Two Kindergarten offers just landed in your inbox…
…can you pinky swear you’ll use a solid decision making process to choose?
Or will you just blindly pin the tail on the donkey?
If you’re a parent overwhelmed by Preschool, Kindergarten, or summer camp decisions, read on.
Nope, your gut is not a decision-making tool—no matter how experienced or healthy it is.
(*unless you’re an NFL quarterback, professional poker player, or someone who has had thousands of hours of study and practice with prompt feedback on your moves)
To make smart choices, you need an effective decision making process. One that is:
- Goals based
- Systematic and consistent
- Considers subjective and objective factors
- Streamlined
- Encourages and guides the gathering of relevant information and informed opinions
There is a better way to decide which programs to enroll your rising preschooler or Kindergartener in that goes beyond:
- Just reading reviews on Inside Schools or
- Asking parents for their experiences in a certain program or school
AND it doesn’t involve paying a consultant hundreds of dollars to do the strategizing for you.
Even with relatively unimportant decisions, mistakes can take a toll
But to even be able to choose, you first have to know which schools or programs to evaluate.
The effort involved in making decisions increases as your list of options expands, so mistakes hurt and have 3 unfortunate side effects:
Decisions require more effort
Mistakes are more likely
The psychological consequences of mistakes are more severe
This is why when it comes to education, you can’t afford to rely on intuition.
Worst case scenario?
You pick the most expensive school but receive the wrong education for your child.
Instead, what if you could rock school choice for your family and …
Accurately determine what schools or programs to evaluate;
Analyze, sift, weigh, and evaluate pertinent criteria to arrive at the right conclusions;
Use the 4 most effective decision making tools you need to choose education programs; and
Gain a repeatable decision making process you can use for ANY learning opportunity and ANY grade level
Your reward for this hard work? Confidence, clarity, and peace of mind.
Defeat the four horsemen of any decision making process
In any normal decision process, there are typically these four steps AND problems. The Confident Decision Maker’s Toolkit (CDMT for those in a hurry) helps you overcome them.
| Decision Step | Problem | CDMT Solution |
| 1. Encounter a choice | Narrow framing makes you miss options | Widen your options by asking the right questions and setting objectives |
| 2. Analyze options | Confirmation bias leads you to gather self-serving information | Reality test your assumptions by conducting frame audits |
| 3. Make a choice | Short-term emotion will often tempt you to make the wrong choice | Gain distance by avoiding distortion and taming the most common decision making biases |
| 4. Live with the decision | Overconfidence about the future leads you to repeat avoidable decisions | Prepare to be wrong by setting tripwires and performing decision audits |
Over the last three years of public school admissions cycles, I kept seeing parents go round and round until the very last day applications were due. And even when acceptances went out, the anxiety about school choices didn’t end.
We can’t deactivate our biases, but we can counteract them with the right strategies.
That’s why I created the Confident Decision Maker’s Toolkit.
We live in a time when data is ever more accessible and we have more choices than we know how to reasonably analyze.
Now that all of humanity lies at the same distance from the search bar, boost the power of that information with a bullseye decision making process.
Kiss Paralyzing School Indecision Goodbye with—
The Confident Decision Maker’s Toolkit
When you can’t DoorDash a decision, the next best thing is having a solid decision making process that will stand the test of time – whether your child needs a nursery school or a high school.
No time to attend every school tour? Don’t know any families attending a school of interest?
CDMT encourages your best decision maker to come out and play with a proven framework that transforms the science of decision making research into actionable tools.
From making the ultimate short list of schools to deciding between your final two offers, CDMT provides you with the techniques you need to make homerun school decisions.
My promise to you? Spend 4 hours with me and:
- Come away with a clear, repeatable, decision making process you can use for daycare through high school
- Get more comfortable with uncertainty and make smarter decisions
- Learn what outcomes mean (and don’t mean) so you can calibrate future decision
Take a peek under the hood – here’s how CDMT improves your decision making process:
1. Aim high - Pick from the curated shortlist of program candidates that are right for you by:
- Ask the right questions
- Set and let objectives be your guide
- Align outcome quality with decision quality
2. Never settle - avoid the echo chamber effect by learning:
- What kind of expert advice should make you suspicious
- Avoid distortion
- Tame bias
3. Enlist allies - use the payoff matrix and school selection tool to:
- Refine your list of program candidates
- Determine when to maximize and when to satisfice
4. Look within - Attain distance before deciding by:
- Understand the decision tool hierarchy
- Wield the only tools you need to make any final decision
5. Go for it → Prepare to be wrong and get better by:
- Perform decision audits
- Set tripwires to know when to abandon a bad outcome
- Reframe yourself as a learner
When you enroll in CDMT, you’ll improve your decision making process with:
5-phase program designed with the busy working parent in mind
- 4 hours of bite-sized video content specifically tailored to education decision making
- Curated set of 7 tools you need to make school and program decisions, including the only 3 tools you need to make FINAL decisions
- Customizable weighted decision model in Excel built with the objectives and school data families should be considering in their decision making process
Printable 5-module workbook filled with exercises you need to successfully become a thoughtful decision maker
Cheat sheet of the traits to evaluate and questions to ask about schools
Tools for managing your decision, what to do if the outcome is undesirable, and how to learn which decisions to repeat and which ones to avoid
Scout’s honor: this isn’t your arcane college philosophy lecture.
