Narrowing Down Your Choices for Private Schools
Fall is the ideal season to research private schools. Open houses abound. And since most registration deadlines are not until after January 1, there’s ample time to look at many schools. Here are aspects to consider as you focus your search.
by Kathie Sutin
Choosing a school for your child is one of life’s most important decisions. At the elementary level the school experience is vitally important, as this is where the basic foundation is put down. The options in middle school shape the educational path ahead, and the high school experience impacts your child’s choices for college and beyond.
For parenting children today, you have a wide variety of choices: public, parochial or independent school. Once you decide an independent school is the route you want to go, the choices can be overwhelming, especially if you live in a city that has a multitude of fine private schools.
So, how do you narrow the list so you can do a thorough job of researching prospective schools to find the best fit for your child?
Sam Templin-Page, director of admissions at Rohan Woods School in St. Louis, an independent school for students age 3 through grade 6, has some helpful tips for parents mounting a search to find the perfect preschool or elementary school for their child:
● Get an early start. The autumn of the year before the year in which you want to enroll your child is an ideal time to begin your research. Start looking at schools early on to get a better handle on what school suits your child best and to be prepared for starting the admission process.
● Talk to others. Templin-Page says you can glean a great deal of information about a school from talking to family members, friends and colleagues and asking about their experiences at different schools. “Word of mouth is so trusted by families,” she said. But, it’s important to check with “multiple people to get multiple perceptions” of the school, she said.
● Attend an open house. The open house can give you a glimpse into the “flavor” of the school, Templin-Page said. Many schools offer open houses in the fall and again in the spring. “Parents can often walk into a school and kind of get a feeling that this is a school where the child will be comfortable,” she said. “But keep in mind this is a family commitment as well. Is the family comfortable there?”
● Visit the school on non-open house days. Open houses are helpful, but parents will also want to schedule a time to visit the school when they can walk around and see what goes on during a typical day.
● Consider the commute. “It can be rather challenging for a family to pick a school that’s far from their neighborhood,” Templin-Page said. That’s especially true if you have a 3-year-old and are looking the child’s attending from pre-school through elementary school. “We’re asking our families of pre-kindergartners to have a nine-year relationship with us. You have to be in the mindset of the proximity of the school. Do you want to make that trek on a daily basis for nine years?”
● Note the level of attention to your needs. Does the school try to accommodate families’ needs, or are families expected to adjust to what’s convenient for the school? For example, Rohan Woods recently launched a new feature to help busy families looking for schools find time to visit. From October through May, the school is offering “Rush Hour Tours.” On the third Wednesday of every month from 4-6 p.m., parents can participate in a “mini-open house,” Templin-Page said.
“We were finding we have so many dual working families,” she said. “They’re trying to work around work schedules and travel schedules. Oftentimes on the weekends they had many activities scheduled, and it was more difficult for them to get here and attend an open house. The Wednesday option is just another avenue to meet their needs and still give them the opportunity to come in and see the school.”
Kathie Sutin is an award-winning freelance journalist based in St. Louis, Missouri. She specializes in writing about medical issues, travel, parenting, education, business, food and people. She has three children.
© Photo by Varina And Jay Patel | Dreamstime.comYour kids—boys and girls alike—express a desire to cook from a very early age, likely without your even realizing it. They make mud pies in the sandbox, play with child-sized cooking sets, and organize kitchens in doll houses or play areas, and they probably inquire about what you’re cooking from the time they begin to communicate.
Kids Cooking Activities offers up reasons why you should encourage cooking activities with your kids. (Set up link at underlining to http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com)
* Cooking with your children helps them to learn about nutrition and healthy eating.
* Cooking in the kitchen will give children a boost of self confidence. They are accomplishing a task, learning something important, and contributing to the family.
* Taking time to cook with your kids will give them lasting memories. They will pass the traditions on when they are grown and have their own families.
* In the enthusiasm of creating something themselves, your children will be more likely to eat what they had a hand in making.
* Kids learn real lessons in science, language, math, and creativity in the kitchen. Cooking will help reinforce all these subjects.
* Cooking is a great way to learn life skills. This is especially helpful when children are older and more independent. They won't have to rely on fast food and junk food to sustain them.
* Working together in the kitchen teaches your child teamwork.
* Cooking teaches children planning and making choices skills.
* Kids practice creativity and imagination in the kitchen. Cooking activities are a great way for kids to express themselves and enjoy their creations.
It may take longer to get the meal or snack done, but the moments with your children will be priceless. Remember to have patience. Don't worry about flour on the floor or spilled milk.
A role model for cooking with kids
Cooking With Kids, a series of 90-second videos, is hosted by James Beard Award-winning chef John Sarich. Development of the program was inspired by the reality of childhood obesity, anorexia and other eating disorders, Type II Diabetes, and low bone density, which have all become national issues. Cooking With Kids encourages parents and children to spend time in the kitchen together preparing healthy meals in ways that improve communication and help children develop healthy nutritional habits. (Set up link at underlining to http://www.cookingwithkids.org/fact.html)
The program shows how easy it is for kids to prepare snacks and meals that taste good and that are good for them. It uses the five food groups as a platform for nutrition messages. You can watch the videos with your children through the website, then print out the recipe and go try it yourselves.
The recipes that Sarich prepares with kids on the segments teach them which categories on the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Pyramid are included in the recipe. He explains how vegetable burritos, for example, include foods that have protein, fiber and dairy, and that the burritos are low in fat.
Good cooking habits
Spatulatta provides 350 step-by-step videos that teach kids good cooking habits, and offers advice for moms, dads and kids on numerous issues related to cooking with kids. It emphasizes topics like teaching kids to wash their hands properly before handling food. (Set up link at underlining to http://www.spatulatta.com)
When it comes to working in the kitchen, you know your children. You know what abilities they have and how fine their motor skills are. Some children are ready to handle a certain kitchen utensil or work at the stove earlier than others. It’s up to you to make that determination.
You set the rules in your kitchen, such as you will always light the burners and oven for your children.
Go over the workings of every electrical appliance with your child. Explain that the beaters, for example, should be inserted into a hand mixer before the mixer is plugged in.
Safety and courtesy are behaviors that need to be re-enforced and modeled.
Once you've explained how to handle an item safely, try asking your child to tell you how to do it the next time the task is required when making a recipe. We all learn best when we try to teach.
CREDIT:
Christina DiMartino has been a freelance and assignment writer since 1985. She is a researcher, interviewer, writer, editor, and manuscript collaborator with a repertoire of clients from around the world.
PHOTO / ILLUSTRATION RECOMMENDATIONS:
Go to http://www.cookingwithkids.org
TEASER:
Cooking with your kids does much more than produce tasty treats! It teaches teamwork, safety, courtesy, math, science, and more, and encourages creativity and imagination. And there are some terrific online videos that will help you get started.
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