You spend eight hours or more every day perfecting your profession, working your way up, and supporting your family. What does your 4-year-old do all day? He plays. As the teachers at The Fessenden School say, “Play is the work of childhood.” And the experts agree: Play is just as important to growing young minds as your career is to your personal growth. Here are...
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As you contemplate your son’s educational future, one thing is sure. You want him to attend one of the nation’s top boarding schools. The question is, when? The obvious, and most popular, starting points are ninth and tenth grades. Ninth grade because it’s the natural beginning of the traditional four-year high school experience. It’s also the earliest most secondary boarding schools start admitting ...
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Whether your son is advancing from pre-K or entering school for the very first time, kindergarten will be a very different world for him. In kindergarten, your son’s social skills, motor skills, and cognitive abilities will be challenged in many ways. In our article, “7 Signs Your 5-Year-Old Is Ready For Private Kindergarten,” Boston-based educational consultant Carol Kinlan talked about some of the ...
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Do you really have to leave Boston as soon as your first child turns four? For families throughout the city, it’s an agonizing choice. You love Boston: the diverse, walkable neighborhoods; the restaurants, museums, and endless things to do; the rich history. This is the city you call home. But some things are even more important than your love for the city of Boston: your...
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When are good grades not good enough? When your son is bored in school. When the material is too easy, doesn’t challenge or engage them, gifted middle school boys tend to coast on their smarts. They may slack off on their homework, put the minimum amount of effort into class projects, and stay silent during class discussions. In other words, for the bored middle schooler,...
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Too many private school searches begin and end within a 10-mile radius of the family’s home. Or, the private school search is limited to the top five options in whatever “best schools” ranking the family chooses to consult. The truth is, when you’re looking for a private school to start your child in kindergarten or pre-kindergarten, proximity and prestige are only two of the factors...
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The middle school years are tough even when things are going well. The transition from the single classrooms of elementary school to the multiple teachers of middle school is jarring. Social pressure also ramps up, as young students start to worry about fitting in. Unfortunately for some middle school students, this already-challenging stage of life is accompanied by disruptive events at home: Divorce Loss of...
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As an educational consultant, Carol Kinlan has helped hundreds of families in the Boston area find the best elementary school for their child. So who better to turn to for advice on finding the right private Pre-K or kindergarten program for your child? Carol spoke to a packed room of parents of young children earlier this spring at The Fessenden School, many of whom had...
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From the perspective of families and students, the process of applying to some of the nation’s top boarding and day schools can be inscrutable, and at times the decisions rendered can feel arbitrary. With schools continuing to champion record breaking numbers of applicant pools and increasingly shrinking percentages of acceptances offered, families struggle to unpack the admissions algorithm of interviews, ...
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Have you exhausted your options at your public library? Are you overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices in the children’s section of your local bookstore? Are you looking for the next download for your son’s Kindle? Thousands of children’s books are published every year, and as a parent, your job is to sift through this mountain of choices to find the highest-quality books, the...
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