How To Prepare Your Child For Hostel Life?

There are a lot of things that you can do to prepare your child for the boarding school life. Also there could be possible effects of hostel life on your child's mind. Read more to find out some of them.

How To Prepare Your Child For A Hostel Life?

Here are some pointers to keep in mind before you think of sending your child to a hostel along with how to best prepare your child for the hostel life.

1. Before you plan on sending your child to hostel, please have a warm, affectionate, loving and comforting conversation with your child. Make him/her understand the value of studying in a boarding school
2. Do not use boarding school as a tool to punish your child for not adhering to the rules laid down by you or not behaving well. Even if you are causally just mentioning it quite frequently, it will instil fear in your child's mind and heart. You as a parent need to be very clear why you would want your child to study in a boarding
3. You must be knowing what is your child's interest, introduce your child to some renowned personalities who have been ex boarders to boost his/her morale
4. Once you feel your child is excited to know more about the life in boarding school, start preparing him/her for the routine, for eg. Getting up early in the morning, keeping the room clean, organizing books and clothes on his own
5. Spend enough time in checking out the infrastructure of the school and of course its reputation
6. Take your child to the school and take a tour of the campus along with your child to check the facilities he is going to have during his/her stay. Let your child examine the facilities available, meet some of the staff and so on. This will make your child excited about joining
7. Make sure when your child is getting ready to move to the school and you are helping him/her out, allow him/her to take his/her favourite toys, pillows etc
8. All throughout till the time the final day of movement comes, keep listening for any concerns, fears or apprehensions that your child might have

Benefits Of Studying In A Boarding School

Here are some of the benefits of studying in a boarding school.

1. Hostel life undoubtedly makes your child independent and confident
2. Your child gets trained in discipline his/her life
3. With strict rules and regulations of hostel life your child's everyday life becomes structured
4. If your child is keen on pursuing hobbies whether arts or sports, a good boarding school will certainly provide with a good infrastructure for your child

Some Emotional And Psychological Effects Of Hostel Life On Your Child's Mind

Do remember that there could be some emotional and psychological effects of hostel life on your child's mind. Here I am sharing some with you.

• Lot of ex boarders struggle to show emotion and may feel depressed at different stages of life
• Boys specially find it difficult to express their feelings and acknowledge love of their loved ones. One of the reasons for that is also boys typically in our culture are not encouraged much to express their emotions
• At times it can create fear and insecurity in the child's mind since he/she might be experiencing some unpleasant things in hostel like bullying or abuse

So, dear parents kindly remember you are not sending your child because it is a punishment. Get sorted out with your emotions and expectations first then think of a hostel life for your child. And once both of you are excited and willing to take a chance please make frequent visits to the hostel as much as it is allowed.

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