Unless your child is a toddler, you need to discuss going to private school openly and frankly. The decision to go to private school cannot be unilateral, something you alone decide. If you take that approach, you will probably end up with a very miserable child. Maybe it's something you have been planning for years. Perhaps you have finally come to the same conclusion many of us have, namely, that private schools offer an
educational opportunity which your child deserves. That's all well and good. But your child needs to buy into the idea completely and enthusiastically. She has to think it is
her idea.
What Are Your Expectations?
As a parent you are looking ahead to your son's future. You instinctively want him to have a better education than you had. You want to shield him from some of the pressures and stresses you felt at his age. You want him to be happy and successful. All those thoughts are wonderful. But that's not what you son is thinking about.
What Are Your Child's Expectations?
He wants a life. He wants to study subjects which interest him. He wants to play lots of sports. He wants friends. He wants to go to exciting places. He wants to fit in.
Meet Halfway
Fortunately for both of you, private schools offer programs which will satisfy both of you. Not 100%, but pretty close. Here's why.
Private schools offer a balanced approach to three things:
- academics
- sports
- extracurricular activities
The small class sizes and low faculty to student ratios in most private schools ensure that your child can't slip through the cracks. Private schools take sports just as seriously as their academic programs. Extracurricular activities enrich and round out the offerings. Even in tough economic times these programs survive because they are a major part of most private schools' programs.
