It’s a thought that almost certainly crosses every parent’s mind, “am I doing everything in my power to help my child reach their full potential?” Often times parents think, am I paying my child enough attention? Am I making enough money to provide them with what they need to succeed? Am I doing something that will hurt them later on in life? And on, and on with the questions. Chances are that if you’re asking these questions in the first place, you’re probably doing a great job providing for your children, but have you ever thought to ask these questions of their school?
Is my child’s school providing the right environment to help them learn? Are they learning all the vital skills they will need to succeed later in life? Do they enjoy going to school, and do they view it as a positive environment? These are all questions you should be asking of your child’s school. After all, they spend six to eight hours there a day, sometimes more! If you can’t answer these questions, or if the answer is no to a lot of them, it might be time to take a closer look at what you can do to find a school that is the right fit for your child.
Many parents believe that they don’t have any other options when it comes to where their child goes to school, other than the public school in their district, but this is not always the case. There are many options families have to remove their child from a school that simply isn’t the right fit, and put them in one that is the perfect fit! One of those options, school choice, is one that isn’t talked about all that often.
School choice is a program that allows students and their families the option of attending a private school of their choice, often partially- or fully-funded by a scholarship. These scholarships are available through programs such as the AAA Scholarship Foundation, are funded by tax-credit donations, and awarded based on a variety of criteria. Currently, approximately 190,000 students across the U.S. are using tax-credit scholarship programs to help pay for tuition and 14 states have enacted tax-credit-funded scholarships programs. There’s no doubt that these programs are helping a lot of children reach their full potential, and there’s no reason they can’t help your child!
Children who attend school in an environment that causes stress, anxiety or depression are less likely to learn and grow to their full potential. Instead of focusing on the lesson, they are focusing on their environment and how badly they wish to be somewhere else. As a parent, you can help your child by providing them with an environment where they can truly learn and thrive. In fact, one of our most recent scholarship recipients, Ky’mier Bowie, experienced just this, when transferring from his volatile public school, to a private school of his choice. His struggles (and successes) are highlighted in our Scholarship Spotlight; “’Before I started attending Fruitful Ground, my family was constantly leaving work to come up to my assigned school because I was frequently getting into fights,’ admits Ky’mier. Expectations of success and thriving were a new concept for Ky’mier at school. Before, he had just hoped that he survived each day. In a short time he did a complete turnaround.”
Stories like Ky’mier’s, of children being given the opportunity to reach their full potential, are becoming more and more common in the U.S. and this can be attributed to the success of the school choice program! If you would like more information on how we can help your child reach his or her full potential by going to a private school of their choice, contact us today!
