All parents keep thinking about their kid’s formal schooling. Kids enter into formal schools after completion of preschool and this phase is exciting for parents as well as little ones.
As the interactions for admission to formal school are approaching in India, I am sharing useful information for the same. Here are the DO’s and Don’ts that is to be kept in mind before the admission interview or interaction.
This write up covers the following
- Nursery admission tips for Parents
- Questions asked to Parents and Students during school admission
Do’s
- SLEEP WELL: Child must have sound sleep the night before interview.
- GREETING: Child should have good habit of saying good morning or good afternoon when meeting an adult.
- MAGIC WORDS: Child should be taught about basic phrases like SORRY, THANK YOU, EXCUSE ME
- OUTFIT COLORS: The child should dress up as per his or her interest and should be familiar with the colors in his/her outfit.
- BRIEF ABOUT SCHOOL: Parent should give a brief idea about the school to the child, so that he feels comfortable facing the people at his or her interaction.
- REACH ON TIME: One should not be late on the day of interaction, rather you should reach half an hour before the given time, to avoid any confusion or anxiety.
- PARENTS’ OUTFIT COLOR: Parents should dress up normally and try to wear clothes of colors your child is familiar with because they might ask about the colors of any of your outfits.
Don’ts
- TOO MUCH TALK ABOUT INTERVIEW: Parents should not talk about interactions much a day before as it could develop any kind of pressure in child’s mind.
- DON’T FORCE: Do not force the child to eat or drink on the day of interview, let him have what he wants.
- LIVELY ATMOSPHERE: Parents should keep the atmosphere of their home lively, to reduce any anxiety.
- NO NEGATIVE PLEASE: Do not talk anything negative in front of your child.
DON’T FORGET THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS / STATIONARY BEFORE THE INTERVIEW / INTERACTION
One should always be ready with documents to avoid any confusion. If something is lacking you can ask to submit that later.
- Keep a photocopy of the registration form that you have to submit in the school. You should practice filling the photocopy before actually filling the original form.
- Form should be neat and all the information filled should be correct, as they can ask you questions from the form.
- Please carry all the necessary documents with you i.e. driving license, adhaar card, ration card, address proof.
- You must have birth certificate of the child.
- Carry a pen, whitener, glue, paper pin or stapler.
- Keep passport size photographs of the child and parents. You can keep colored as well as black and white photographs.
Here are some tips that would help parents for their interaction at school during admission. These tips are important to make kids schooling full of happiness with lot of learning.
- Always seek permission before entering the interview room.
- Both parents should know each other’s educational qualification because they might ask you about the same.
- Parents should show positive outlook of their family.
- Parents should not interrupt in between when they are asking questions from the child.
- Parents should have complete knowledge about kid’s pre-school.
- Avoid any kind of arguments in front of the interview panel.
- Don’t make any negative statement or don’t show any negative action in front of interacting panel.
- Always answer when you are asked to answer, don’t jump in between.
- Parents should keep their phones switched off.
Commonly asked parents interview questions with their possible answers for formal school interview / interaction.
- Which school is your child going to?
Ans- My child is going to Vidyanjali pre-school. - How much time do you spend with your child and how?
Ans- We try to spend quality time with our child. Whenever we get time we try to involve in activities of our child’s interest. - What are your educational qualifications and give brief idea about your job profile?
Ans- Give your details about qualification and job profile [both parents]. If mother is home maker then tell them about the same. - What are your views about grandparents’ role in child’s life?
Ans- Grandparents play a very important role in the formative years of the child as they are experienced and children can learn lot of things being around them which can nurture his or her personality. - Where do you take your child for outings?
Ans- We take our child to different places of his/her interest. - What values would you like to inculcate in your child?
Ans- We want him to be a good human being. He should have moral values like patience, truth, honesty and respect for elders. - What are your expectations from our school?
Ans- We want a safe environment for our child. He/she should have all round development. We expect teachers to be role model for our child. - What do you do if your child shows tantrums?
Ans- We try to divert his attention at first then after some time try to understand the reason behind his tantrums. Sometimes if this fails then we try to ignore him for some time. - What would you do if your child complains about a fight that happened in the school?
Ans- We will try to find the authenticity of his complaint by talking to the class teacher. Also we will try to solve the issue after listening to other child or children with whom he had fight. - If your child is hurt in school, how will you react?
Ans- If my child get hurt in the school, it will definitely create panic but incidents can happen at home also so its our job to not over react. - What if your child does not get admission in our school?
Ans- It’s perfectly fine with us as we know our child is smart and at the same time we understand school has certain norms and you can’t afford to give admission to everyone. - How do you punish your child?
Ans- We don’t punish him/her actually but yes sometimes if he/she doesn’t listen to anything then we keep him/her away from his favourite thing or activity. Sometimes we give him/her some time to think over his/her action by making him sit alone in his/her room. - How will you reward your child?
Ans- By hugging or kissing and also by giving him his favourite toys/books/puzzles etc. - What are your views about internet?
Ans- It is good as it provides information on every topic but it has disadvantage also as it gives over exposure. - How important are field trips and excursions for any child?
