Conducting interviews for admitting children to Preschools
What? Interviews? For little ones? You are kidding me!
Yes… A lot of preschools conduct interviews before admitting the child to their preschools.
Did I conduct interviews before admitting the child to my Montessori schools – Yes. Absolutely. But it was more about interviewing of Parents.
Parent Interviews are conducted to assess their expectations, understanding of the school’s philosophy, and commitment to supporting their child’s education. This interview helps ensure that there is alignment between the school and the parents’ goals for their child’s early education.
- Parents receive a comprehensive overview of the curriculum, outlining their child’s academic progression throughout the three-year period spent in a single classroom with the same teacher
- Parents need to confirm that the child will remain in our care from the age of 2.5 to 6 – till the child is ready to transition to Grade 1.
- Parental agreement is necessary for the child to embrace and uphold the culture practiced in our Montessori House of Children, which emphasizes caring and sharing. This culture should also be mirrored at home to promote harmony and prevent conflicting messages in the child’s mind.
- It is important for parents to comprehend and accept the absence of homework and exams in our approach, while still acknowledging that their child will make academic progress.
5. Parents are required to recognize that each child is unique. It is important not to compare the pace of their child’s academic growth with that of another child.
6. We consider admitting a child into our Montessori HOC only after parents have a clear understanding, agreement and trust in the school’s management and staff to guide their child according to our planned educational approach.
No way is this interview for the child – it is basically to understand whether the entire family is also ready to go the Montessori Way.
As for the child, we do check whether the child is toilet trained. We watch how the child interacts with his parents, not necessarily in English, but in his own mother tongue. And that is all that is required as far as the child is concerned.
If our school does not have trained staff to take care of special children, we do still admit the child into our Montessori environment. The child can be accompanied with support staff/parent and spend at least for an hour to two with the regular class. We keep in touch with the specialist attending to the child and follow their guidelines.
Do share your thoughts on how you conduct interviews in your preschools/kindergartens.