Whether you are a parent, an educator, or someone who cares about a parent or child, you and the ones you love will benefit from Picky Parent Guide. Whoever you are, whatever your occupation, whatever your own education background, however much you already do or don't know about schools, however confident or terrified you might feel now, when you read Picky Parent Guide, you will feel more confident with good reason: you will be smarter and act smarter about your child, family and schools in ways you never thought possible. A wide range of parents, from educators and Ph.D.s to parents who did not attend college tell us that Picky Parent Guide's methods helped them make good education choices. No matter how you slice it, Picky Parent Guide is for you!

Still not sure? If you find yourself in even one of our quick checklists, Picky Parent Guide is for you:
	However good or bad your child's current school situation may be, Picky Parent Guide is for you.
	Whatever your reason for wanting to learn more, Picky Parent Guide is for you.
	However you like to read and make decisions, Picky Parent Guide is for you.
	Whatever your child's needs, Picky Parent Guide is for you.
	Whatever your family's values and needs, Picky Parent Guide is for you.
	Plus, see our special notes for:
	Parents of children with disabilities and
	Parents of children who are academically gifted.

However good or bad your child's current school situation may be, Picky Parent Guide is for you. Is your child:

• Having a ho-hum (not bad, not great) school or preschool experience so far?
• Bored or breezing through school without working very hard?
• Skating on thin ice — barely (or not) making grade level?
• Learning, but not nearly as much or as fast as you expected?
• In some core subjects, learning more outside of school (in tutoring or at home) than in school?
• Unhappy at school, socially or for other reasons you might not yet understand?
• Doing fine at school, but you wonder if there's something better out there?
• Attending the only feasible school, but you want this school to better meet your child's needs?
• Doing great at school, but you wonder what to do with non-school time?
• Already in middle or high school, but you still aren't sure you have a handle on your child's school needs?*

  Or,

• Do you have a nagging feeling that your child's elementary school is not all it's cracked up to be, especially when it comes to meeting your child's needs?

If the answer is yes to any of these, Picky Parent Guide will help you make wise, customized, confident choices about your child's education and time.

*Even if your child is a preschooler or current or rising middle or high school student, Picky Parent Guide can help. Just by reading Picky Parent Guide, you will understand your child better and be better equipped to guide him or her, no matter what age or grade level.

Read a note to Parents of Toddlers Choosing a Preschool or Day Care

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Whatever your reason for wanting to learn more, Picky Parent Guide is for you. You might want help choosing a school, working with teachers, improving a school or simply crafting your child's home life and activities to compensate for school weaknesses. You might want to help a friend or family member who is struggling with these same decisions. Are you:

• Choosing a first school?
• Moving across town or even across the country?
• Considering a school switch to better meet child or family needs?
• Facing more school options because of new choice policies in your public school district?
• Considering a school switch or tutoring for your child because of options offered under federal legislation?
• Needing to consider a school switch because of changed family circumstances?
• Content but curious about how your child's school measures up?
• A parent with a child graduating to the next level and a new school within the elementary years?
• A parent of a newborn or toddler who wants to learn about what's ahead?
• Hoping to understand your child's needs better?
• Trying to help your child's teachers better meet your child's needs?
• Trying to improve your child's current school in all the right ways?
• An educator who wants to know what savvy parents seek in schools?
• A friend or family member of someone described above?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then Picky Parent Guide will inform you (or someone you care about) and help you get the results you want!

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However you like to read and make decisions, Picky Parent Guide is for you. Do you like to:

• Focus on the big ideas, rather than working through detailed steps?
• Get working on the practical action steps, rather than spending time on big ideas?
• Understand the big ideas and walk through the all the right steps?

You're in luck! Chapter 1 gives you three different paths for reading and using the book and its Confident Choice Tools. You can focus on the main ideas only, focus on the practical steps, or both, and always may limit yourself to sections relevant to your particular child and family. Whether you are an intuitive decision maker or an analytical junkie, Picky Parent Guide is built to meet your need. You also will find advice about how and when to get more help identifying your child's school needs and how and when to work with an education counselor or child psychologist.

