School Choice
School Choice Offerings:
Workshops and Webcasts
Individual Consultation
Support for Gifted Learners
School Choice Consultation
Every very child is unique and learns in a unique way. Learning is a personal and emotional process. A child learns best when she experiences learning that honors her unique learning needs and inclinations. Every parent wants the very best for her child. Not just the best as the world sees it but the very best for their child. Identifying the right education is not impossible but it can be confusing. It can be hard to sort through overwhelming, conflicting pieces of information, trends, opinions, the variety of school options all while turning an eye towards who you know your child to be and what you most hope for her.
The School Choice practice offers workshops and consultations to empower parents by growing their understanding of education in the 21st century, providing them with knowledge on area schools and setting them on the path for understanding their child.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (WEBCAST AND WORKSHOP)
A single workshop to get you going on your elementary school search. This workshop has been presented to over 400 parents and is relevant to families all over the United States with one section specific to the Greater Seattle area.
Topics: How to understand your child, Family considerations, Education in the 21st century, How to understand a school, Types of Private and Public schools, Admission process, Getting started tips, Greater Seattle area school districts
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CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRESCHOOL
This workshop gives parents fundamental information about choosing the right preschool.
The following topics are covered: How children grow in the early years, Important factors in choosing a preschool, How important is academic learning in Preschool years, When to move from Preschool to Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten, Application process and enrollment requirements
GIFTED: WHAT IS IT? IS MY CHILD GIFTED?
This workshop helps parents understand “giftedness” and how to identify it in a child with and without testing. Myths about giftedness and gifted education are explored. Gifted education offerings in the Greater Seattle area are discussed.
Parents get information on: Characteristics of Gifted children, Types of gifted learners, Challenges of gifted learners, Types of environments that serve gifted learners best, Public and Private school offerings for gifted learners, Parenting ideas on how to support out-of-school education.
LETS TALK ABOUT AREA SCHOOLS
In response to a demand from parents to understand specific area schools, both public and private, here’s a workshop to get real information on specific schools. Parents from a variety of schools engage a facilitated discussion on key aspects of their schools. Anoo facilitates the discussion. The workshop is intentionally designed for parents to engage an informative discussion that steers away from advertising, propaganda or hearsay.
Parents get information on: Areas of strength and challenge of each school, Academic focus, curricula used, changes being planned, Unique methods and approaches in core academic areas, Social-emotional programs and on-going support, Family demographic and involvement, Teachers strengths, support for teachers to grow and collaborate, Administrative focus, involvement and changes, Special programs like APP, Special Ed, ELL, International schools
Consultation (Preschool, Elementary, Middle and High School)
Anoo works with families to bring them clarity on what they most want for their child, who the child is and then leverage that knowledge to guide the identification of a school or home learning environment. This consultation is useful to all families; those considering public schools, private schools or home-schooling. Anoo helps families move from the inside out in the educational choices for their children by focusing on the child, her needs and the family’s needs. She also provides detailed guidance on specific schools and overall practical considerations. This partnership based approach leads to a framework parents use not only to choose a school but to also navigate their child’s experience in school.
ONE-TIME CONSULTATION
Families can choose to engage in one-time or other shorter timeframe consultations to answer essential questions and make decisions for specific situations.
CONSULTATION FOR GIFTED LEARNERS
Over the last five years, Anoo has developed an expertise in working with gifted learners and their families. The School Choice Consultation process is personalized to understand and make recommendations for gifted learners with varying needs.
SCHOOL CHOICE CONSULTATION (Preschool, Elementary, Middle and High School)
Families can choose to engage the complete Art of Education process that takes them from a vision for their child’s education to choosing and enrolling in the right school. This process is powerful for Preschool, Elementary, Middle and High school choice. This personalized process is useful to all families whether considering public or private schools. Its focus is on creating a framework for understanding your child and identifying the characteristics of an education that is right for her. School Recommendations are based on this framework.
Often, the Art of Education process includes these steps, each personalized to the needs and inclinations of a family:
Values, Beliefs and Hopes: Reflect on your own education and make explicit how this will impact your choices for your child, articulate values, beliefs and hopes for the child, the child’s education.
Who is my child: Parents observe and study the child to get to know her as a learner, a social being, an engaged human being, a contributing member of a larger community. Anoo observes the child in her current school or home setting as part of creating a portrait of her learning inclinations and needs. For upper elementary, middle and high school students, Anoo also speaks with the students.
School recommendations: Anoo braids together parents’ hopes, family values and the child’s needs to identify 3-5 schools. School recommendations are accompanied with details on how a specific school meets the child/family and the ways in which it falls short. Tips and questions for school tours and open houses are included. The school recommendations report serves as the framework for parents to see schools, understand them, choose which ones to apply to and how best represent their truest selves in the applications.
Applications (for private schools): Leveraging all the clarity they have developed, parents apply to schools. Anoo supports parents to write authentic applications that are true to the child and family. The goal of this stage is to represent fully who the child is and how the child and family will connect and contribute to the school community. Anoo does not work with families to “write what the school wants to hear”. She does not advocate for specific children at schools. Following application writing, Anoo offers parents ways to reduce stress during visits and interviews, tips to enjoy school visits and engage interviews as an honest way to get to know the school and share information about the family and child.
Choosing that one school: We return to the hopes and the understanding of the child to choose a single school.