How to identify the best boarding school for your child?

If you struggle to find the right boarding school for your child, you may find some key pointers that help you know more about boarding or residential schools. The importance of high-quality education has risen over the years, and it has become essential for parents to provide their students with holistic learning that boosts their academic and extracurricular skills. Boarding schools are well-equipped to cater to children’s educational and extracurricular needs. Let us learn how parents can identify the right boarding school for their child.

What is a boarding school?

Boarding or residential schools are educational institutions where parents send their children to stay and receive academic learning. Students can lodge, dine and study on the campus premises away from their parents. Boarding schools are affiliated with various boards that are international, central and state boards. CBSE, ICS, IGCSE, and IB boards are the standard boards that you may find when looking for the best boarding schools in India. Day schools are affiliated with the same board but operate during limited hours.

In comparison, residential schools are always open to facilitate students’ holistic development. The infrastructure of top boarding schools in India is well-built to accommodate all students’ academic and lodging requirements. At the same time, day schools have limited facilities since they do not cater to students’ accommodation. Parents looking to admit their child to boarding schools can filter the best from a list of India’s top 20 boarding schools.

Need to identify the right boarding school for your child

Students may face various problems initially at boarding schools, but if you choose the right one, you may secure your child’s future in safe hands. Parents must admit their students into the right boarding school for various reasons.

• Homesick– Children often feel homesick when exposed to hard work instead of comfort, as they stay at boarding schools for a significant amount of time. The right boarding schools ensure a warm environment with experienced staff and wardens to create a home-like place.

• Cultural differences– Students sometimes find it challenging to adjust to the diversity of the students at boarding schools. A good boarding school encourages and motivates your child to adapt to the surroundings and respect cultural diversity.

• Social exposure– Students living alone in their homes sometimes struggle to live and interact with peers day and night. They share rooms and are very seldom left alone. While students may not like this initially, the environment of boarding schools makes it comfortable for them to get out of their shells and interact with their peers.

• Health habits– To ensure students’ health, the best Indian boarding schools do not allow spicy or fast food and focus on a nutritious diet. Students learn to control their urge to consume fast food. In addition, boarding schools also ensure good physical activities to keep diseases and other medical conditions at bay.

• Adapting to curriculum– At first, students may find that their learning style differs from the teaching methodology and curriculum at boarding schools compared to regular schools. The best boarding schools in India offer a diverse and generalised curriculum capable of incorporating the academic needs of different types of students.

How to identify the best boarding school for your child?

Boarding schools have been practised since the Vedic ages and remain a prime choice for many parents. However, boarding schools have developed over the years and have integrated technological innovations to facilitate high-quality education for students. Parents must visit the boarding school campus before admitting their children. It is essential as it helps parents know the ins and outs of the school.

1. Learning style– The primary learning style differs from one child to another, and schools must be well-equipped to cater to the diverse academic needs of students. Interaction with students studying in those schools helps parents know more about the curriculum and more academic details.

2. Experienced mentors– The top residential schools are equipped with trained, skilled and experienced mentors who are experts in teaching children based on their learning style. Effective lesson planning allows teachers to vary their teaching methodology to find the best fit for the class. Parents must see if the teachers can encourage their children instead of being biased.

3. Well-built infrastructure– A good boarding school needs to have all the primary facilities required for the easy functioning of students. Smart classes, well-equipped laboratories, libraries, extracurricular spaces, dormitories, medical facilities, and a help desk are a must-have for all Indian boarding schools to facilitate the healthy growth of children.

4. Sound environment– Students must leave their homes and stay in their schools. Therefore, boarding schools need a mentally stimulating and peaceful environment where children do not face harassment, biases, violence or unethical behaviour. The boarding school authorities must ensure that every child is taken care of and encouraged to develop with full potential.

5. Extracurricular exposure– The best boarding schools aim to provide a holistic curriculum that caters to students’ academic and extracurricular needs. Schools must promote holistic growth by offering cultural programs and opportunities on state and national levels so that children can build their confidence and excel in their respective fields. Boarding school alumni testimonials help know the excellence of boarding schools.

Benefits of sending your child to the best boarding schools

Although parents may find it difficult to send their children away from themselves to reside in a different city or location, sending them off to boarding schools is always the right choice. It is so because the private boarding schools in India offer-

1. Mental development– Studying at any of the top residential schools in India will help your children bloom in a mentally stimulating environment. Students are triggered by creativity and productivity and are motivated to imbibe and teach new skills. Living by themselves, they face situations and escape them on their own. It helps boost critical thinking in students and prepares them for difficult situations in the future.

2. Emotional development– Students develop their social skills and learn to work on their emotional health.
   Negative emotions of jealousy, overconfidence, violence, anger, and biased behaviour are taught to be handled much better and directed towards expressing them positively and less harshly. Anxiety, depression and other mental health problems are also handled by the counsellors onboard. An emotionally healthy child is capable of achieving more by focusing better.

3. Intrapersonal development– Students live independently on the campus premises and develop a whole new set of intrapersonal skills, such as building confidence, time management, problem-solving, decision-making, self-discipline, persistence and adaptability. These skills are incredibly advantageous for the future growth perspective of students.

4. Academic development– The holistic academic curriculum of students equipped with different education boards helps offer high-quality education to students. The private boarding schools emphasise practical learning more than theatrical learning and, therefore, help students build a strong foundation for further education.

5. Physical development– India’s best boarding schools believe a healthy mind and fit body are catalysts for the holistic growth of children. Therefore, academic boarding schools offer a range of extracurricular and sports activities to keep students away from wasting their time and as a means of recreational exercise.

Which is the best boarding school in India?

The top boarding schools in India focus on children’s mental, spiritual, emotional, moral, academic and physical development. Boarding schools aim to transform into an educational institution where students can feel at home but maintain their discipline, professionalism and productivity. Even with modern education, students are not pulled out of their roots and are instead encouraged to know and imbibe more of their Indian traditions and values. The diversity of India is brought into the campus premises to foster solidarity and respect for all sections and religions in the society.

Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya is an all-girls boarding school that operates on these lines with a vision of imparting high-class education interlaced with interpersonal and intrapersonal values to transform young girls into harbingers of a positive change in the world.

How to prepare a child for boarding school life? 

• Ensure your child visits the boarding school campus to become comfortable with the new environment.

• Assure your child that feeling homesick or out of place is alright and that they will adjust with time. An affirmation that you will visit your child on weekends works well.

• Since your child is to stay on campus, pack accordingly and ensure all essential belongings are packed rightfully. Parents must carefully pack their family photos, room decor stuff, blankets, clothes, and stationery.

• Support your child and build confidence that they are smart enough to live independently and will make it through.

• Do not give negative affirmations that you are sending your child away from yourself to teach them any lesson or as a punishment.

These are a few ways to identify the right boarding schools for your child and help them prepare for life at boarding schools.

SKV is among the top female boarding schools in India that aims to offer holistic education equipped with progressive learning. We are affiliated with the CBSE board and offer admissions to students from class VI onwards.