The School Interview

No sooner does a child start walking, than parents start wondering what school would be suitable for him, and whether he will gain admission in a good school or not. It is best to start preparing your child for the school interview as early as possible. You make your child start cramming in the last few days or weeks before the interview, and it is not going to be much help. The last few weeks should be a period of revision for him, not a period of learning. In this articleAlphabets and NumbersColoursLanguagesConfidenceFamiliarityAlphabets and Numbers Make sure your child knows all the alphabets, as well as phonetics and a couple of objects beginning with each alphabet, eg. A is for Apple, B is for Bed etc. Your child should also be familiar with numbers, and should be able to rattle off the numbers to 20, if not 50, with ease. Colours Your child should be well versed with all the basic colours. At every opportunity, keep telling him the colours of various objects he comes into contact with. What colour is mommys shirt? Red! What colour is your new cap? Yellow! And let him repeat colours after you. Start at a young age, and do not worry about whether or not he will be able to assimilate the information. You will be surprised at the amount small children can pick up and retain. Languages While interviews do not usually test varied language skills, it would be to your advantage if your child were fairly familiar with at least 2 languages. If your child speaks Hindi, Gujarati or some other language with other family members, grandparents (the advantages of living in a joint family!) or household help, make it a point to speak to him in English. If it is just the two of you living with your child, then one parent can speak to the child in one language, while the other parent speaks in another language. Dont worry about whether your child will pick up both languages. He will, and you will be surprised to see that he switches to the appropriate language with the relevant person. Unless you have reason to believe that your child is very slow or may have learning disabilities, encourage him to learn two languages at the outset. Confidence More than seeing how much a child knows, interviewers want to test the confidence of the child in question. If your child comes across as confident and bold, chances that he will be selected are high. However, if your child is incredibly intelligent but too nervous or shy to answer, no amount of preparation would help. So you should definitely work on building your childs confidence. Take your child with your whenever you go to the supermarket, and encourage him to speak to people. Let him enquire about the price of a particular object. If he ever wants a bottle of Pepsi, encourage him to pick it out himself, find out the price and pay for it himself. If you run into a friend, encourage your child to answer questions like, "What is your name? How old are you?" Familiarity Increase your childs familiarity with school. Children often picture school as a scary place. Take your child to the school often, before his interview, every time you need to go to collect a form or to submit it. This helps familiarise him with the surroundings. Take him for a walk along the corridor, and if the school has a playground, let him play around in it for a short while. On your return home, ask your child what he liked about the school. Perhaps he liked the swings, or the slide, or the friendly gardener, or the fact that his father went to the same school so "It is the best school." There is no right or wrong answer.

No sooner does a child start walking, than parents start wondering what school would be suitable for him, and whether he will gain admission in a good school or not.

It is best to start preparing your child for the school interview as early as possible. You make your child start cramming in the last few days or weeks before the interview, and it is not going to be much help. The last few weeks should be a period of revision for him, not a period of learning.

Alphabets and Numbers

Make sure your child knows all the alphabets, as well as phonetics and a couple of objects beginning with each alphabet, eg. A is for Apple, B is for Bed etc. Your child should also be familiar with numbers, and should be able to rattle off the numbers to 20, if not 50, with ease.

Colours

Your child should be well versed with all the basic colours. At every opportunity, keep telling him the colours of various objects he comes into contact with. What colour is mommy's shirt? Red! What colour is your new cap? Yellow! And let him repeat colours after you. Start at a young age, and do not worry about whether or not he will be able to assimilate the information. You will be surprised at the amount small children can pick up and retain.

Languages

While interviews do not usually test varied language skills, it would be to your advantage if your child were fairly familiar with at least 2 languages. If your child speaks Hindi, Gujarati or some other language with other family members, grandparents (the advantages of living in a joint family!) or household help, make it a point to speak to him in English. If it is just the two of you living with your child, then one parent can speak to the child in one language, while the other parent speaks in another language. Don't worry about whether your child will pick up both languages. He will, and you will be surprised to see that he switches to the appropriate language with the relevant person. Unless you have reason to believe that your child is very slow or may have learning disabilities, encourage him to learn two languages at the outset.

Confidence

More than seeing how much a child knows, interviewers want to test the confidence of the child in question. If your child comes across as confident and bold, chances that he will be selected are high. However, if your child is incredibly intelligent but too nervous or shy to answer, no amount of preparation would help. So you should definitely work on building your child's confidence. Take your child with your whenever you go to the supermarket, and encourage him to speak to people. Let him enquire about the price of a particular object. If he ever wants a bottle of Pepsi, encourage him to pick it out himself, find out the price and pay for it himself. If you run into a friend, encourage your child to answer questions like, "What is your name? How old are you?"

Familiarity

Increase your child's familiarity with school. Children often picture school as a scary place. Take your child to the school often, before his interview, every time you need to go to collect a form or to submit it. This helps familiarise him with the surroundings. Take him for a walk along the corridor, and if the school has a playground, let him play around in it for a short while. On your return home, ask your child what he liked about the school. Perhaps he liked the swings, or the slide, or the friendly gardener, or the fact that his father went to the same school so "It is the best school." There is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer.