I will tell you having DS at home for remote learning over the “winter” was very eye-opening. I loved hearing him and his classmates discuss politics (in AP US GOV’T) and culture (Adv English, Topic - Cold War/Cool Culture). It definitely reinforced that we made the right decision sending him to BS for education vs keeping him here.
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We took advantage of these opportunities when DS was applying. Partly out of fear that we wouldn’t seem interested but mostly because it really was a great way to suss out the differences between the schools. The one we chose was really transparent (as in, feel free to ask any of our students anything) whereas some of the others tightly managed those interactions. As it happened, the one he liked least was the one that didn’t admit him so it actually felt “good” on M10.
But if you can frame it as 1. You’re not doing this to pick your first choice but instead to try to figure out what matters and to hone your own observation skills and 2. No 45 minutes (or even day) is going to reveal what a place is like, but each interaction is a good piece of the puzzle, you’re probably not setting your kid up for disappointment.
So ask “what did you like and dislike”? after each class. Not “can I see myself there?” At one, DS liked that all the boys were doing some sort of sports betting on their laptops during class (eek! Says mom.) At the one he chose, the discussions were animated yet very friendly.
It was at least an opportunity to discuss how kids bond and what kind of classroom experience might be more interesting to him.
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