Homelike boarding schools

buuzn03
Mon, 20 May 2019 16:30:10 +0000

I guess I have a different definition of “home-like”. To me, it isn’t the amount of guidance a kid gets nor the additional structure or lack of independence. My kid does not get any hand-holding, prodding, over-the-shoulder monitoring of his study habits during study hours. He doesn’t have a service doing his laundry - he does his own. No one is telling him to eat nutritious foods or shower or turn his lights out when it’s time for bed, even if there’s a “lights out” time. To me, this is not home-like, because he didn’t get this at home, either. He’s always had to pack his own lunch (since age 8), do his own laundry, wake himself up in time for school, etc. So, I didn’t look for this type of overseeing or structure in a BS.

My definition of home-like is does everyone (or at least the majority) know who my kid is? Is he a person or a number? Do they really know him? When I visit, do the faculty and staff recognize me? Whether or not they do, do they say hello or stop for a quick ‘how do you do’? Or are they too busy with their own responsibilities to take the time to make us feel at home? When my kid is sick, does the staff take extra care to help him when mom is 2000 miles away? Do they think of the little extras that provide comfort or do they strictly do their job and hand him medications and then on out the door with you? Does the faculty get a chance to notice inadvertent things about him and suggest activities he may enjoy that he hasn’t been exposed to?

Being so far from us, I want BS to truly be a home away from home. My independent kid can handle responsibilities on his own just like he will in college…this does not mean he does not need a home-like environment. People who know him for who he really is, not just as a student in one of their classes.

In fact, I sometimes wish his “home-like” school would threaten him within an inch of his life when he’s being lazy, apathetic or flippant, like we would at home!!! Alas, I must continue to do this via FaceTime…