How to face the choice of the educational center?

How to choose the educational center for our children? Is it important that they all go to the same?

What is the ideal time to start? What options of schedules and modalities are more suitable for the family? Are there programs with parents and children?

All these questions and many others cross our minds when we have children.

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Deciding how to educate our children

Being parents, we plan a career, a job, a couple, living daily... Even if we live without planning and become parents, we know that at some point we will need to institutionalize the care and education of the little ones.

Some parents prefer to send them to educational centers from babies, so that they can adapt. Others when they walk so that they are more independent.

Others wait for them to start talking, so they can tell them what they are doing, or they wait for it to be required.

But at some point we know that we are going to experience this situation. What will be the best decision then?

How to adapt this great change to our family life? Public or private?

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The ideal choice

The first thing to consider is whether we are going to choose in the public or private environment. Knowing both options and putting all the cards on the table is essential. We know that if our option will be private, we must have that money available during the process. To that will be added materials, uniforms and registration... and sometimes also locomotion.

Some centers present a basic fee, and then give other extra options such as extended hours or workshops. And if the little ones will not go full time, we must think about who will take care of them the rest of the time.

In this sense, let's see some educational proposals and orientations:

• Analyze the proposals of each one, see what they offer and the possibilities of care, schedules and educational guidance.
• Learn about the educational models that surround us and think about which modality is the most appropriate.

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The place of the educational center

The place where the institution is located has to be close to our home, our work or that of the adult who is available to go for it.

After all, adaptation is a process that can take some time, and children often go through different situations that they we must go for them before the end of the schedule (some discomfort, fever, an unexpected fall, medical control ...) and know who will go for them.

We must know that, at the beginning, children often get sick until they achieve herd immunity. When everyone gets to know and immunize each other, it will no longer be so common for our child to get sick. For a myriad of reasons, the center you attend must be logistically accessible to take you on time, pick you up on time and to be able to pick you up in an emergency.

Are we looking for a short-term solution, or do we choose a school for your entire educational process?

We must think about whether we are going to choose a Garden for their first years or we will look for an institution in which they go through the whole process with high school and high school included.

If we have several children or we plan to have more children, we must also consider options. Will we send everyone to the same? Are there discounts for siblings? Does the center meet the needs of each child? Will our children adapt to going to the same institution? When it comes to assembled families, this aspect is not minor.

Faced with all these questions, let's ask for an interview. Let's not make an immediate decision. And we are open to the possibility of having a plan B in case our child does not adapt or the institution does not meet our expectations during the process.

I wish you the best of luck in this new adventure! I am here to accompany you.