Ans- They are very important as it teaches a child to be independent, to care for others ,to share things with peer and also it improves their general knowledge. - Where do you see your child twenty years from now?
Ans- A well settled, balanced and as a happy individual. - Why do you want your child to get admission in this school?
Ans- As per my knowledge this school provides holistic development to a child. It balances the academic and extra-curricular activities without giving any pressure to kids. - Are both his parents working? If yes, then who is going to look after the child at home?
Ans- Yes, we both are working but we work in shifts so we manage at home also.
[answer according to your situation, if you stay with your parents then you can say that his grandparents are there at home to look after our child] - Is your child an introvert or extrovert child?
Ans- Give an honest answer but don’t give any negative point. Whatever is your reply should show the positive side as well. - As a father how much time you spend with your child and in what manner?
Ans- I try to spend time with my child as much as I can and always look for spending quality time with him/her. - How would you help your child with his studies?
Ans-We sit with him to know about his syllabus and we take interest in his studies and try to solve any of his doubts and this keeps us also updated. - How do you train your child for hygiene?
Ans- Children look up to their parents for everything. If we want them to understand cleanliness, we should also have to show cleanliness and hygiene in our daily activities. - What do you consider as the most important thing in bringing up a child?
Ans- A healthy and peaceful environment is important for a child to grow as a balanced human being. - Do you stay in a nuclear or joint family?
Ans- [Reply by giving correct information of type of family you live in and if you stay in a nuclear family then explain them about who’s going to take care of the child in parent’s absence.] - Number of children? Which school is your child going to?
Ans- Mention the right answer. - Mention good as well as bad habit of your child?
Ans- Answer accordingly, don’t show your child in negative light though. - What kinds of toys your child play with?
Ans- He/she plays with all kind of toys but she likes to be around her dolls more than anything else.[Answer according to your child’s interest.] - Do you tell stories to your child?
Ans- Yes, we tell him stories before his sleeping time.[Tell the correct information as they can ask you about the story.] - Mention strengths and weaknesses of your child?
Ans- Answer properly. Explain about strengths such as honest, hard working, happy child etc. Weakness should also be told in a positive way .For eg.my child is bit shy, actually he thinks lot before mixing up with people. - Which other schools have you applied for?
Ans- Mention the names of the school. - At what time does your child go off to sleep?
Ans- Give an honest answer.[9 pm would be an appropriate answer]
The following questions that were asked to parents’ in previous years, during nursery school admission.
- What does your child like the most?
- What is your opinion about successful parenting?
- How do you expect the school to contribute in your child’s life?
- Describe your child?
- How much time do you spend with your child?
- What are your child’s hobbies?
- Who takes care of your child in your absence?
- What are your child’s likings and dislikings?
- How independent is your child?
- What are the educational qualifications of the parents /grandparents?
- What are your expectations from school with respect to your child?
- Would you like to share something special about your child?
- How do you deal when your child shows tantrums or misbehaves in front of others?
- To whom your child is more close and why?
- What are your views on school giving homework to your child?
- What are your expectations from your child?
- What is your child’s favourite colour?
- What is his/her favourite cartoon ?
- How do you spend time with your child?
- Why are you choosing our school for getting admission for your child?
- Name any story book given to your child in recent times.
- Is your child toilet trained?
- Do you live in a joint family or nuclear family?
- How important for children being around their grandparents?
- Did you send your child to pre-school prior to the nursery admissions?
- How will you develop the habit of sharing and caring in your child?
- What would you do in a situation like when two kids are fighting for a toy or your child is not listening to you?
- Whether mother is working or not? If yes, then who looks after the child in her absence?
- Number of children you have.
- According to you what is the role of a teacher?
- What is more important for you academic performance or social adjustments of your child? And why?
- What languages are being used to communicate with the child at home?
- What is more important as a parent for you academics or extra-curricular activities?
- Is your child an introvert or extrovert?
- What makes your child different from others?
Sample nursery admission interview questions for students.
Children should prepare for the following questions for their school interview-
- What is your name?
- How old are you?
- What is your favourite colour?
- Where do you live?
- How do you go to school?
- What is your mother’s name?
- What is your father’s name?
- What is the name of your best friend?
- Do you like playing?
- Which is your favourite toy?
- What is the colour of your dress?
- How many eyes do you have?
- Do you have a brother or sister?
- Which fruit you like the most?
- Say any rhyme.
- Can you say which number is this?
- How many fingers you have?
- Do you have pet animal? Can you name any pet animal?
- Name the tallest animal.
- Name the largest animal on earth.
- Where do fish live?
- Do you like colouring?
- Can you name these colours.{flash cards of different colors can be shown to child and he would be asked to recognize colours}
- Which animal has the hump on its back?
- Which vegetable you like the most?
- Do we have wings?
- Which is our National bird?
- Name the animal with black and white stripes on its body?
- Where do you go to buy vegetables?
MANTRA for a good school admission interview / interaction
- Be confident
- Be smiling
- Show positive outlook of your family
- No negative action or words
That’s all for today. You can ask about your queries via comments. I would be glad to answer. Share your interaction experiences.
