It is for refinement of the brain that we choose to educate our children. While, for success there can be as many courses as there are individuals, it is for you to decide which path would suit your child: zeroing down on the perfect school, and especially making the choice of sending him to a boarding school stands foremost on the list of such decisions. If you look for quality education, multifaceted personality and an early dose of responsibility for you kid then, boarding schools can be an excellent choice. However, as you decide to pack up the teddy bears tuck in the boxes, it is important to keep your child in the loop. His consent and acceptance is vital for the uphill journey you are looking forward to. Though, getting your child to appreciate or even accept parting from home at an age as young as 8 or 13 is indeed like trying to square the circle. As a parent it would be the hardest thing for you, and yet again, preparing your young one through all that resistance and denial can be even more difficult. So, here are a few tips that can ease the journey and for the better.
• Check if the present school provides a flexi-board facility in which you can let him board at school for a few weekends so that he can eventually get used to the idea. The stay can be used for extra classes, sports training prior to an important match or some co-curricular activities.
• Never miss out on the open days for new parents. These are usually held during the last two weeks of the last term, prior to new admissions. It is usually a great opportunity for your child to mix up with inmates and staff. It would be much easier for him to adjust when he’s already aware of what to expect at his new home. Moreover, you can also get to know other parents who would be going through the same phase of preparations and mutual sharing of experiences and suggestions always tend to happen when all are on the same ship.
• Find out if anyone from your circle or your child’s school would be joining the same school in the same term or is already a student there. Call them home more often and encourage your child to make friends with them. Even if they are not of the same batch or house, it is nice to look forward to a familiar face to bump into, and usually when you already have friends as a fresher, it is considered to be cool. So, this is sure to give your child a head start.
• Give your child his share of freedom while he’s still at home, and let it not come as an unpleasant shock as he enters the boarding environment. Start allowing him to board a bus alone to the local city square, let him make up his own bed and start giving him petty household chores. Besides this, allow him a few night outs at his friend’s place; this will bring out the fun aspect of boarding to him.
A boarding school is not only an institutional home but a place wherein you cherish friendship more than anything, learn the lessons of life and make pals for life; and eventually your kid will also come to appreciate this in time.