their students. A safe and secure learning experience. Budgets that allow extracurricular activities to positively impact multiple areas of development, such as the arts, music, journalism, ROTC, languages, and sports. Guidance departments focused on a personalized plan to help students get “thinking outside the box.” Smart classrooms with access to current and latest-generation computer and Internet technology. A learning experience that honors your family’s faith and values, rather than attacking or shaming your child for holding on to a strong belief system.

Website design By BotEap.comOf course, any parent would want the best for their children, but in my experience, the word “best” actually floats in many variables throughout the different stages of childhood. So since ‘better’ isn’t really a single school campus, this opens the door to exploring many experiences that often accelerate the learning environment for children living at home.

Website design By BotEap.comThis can only happen when you begin to see that the main objective is to find out what needs your child is facing and then select the school option that can guide him or her to a position of greater strength. This just goes along with what may have worked for your child last year. Remember, a child’s maturity changes from year to year, and for many children this means that their academic choices should change with it.

Website design By BotEap.com– Chart to solve the confusion of discovering the best schools.

Website design By BotEap.comStart making smart school choices to help your child be their best by creating a chart to literally ‘score’ the school options available to your child on a notepad, located at the top of the page . You should include as many options as you can think of to make a complete analysis of what is available to your child.

Website design By BotEap.comEven if you think you only have one option, really sit down and consider the school options available to your child in the upcoming school year. This way, you’ll be able to track the metrics to see a visual number at the bottom of the page to see how each school option contributes to best meeting the needs of your son or daughter at any stage of their educational development.

Website design By BotEap.comHere’s a sample of how to structure at the top of the page, except it’s more personal and more powerful if you actually put the name of each of the schools you’re considering in that particular column (for example, list the options you facing your child). such as: Orange County High, Mountain Prep, Holy Family, The Community School, Math Magnet Prep, Military Leadership Academy, or a virtual online school)

Website design By BotEap.comSmartSchool Options:

Website design By BotEap.comPublic- College Prep- Christian- Home School- Charter- Boarding School- Private- Magnet- Military- Online or Virtual School, etc.

Website design By BotEap.comOnce you’ve created a list on the page of all the options available to meet your child’s needs, then it’s time to add the list of variables (preferably in order of importance to you to meet your child’s unique needs). ), to rank or score each school option based on your own personal standard of what is most valuable to bringing out the best in your son or daughter. Create this list in the left margin of your notepad and include factors such as the following.

Website design By BotEap.comSmart School Features includes a combination of important factors such as:

Website design By BotEap.comSafety, Academic, Great Teachers, Strong Leaders, Parents Involved, PTA-PTF Groups, Location, Transportation, Cost or Tuition, Friends/Peers, Fits Child’s Personality, Fits Career Goals, Fits Goals Academics, School Size, Well-equipped Classrooms, Class to Teacher Size Ratio, Well-maintained Campus, Clean School Facilities, Hot Lunches and Cafeteria, Wide Variety of Sports, After-School Activities, Tutoring – Academic Help, Music , Choir, Band, Fine Arts and Drama, Bible, Worldview or Faith Building Classes, After School Activities or Child Care, Clubs, FCA, DECA, OJT, etc. for Social Connection, School Life – Social Events and Proms, Travel – Unique Learning Experiences, SAT or ACT Prep Classes, Strong Guidance Department, Tuition Assistance Programs, Partnerships with Community Groups (Boys & Girls Clubs, Scouting, etc.), Partnerships with business groups to develop early career success (such as Junior Achievement, career training)

Website design By BotEap.comTOTALS of all your Core Values ​​comparisons measured against each school choice: A higher score reveals a stronger school choice to meet your child’s needs.

Website design By BotEap.comOnce you’ve developed as many categories as fit your child’s unique needs, then it’s time to go back and rate each school at the top of the page against your specific priorities listed along the left column on a numerical scale. out of 10, (best) to 5 (average) and then to 1 (terrible).

Website design By BotEap.comBe honest and don’t play favorites as you truly consider the needs of the students in your family as this process works from selecting a preschool through college. Please leave blank any areas you are unaware of, however, as this will greatly lower the score for that particular school, it indicates that you need to do more research to create a fair analysis of some of the schools you may have selected for your child.

Website design By BotEap.comAnother technique you can use is to do a detailed web search on each school, however I recommend that you take your child with you to see the new schools with you in person. Walk around campus, talk to teachers or other students, or if possible, visit the school when it’s in session and ‘shadow’ a host student throughout the day to see what school culture is really like firsthand.

Website design By BotEap.comThis school choice process can be repeated each year as needed based on the needs of your son or daughter. Add your child’s maturity level to complete the best-of selection process by identifying where you think your child is at during this stage of their academic career.

Website design By BotEap.comChild (up to 13 years old) – Dependent and Irresponsible

Website design By BotEap.comAdolescent (13-19) – Development, Maturation and Growth

Website design By BotEap.comYoung Adult (20-25) – Independent and Responsible

Website design By BotEap.comIt is wise to consider your child’s level of maturity as some school settings will require a higher level of responsibility or independent decision making. Once you’ve identified the maturity level, simply consider the scores from your school choice table to narrow your search and find the best school. Remember, the higher the score, the more likely you are to help your student achieve their best during this or any school year.
Strong students can often build strong lives, so the time you take now to guide your children in the best direction (even if it means making the sacrifice of carpooling with different children in different directions for several years) It will lead to a solid life. and confident young adults for life, and that’s a great exchange.

Website design By BotEap.comBy Dwight Bain, Nationally Certified Counselor and Certified Life Coach