The best tour questions ask a school to show you how its philosophy works on an ordinary Tuesday, not just describe it. Start with a handful of questions that work anywhere, then ask the ones specific to the school's approach. And spend as much time watching the kids as listening to the person giving the tour.
Tours are a performance, a little. Everyone is on their best behavior, including you. These questions help you get past the brochure.
What should I ask at any school?
- Can my child do a shadow day? A school that welcomes this is usually confident in what happens in the room.
- What does a normal day look like, hour by hour? Ask for the real schedule, not the highlights.
- Who will my child spend most of the day with, and what is their background?
- How will I know whether my child is on track? Report cards, portfolios, conferences, test scores? How often?
- What happens when a child is struggling, academically or socially?
- How long do teachers or guides usually stay? High turnover tells you something.
- Why do families leave? A school that can answer honestly is worth taking seriously.
- Can I talk to a parent who has been here a few years?
What should I watch for in any classroom?
- How kids talk to each other when no adult is nearby
- Whether the adults talk to kids with respect, including when correcting them
- Whether kids look engaged, bored or anxious
- Whether the room matches what the school says it believes
That last one matters most. Below are questions for each of the seven root philosophies, plus what to look for once you're in the room.
What should I ask at a Traditional school?
Traditional schools use whole-class lessons, textbooks, homework and grades, with grade-level standards and a set pace.
- How do you support a child who is ahead of or behind the class?
- How much homework should we expect in each grade?
- What does discipline look like when a rule is broken?
- How much of the day is spent on test preparation?
What to watch for in the room: Whether the teacher checks on quiet kids, not just the hand-raisers. Whether students ask questions or only answer them. How much of the lesson is the teacher talking.
What should I ask at a Classical school?
Classical schools follow the trivium of grammar, logic and rhetoric, with memorization, Latin, and Socratic discussion of great books.
- Which stage of the trivium is my child in, and what does that look like day to day?
- Is Latin required, and starting when?
- How is faith, if any, woven into the curriculum?
- Which books will my child read this year?
What to watch for in the room: In younger grades, whether recitation feels joyful or like a grind. In older grades, whether students are actually arguing with ideas in discussion or waiting for the teacher to give the right answer.
What should I ask at a Charlotte Mason school or co-op?
Charlotte Mason programs use living books, narration, copywork, nature study and short lessons.
- What does a typical lesson length look like by age?
- How much time is spent outdoors each week?
- Which living books are used for history and science?
- If this is part-week, what will I be teaching at home?
What to watch for in the room: Real books on the shelves rather than workbooks. Kids narrating in their own words. Nature journals that look used. Lessons that actually stay short.
What should I ask at a Montessori school?
Montessori classrooms have hands-on materials on open shelves, long uninterrupted work periods and mixed ages across three years.
- Are your guides AMI or AMS trained?
- How long is the uninterrupted work period each day?
- How do you track and share my child's progress?
- What do you do when a child avoids a whole area, like math?
What to watch for in the room: A calm hum of kids working on their own or in pairs. Complete, well-kept materials. A guide who mostly observes and gives short lessons, rather than leading the whole group. Kids putting work back where they found it.
What should I ask at a Waldorf school?
Waldorf schools use main lesson blocks, storytelling, art, handwork and music, with a steady rhythm and little screen time.
- How do you approach reading for a child who is ready early?
- What is your media and screen policy for families at home?
- Is the school a full AWSNA member?
- How does anthroposophy show up in daily life and festivals?
What to watch for in the room: Kids' own main lesson books, not printed worksheets. A clear daily rhythm. Whether art and movement are part of the learning or squeezed in around it.
What should I ask at a Project-Based or Reggio Emilia school?
Project-based schools organize learning around long projects driven by real questions. Reggio Emilia is the preschool version.
- Can I see a finished project and how it was assessed?
- How do you make sure every child learns core reading and math, not just the group?
- How much of the day is projects versus direct skill lessons?
- In a Reggio preschool: can you show me documentation from a recent project?
What to watch for in the room: Whether every kid in a group has a real job or a few do the work. Whether projects show writing, math and research, or mostly posters and crafts.
What should I ask at an unschooling or self-directed school?
Unschooling schools, like Sudbury schools and Agile Learning Centers, have no required curriculum, and kids choose how to spend their time.
- How do kids who struggle with self-direction get support?
- How are decisions made in the school community?
- How do graduates handle college applications?
- What does a child do on a day they don't know what to do?
What to watch for in the room: Kids who look absorbed, not just busy. Older and younger kids mixing. Adults who are available but not hovering. If you can, sit in on a school meeting.
What about network schools like Acton or Prenda?
Network schools blend several of these roots. Ask the questions for each root they draw on, then ask how much this campus follows the network's model and how much it does its own thing. Our networks page shows which roots each one blends.
Frequently asked questions
How many schools should I tour?
Enough to compare at least two schools that fit your philosophy. Seeing two of the same kind side by side often teaches you more than touring several very different ones.
Should I bring my child on the tour?
For the first visit, many parents go alone so they can ask frank questions. Bring your child for a second visit or a shadow day, and pay attention to how they describe it afterward.
What is the biggest red flag on a tour?
A gap between what the school says it believes and what you see in the room. If a school says kids lead their learning but every child is doing the same worksheet, believe the room.
Take the free school fit quiz to see which philosophy fits your family and find schools near you that match your budget and your child's age.