Hi,
This is my first post in the forum. I have a 3 rd grade and 1st grade kid. I’m planning to send them to prep school when they are in 8th grade. Do you have any advice for a future prep school kids and parents. What can I do in their day to day life which will improve their chances in getting into prep schools. They just started learning piano, tennis, swimming. Should I make them do lot of writing prompts? Is community service too early for them?
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Just love them hard and raise them to be confident, curious, and kind. The rest will take care of itself.
@ChoatieMom when I read the OP I figured I would wait to reply as I was feeling that this one was right in your wheelhouse; you did not disappoint!
Love the advice @ChoatieMom. We never even dreamed our kids would end up at prep school until our oldest was halfway through 7th grade- when he “discovered” Exeter at a west coast public school assembly presentation- hence we didn’t spend any time preparing them for that journey.
We did try to install a love of learning, adventure, hobbies, work ethic and community involvement since they were tiny. So they would be good human beings.
Seize every teachable moment opportunity – not always academic, but in everyday life.
Reading. Lots of recreational reading.
Lots of unstructured time playing and being creative with good doses of outdoor time. 
@doschicos said it more elegantly than I usually do: Let them run amuck! 
It’s never too early for community service - but should be done for community and family and fun and feeling good rather than for admissions.
As a current bs student, I would say to just let them do what THEY are interested in. Adding on to other comments, just raise them to be good, hard working, motivated kids. Don’t push them to hard. Their childhood should not be focused and revolved around on getting them into a good prep school. Honestly, I think if my parents had put me in so many things at a young age, I would have resented them when it came time for the admissions process. For all you know, your children won’t want to go to boarding school. Not trying to sounds harsh, but for goodness sakes your child is in the 1st grade. You can though get started on community service as a family. Volunteering to make lunches for the homesless can be a good activity for younger kids. Look online and through your town/city website because they will often have opportunities listed.
The MOST important thing and I can’t stress this enough is to raise them to nice, compassionate, motivated kids. The rest will workout for itself. Their whole life cannot just be about bs. Your kids might not even want to go to bs. Kids have different wants and needs and you shouldn’t force them into anything w/o their say- and that means not feeling any pressure from you. Everything they do from a young age should not just be about looking good on applications. I truly do hope that you take this into consideration. If you have any questions feel free to pm me:)
I’ve not read this book yet, but it has been highly recommended – Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies, or “Fat Envelopes” by Madeline Levine
MODERATOR’S NOTE
Nope. No side questions. That is called hijacking a thread and is rude to the original poster. If you really want to ask the question (with the caveat that it has been asked here countless times, start your own discussion.
2 posts deleted.
Reading is right. Also look for group sports activities, and have your student pick musical instruments that are interesting to them. Catch them in the act of doing something kind, and praise them over and over again. Niceness counts. Be a good role model and have open discussions with them about the downsides of drug and alcohol use.
Don’t over schedule after school time, tempting as it may be. DC had peers who were in 2-3 sports/dance at a time and had a private instrument lesson, a private language lesson and community service/scouts/robotics/other EC every week. Too much! And they ended up not particularly accomplished in anything. These kids were tired and didn’t perform well at school.
Kids that age shouldn’t think about high school. If you are thinking about high school, keep it to yourself, and don’t let those thoughts influence what your children do now or how you look at and react to your children now. When your older child is in 6th grade, you can reexplore the idea based on who that child is at the time.
You could look into junior boarding schools. Our kids go to a Fay School that starts in preschool and goes through grade 9. Most kids from Fay end up in prep schools.
I would respectfully disagree with you @MakMacdonald I’m sure that you have probably had a good experience with the junior boarding school, but I would advise against sending your children to a junior boarding school @PrepPop as a current bs student, I have many friends who went to junior boarding schools and admit a decent amount admit that they feel a bit of resentment towards their parents because they felt pressure to go or were given not much or no say in the disicion. I would say to not send you kids to junior boarding school. One of my friends said she felt like her childhood was partly taken away and she felt pressure from her parents to go. Don’t have you child’s life revolve around getting into the best schools. Don’t raise them to only do things that will look good on applications. Don’t stress the importance of getting into a good school when your child is in the 1st grade. I cannot stress it enough that but please keep those thoughts to yourself. Your kids childhoods shouldn’t revolve around test prep, essays, forced extra curricular,etc. for all you know your child might not want to go to boarding school, have needs that cannot be met at a boarding school, or just isn’t ready! If you raise them their whole lifewith the sole goal of getting into a good school they will feel as if they have to. You SHOULD raise your kids to be good, kind, compassionate, motivated, hardworking kids. That will get them further in life than any essay prep or violin lessons. Best of luck to you and please really listen to all the comments that have been made on this thread.
@cababe97 everyone’s situation is different. My eldest chose to go to junior boarding school because she was bored academically and was teaching other kids in her public school classes. She loved her JBS experience and was challenged academically. She was given the opportunity to try many different sports and she studied with people from all over the world. The school focused on teaching all of the above that you mentioned being: kind, good, compassionate, and hard working. Their classes did not revolve around test or essay prep. The kids get a solid academic foundation that prepares them for these through their class work. It also made the transition to prep school very easy for her. My second child who was in public school asked for me to also enroll him (he started in 5th) in JBS after he saw the opportunities his sibling had. My youngest also joined them (in 2nd) by choice and for family convenience due to conflicting vacation schedules. If at any point they would struggle or want out I would have no problem moving them but all three truly love their school. They get to pick their sports, clubs, instruments, etc. and we make it a point not to overschedule them outside of school. There are many junior boarding schools out there so I don’t think you can lump them all into one. It has to be a good fit just like prep school. I’m sorry that some of your friends had bad JBS experiences but this has not been the case for our family. Our kids are happy and grateful for the opportunity they have. BTW we did not send them so they could get into prep school. We honestly did not know much about private prep schools when they started JBS but I definitely think it helped with acceptance.
@MakMacdonald they are boarding in 2nd & 5th grade? The way I read @cababe97’s comment was talking about the boarding piece at younger than 9th grade, not being at a private school as a day student. I have heard stories of kids at very young ages being sent to British boarding schools, but not in the States.
@ma2020 No they are day students at a day/boarding school. Maybe that is where the misunderstanding came from.
There is such a thing as a ** boarding ** preschool? Is Fay a chain like some of the chain daycare centers?
@MakMacdonald