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Whatever your child's needs, Picky Parent Guide is for you. Are you the parent of a child who:

• Seems "average" or "typical"?
• Is academically gifted or advanced?
• Struggles academically?
• Has burning interests in certain topics, subjects or activities?
• Is gifted in subjects or skills outside the traditional academic arena — e.g., artistic, social, leadership, creative, or physical capabilities?
• Just doesn't seem motivated to learn, regardless of how bright your child is?
• Has an extreme characteristic of any kind, such as strong or weak listening skills, speech skills, fine motor skills, and so on?
• Faces a physical or mental health challenge?
• Grapples with a learning disability?
• Has trouble making decisions for himself or herself?
• Has trouble making or keeping friends?
• Is exceptionally talented in a wide range of areas?
• Is a prodigy in one or more areas?
• Struggles to stand out from the crowd?

If your answer is yes to even one of these, Picky Parent Guide will help you, point-by-point, understand and meet your individual child's needs, through school and elsewhere. Chapters 2-5 and 10 of Picky Parent Guide are built just for you! Every child is special, none is the "mythical average." Every parent can better understand how to nurture your child's special strengths while diminishing weaknesses so that your child can shine!

Also check out:
Top Ten Signs of a great fit between child and school
Top Ten Signs of a bad fit between child and school
Parents of children with learning disabilities click here
Parents of academically gifted children click here

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Whatever your family's values and needs, Picky Parent Guide is for you. Parent, do you:

• Have strong moral, religious, or social values?
• Just want the best academic experience for your child?
• Value subjects that sometimes get short shrift, such as foreign language or music?
• Want to spend significant time choosing and working with your child's school?
• Have no time to spare?
• Need to balance the needs of your multiple children?
• Have strictly limited money to spend on child and school?
• Have vast quantities of money to invest in your child and school?
• Have strong teaching method preferences?
• Care a lot about who other children in your child's school are?
• Want a community of friends among parents in your child's school?
• Definitely want to choose a certain school type — e.g., public, private or religious?

If the answer to even one of these questions is yes, then Picky Parent Guide is for you! Picky Parent Guide is written to help you clarify, prioritize and meet your needs and reinforce your values through your child's school. Chapters 6-10 of Picky Parent Guide are designed just for you and will help you match your own needs to schools, point-by-point!

Also check out:
Top Ten Signs of a great fit between family and school
Top Ten Signs of a bad fit between family and school

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Parents of children with learning disabilities: a special note for you!
The first Picky Parent Guide already offers point-by-point advice to help parents of children with learning disabilities choose and work with each child's school. But for the future, we're exploring ways to offer even more detail for every common (and uncommon but vexing) learning disability, such as dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, and deficits described in the work of child learning experts like Dr. Mel Levine. We want to reduce the workload on parents like you who often spend countless hours learning about their children's disabilities — often after too many years of unsuccessful school experiences for your children. We want to help you make the better school and non-school activity choices you so badly want to make — from the start.

Share your child's story, tell us about the school-related problems you've faced and how you have (or have not) overcome them, and let us know what kinds of information and assistance would be particularly helpful.

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Parents of academically gifted children: a special note for you!
The first Picky Parent Guide already offers point-by-point advice to help you choose and work with your gifted child's school. Here's what James Webb, co-author of the award-winning Guiding the Gifted Child, had to say about it: "This excellent book will guide parents of academically gifted children in selecting appropriate educational options. The advice is on target and very appropriate."

In the future, we'd like to offer you even more detail about educating and parenting your gifted child to be not just smart, but also a healthy, loving, achieving and contributing person. We want to reduce the workload on parents like you who often spend countless hours and years learning about their children's giftedness after years of lost opportunity to teach the goal-setting, tenacity and social/emotional skills that elude too many academically gifted children. We want to help you make the better school and non-school activity choices you so badly want to make — from the start.

Share your child's story, tell us about the school-related problems you've faced and how you have (or have not) overcome them, and let us know what kinds of information and assistance would be particularly helpful.

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