Co-Parenting and school

 

Who else here haves children in Kindergarten and ready to start school in 2018?

Have you decided which school they will be going to?

Have you chosen a school and your ex another?

Being a parent is tough enough but when you are battling an ex as well it can feel like the whole world is against you.  It feels like no matter what you do it won’t be good enough.

 

Unfortunately though, time keeps ticking over and sooner or later the 2018 school year will be upon us and we will be wishing our little ones goodbye at the school gate. But how do you get there without ending up in world war 3?  That is a question that many parents ask each and every year and there is no right or wrong answer.

 

As parents we all face different options for schooling - public v private is one of the most common debates but for co parents the debate goes deeper then this.  There are practicalities that lie behind every decision we make - which catchment?  which school?

 

So let’s examine these questions further  (hopefully to help you in your decision making process) and remember this is a decision that is going to impact your child more than it will you - so keep that at the forefront of every decision you make.

 

The first few questions I want you to ask yourself is:

Where is my child living?

Where will my child be living in 2018? 

 

When it comes to choosing a school distance from your child’s home base needs to be considered (especially when they are young).  Remember that it is your child that will be getting up each day, travelling to school, attending school, travelling home again and have to repeat this day after day, week after week.  So choosing a school that is not close by to their home base is not going to make this routine an easy one for them.

 

The next lot of questions to ask yourself is:

Does my child have any interests?

What does my child like to do?

What is my child good at? And not good at?

 

The answers to these questions will hopefully help to narrow down the number of schools based on what facilities, programs, and extracurricular options they each can provide.  For example, why would you send your child to a school that has an arts program when another school in the same area would suit them better because of sports?  Again, remember that the answer to these questions needs to made with your child in mind. It isn’t about what suits you the best.

 

Once you have answered these questions you should have a good idea on what school will suit your child best. If both of you, as parents, still can’t agree ask yourself why?  Am I being stubborn?  Are you refusing to accept the school the other parent has proposed because that option has come from them? Finally, Are any of the reasons you have put forward as to why you don’t like the school proposed by the other parent, reasons that impact you or reasons that impact your child?

 

Schooling is a huge adjustment for our little ones - let’s not make it any harder than it has to be.