Things I Wish I Knew Before Choosing a School

A Parent Coach’s Journey with Her Sons, Kritman and Ishkrit

A Parent Coach’s Journey with Her Sons, Kritman and Ishkrit

When my elder son, Kritman, turned three, he still would wrap himself around my knee at birthday parties like a baby koala. But that didn’t stop the well-meaning relatives and friends from asking, “So, which school are you putting him in?”

I had a stock answer: something close to home but still exploring. I said it while being unsure inside.

And then, I started visiting schools.

First Impressions

This was the first time I realised how little I knew. I was standing in a spotless corridor where you could’ve eaten your lunch off the floor. Everything was gleaming and colourful. Everything whispered discipline.

The children were quiet, polite, careful.

Later that week, I walked into a very different vibe: a circle of kids arguing cheerfully over a story ending, a teacher kneeling to listen rather than hush, elbows smeared with paint that somehow missed the paper. It felt alive. I loved it.

Lessons from Coaching

At that point, I thought I’d made a logical decision. But only later, while training and working as a parent coach, did things truly click.

Coaching made me ask better questions:

• What helps a child risk an answer?

• What lets them sit with confusion without shutting down?

• What turns curiosity into real research?

When I looked back, I realised something almost funny: the school we’d chosen was already doing the very things I was being trained to value.

Small Classes, Big Connections

The first sign was what I used to dismiss as a brochure statistic: class size.

At Manthan, a teacher once told me, “With just 20ish children, I don’t have to manage, I can connect”. I watched it play out.

In those early years, Kritman was brilliant but hesitant, orbiting group work rather than landing in it. His teachers knew when to nudge, and when to let silence do the inviting.

The day he finally spoke up, it wasn’t a grand speech, but one clear thought. From there, the steps got bigger, hosting school events, leading a project, offering help before being asked.

Even now, as he prepares for his Master’s, he still drops by Manthan to meet the teachers who believed in him before he believed in himself.

Every Child, Their Own Journey

Five years later, his younger brother, Ishkrit, entered the campus, completely different in personality. Outgoing from day one, he would talk to lampposts if they looked lonely!

But put an audience in front of him and his confidence shook.

Manthan didn’t try to quiet him down. They channelled his energy into rehearsals, small roles, and steady feedback. Step by step, his confidence grew. One day, he came home beaming; he had been chosen to help host Umang, the Sports Day.

The stage hadn’t changed, but he had.

Curriculum Development

Here’s what I realised: curriculum isn’t just about choosing a board. It’s a way of thinking to live with.

Inquirers ask better questions, so the school kept encouraging questions. Lessons that could have ended in one period often stretched into week-long projects because curiosity simply refused to stop.

I still remember Srijan, the annual showcase week, when a “simple” science topic in Kritman’s class exploded into experiments and predictions that surprised everyone. Years later, Ishkrit’s class did something similar, the facts arrived, yes, but so did the habit of finding them.

Safety Beyond Gates

I learned that safety is more than gates and IDs. True safety is when children feel free to get something wrong and not be punished with laughter.

Quality Circle Time worked quietly each week: children listening without rushing to reply, speaking without performing, noticing small acts of kindness.

It’s where “I don’t know” stopped being an apology but a powerful starting point.

School–Parent Partnership

The best coaching doesn’t replace parents, it equips them. And the best schools do the same.

At Manthan, we were never treated like clients. Teachers shared delight, not just concerns: a paragraph completed, a classmate comforted, a question turning into a plan.

Values weren’t just on posters; they were alive in the hallways and in conversations.

When career talks began, they didn’t start with “What do you want to be?” but with “What problems interest you?” Future Pathways opened that door early, making decisions feel exciting, not heavy.

The Real Questions

As a parent coach, the biggest shift for me was this: I stopped looking for quick answers, and started focusing on better questions.

• Does the school feel alive with learning, not just busy with tasks?

• Do teachers notice what’s unsaid?

• Do children get real choices that bring real pride?

At Manthan, the answers kept arriving in the form of my children becoming themselves.

Where We Are Now

Kritman, once the child clinging to my knee, now speaks with confidence and vision. He still reaches out to his teachers, grateful for those nudges at the right time.

Ishkrit, now in Grade 12, still has that spark and energy. But he also has depth in his ideas, and the patience to find answers even when they take time.

Final Reflection

If you’re a parent, standing in a shiny school corridor with uncertainty in your heart, here’s what my journey taught me:

The right school won’t just teach your child what to think. It will give them the space, safety, and companionship to learn how to think, how to try, and how to care.

For us, that School has been Manthan.

About the Author

These are my personal views and experiences as a parent.