<p>Parents, how did you/or would you suggest introduce the topic with your young child for the first time? My child attends a k-8 school, we live in a rural area, there aren't any good private/public high schools around, and we will need financially aid. How do you get them excited, without over exciting them?</p>
<p>Does your child recognize that the local public/private possibilities are not a good option for him/her? I think that is the first step. Because he/she attends a K-8 schools, there must be some students who go on to boarding school. If not, where do they go? If they go to boarding, the kids are already talking about it, so your child may be more open than you think.</p>
<p>You can ask some day trip boarding schools if you can visit in the summer without having an interview. This could open your child up to the possibilities.</p>
<p>If your child is a very strong student with great SSAT scores and has had some leadership, athletics, arts, and/or ec success, then he/she should be attractive candidate for many schools. Apply to a range of schools that would be an improvement over your local options. Only apply to schools that your child would be happy to attend, but do not restrict him/her to the most competitive schools. Find some schools that place your child in the top 25% or less of applicants, and be certain that they are a good match for your child.</p>
<p>Boarding school is not for everyone. I think it is especially difficult for students who are introverted by nature. Some are simply not willing or not ready to leave home. If your child is closed to the idea by fall, it might be best to just leave it alone or apply and wait and see how he/she feels at contract signing around April 10th. Your child will have to show strong interest at the interview. They will be looking for that.</p>
<p>In my opinion, it is best not to force a child to attend boarding school. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I was not sold on the idea myself due to the cost and perception of elitism. However, my daughter did the Duke TIP thing and earned recognition at the state level based on her SAT scores. That was in the spring of her 7th grade year. At that point, it became apparent that she might need (or at least greatly benefit from) more challenge than what our local public school had to offer. </p>
<p>So we went about it from the perspective of creating options. We looked into IB, boarding school, and a 2/2 program at a nearby university, in addition to the regular PS. We wanted her to have a choice. We introduced the idea to her in a real concrete way by visiting the campus during the summer. We did it as part of an already scheduled vacation. She ended up interviewing then as well. At that point, we were interested but certainly not sold on the boarding school route.</p>
<p>After our visit she made the decision to apply and later to accept the offer of admission. Thankfully the school made it possible for us to send her there.</p>
<p>We found that it took a long time to warm up to the idea for our D. We are not from NE and so the environment/people/feel seemd quite alien and nothing like home. We had to look at a broad range of schools (big, small, NE and Mid-Atlantic) to find ones where she could see herself. In addition, there was quite a bit a maturation that occurred from beginning to end of 8th grade–so whereas she couldn’t see herself away from home in Sept, by the time the acceptances letters came, she was more open to the idea.</p>
<p>I would say that it is best not to overcomplicate the situation up front. </p>
<p>If a child is not aware of boarding school as an option, it is best to introduce it as a place where s/he can pursue goals beyond what can be done locally (better ECs, sports, etc.) while having great teachers who can actually spend the time with you to do a good job in class. </p>
<p>If s/he enjoys summer camps, the living experience can be framed in those terms, but only in a way that says that s/he will be away from home doing things s/he enjoys but without parents around except on special occasions.</p>
<p>As to the FA situation, it should also be explained that as you are learning about the schools, you won’t know whether or not it will be a reality until spring, but that if everyone makes their best effort you’ll know you’ll have your best chances. This should suffice for the time being.</p>
<p>With goaliegirl, we were aware that boarding schools existed and that some people we knew of (hockey players) who were good students and excellent athletes used that as an option when local hockey opportunities weren’t satisfactory. It was introduced that way to goaliegirl and I gave her internet links to investigate boarding schools to see if she was interested. </p>
<p>It wasn’t a hard sell for her, as she was quite dissatisfied with both her local hockey options (which were requiring more and more road travel for lesser opportunities) and dissatisfied with the classroom environment where she was going to school (large, indifferent to students who did their work, socially immature). </p>
<p>We were up front about needing substantial FA and that there were no guarantees, so she knew that it was only an opportunity, not a promise.</p>
<p>Worked out well for her in the end, but it was anything but easy to make it happen.</p>
<p>Best of luck and keep asking questions…</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I am rereading all the messages several times…They really do help.</p>
<p>Does your child enjoy Harry Potter? My eldest kid wanted to get out of our small town at the beginning of middle school, so we didn’t have to do any persuading. The younger sibs see that it’s going well, so for them, it’s “when can I go to boarding school?”</p>
<p>Any activities which draw from a wider area could help. I’ve read that for some kids, CTY programs can lead to interest in boarding schools. I would not, however, tell your child point-blank, “I think you should go to boarding school.” It should be his or her idea, not yours.</p>
<p>View books left on the bed. </p>
<p>Explanation for presence of view books (white lie if necessary): that you met an amazing young woman/man at a work conference (or whatever) and the subject of schools came up and he/she told you that the greatest experience of their life was going to xyz boarding school (followed by a great college) and that “she said I should definitely let you look at them, even though they’re expensive and a big sacrifice for the parents. So, I ordered some catalogs for you to take a look at and see what you think.” Tell him/her that you haven’t really looked at the view books yet and want her to bring the one or two that she thinks look really cool and that maybe you’ll agree to go visit and check them out in person. Thus the journey begins.</p>
<p>The idea is to (a) not let her feel she is being backed into a corner (b) give her lots of pretty eye candy (c) give her the feeling that successful people go to these schools (d) give her the sense that she’s in control and can tell you which school she’s interested in visiting (e) give her the sense that they’re not easy to get into but that you’re willing to sacrifice if she likes the idea after visiting.</p>
<p>That’s the essential theme - create desire and the sense that it’s her idea - with whatever necessary variations make sense to you in the telling!</p>