No siree.
There are hundreds of decision making biases and frameworks, but less than 10 that are most applicable to the school selection process.
Let’s break it down now
Say yes to leveling up your decision making process
Click the “send me my toolkit now” button anywhere on the page and complete the checkout form.
We’ll be cheering you on in the background and preparing your email with the subject line “smart choices on deck” that will include log in details.
The hardest part is deciding – I’m on standby to answer any questions. Just reach out!
4 hours from now, you will be equipped with a powerful decision making framework that you can apply to any school or program decision.
You’ll have the confidence to
- Accurately determine what programs to evaluate;
- Analyze + evaluate the most pertinent criteria to arrive at the right conclusions;
- Use the 7 most relevant decision making tools you need to choose education programs;
“What a great experience! Just talking through how to think about schools and the myriad options + considerations with Kim convinced me I needed to have a better process than a regular pros and cons list. Before working with her, that was what I relied on. But after working with her, I stepped up my game and sailed through the NYC Kindergarten selection process.”
Fran T., rising Kindergartener
“Kim is an exceptional teacher. She is passionate about all things education, helps you get unstuck, and makes complicated topics understandable. I appreciated that she was always rooting for the objectives our family cared about and wasn’t fazed about schools with outsize reputations. I’ll always remember what she said about how people who don’t know any better usually pick the most expensive school and get the wrong education.”
Jacob D. and Marty D., PreK twins
“She’s right when she says your gut is not a decision making tool. This toolkit gave our family a repeatable framework we can us for other decisions – whether we are maximizing or satisficing (learned something new!). It delivered so much value – just seeing the school criteria that we weren’t considering alone was eye opening – and is the first time I’ve seen decision making 100% tailored to the daunting preschool/Kindergarten admissions process. I waste more money on random Amazon purchases – this was a no-brainer.”
Adrienne P., parent of a 1st grader transferring schools
Sure…you COULD
Enroll in a general decision making course for a cool $2K+
(but it wouldn’t provide you with the the extensive research-based criteria to evaluate education programs, spot-on questions to ask at school tours, or the only 7 tools you need to make education decisions)
Hire a school consultant at $250/hour
(but the consultant doesn’t know your child and there’s no time on the call to develop your family’s education objectives, so you could still miss out on a perfect under-the-radar school)
Read dozens of decision making books
(but at the end of a whirlwind day, Emily in Paris > jargon dense tomes, so you never actually complete this aspirational goal)
OR
You can nab your copy of the Confident Decision Maker’s Toolkit for $50.
That’s less than what you’d pay your babysitter to watch the kids on date night!
CDMT is the only decision making course marrying behavioral science with the data you need to consider for educational choice.
Armed with the training to ask the right questions and wield the most appropriate selection tools, you make your school decision in 4 hours.
Let’s face it: who you are, what you are, how successful you are, and how happy you are all starts with the quality of your decisions.
And the same is true for your children: who they are, what they are, how successful they are, and how happy they are comes from parents making wise decisions on their behalf.
Start reaching goals, reducing wasted time and money, and avoiding hassle, worry, and regret.
In short – elevate your quality of life with a bullseye decision making process.
When you add this all up, it’s a value of at least $2,000 – the price of a generic online decision making course – but I’ve made it possible for you to get this toolkit for less than what 6 months of Disney+ costs.
You’ll not only be able to apply user friendly techniques for making smart choices, you’ll also understand what you need to consider in evaluating your program options and the steps you need to take to arrive at the right school decision for your children – all without the second guessing, anxiety, and cut-off chicken heads.
For just $50, you get:
5-phase program designed with the busy working parent in mind
- 4 hours of bite-sized video content specifically tailored to education decision making
- Curated set of 7 tools you need to make school and program decisions, including the only 3 tools you need to make FINAL decisions
- Customizable weighted decision model in Excel built with the objectives and school data families should be considering in their decision making process
Printable 5-module workbook filled with exercises you need to successfully become a thoughtful decision maker
Cheat sheet of the traits to evaluate and questions to ask about schools
Tools for managing your decision, what to do if the outcome is undesirable, and how to learn which decisions to repeat and which ones to avoid
Here’s the deal
Once you find out which program(s) have offered your child a spot, you don’t have a lot of time.
In NYC, the typical timeline to accept an offer is:
Private schools → one week
Charter schools → one week
Public schools → one month
Summer camps → popular ones can fully enroll within hours of opening applications
The time to hone your decision making prowess is BEFORE you need to accept an offer or hand over your credit card information.
Grab your toolkit now and get started grappling with tough tradeoffs, clarifying uncertainties, and making linked decisions in the right sequence.
“I’ve never met anyone else offering this combination of school assessment data, education objectives, and decision making tools. The unique lens through which Kim is viewing the question of how to pick schools puts parents back in the driver’s seat instead of relying on consultants who know the schools but not your child.
This toolkit is a steal and delivers tremendous value. It forced me to see that my lack of clarity on what I think a good school is needed to be addressed before i could even think of which schools to list on our application.”
Xenia B., parent to a Kindergartner
“Kim is the tiebreaker you want in your corner. Talking with her is one part therapy, one part amazing college course you loved, and two parts encouragement to overcome your old school anxieties.
Picking programs is hard especially when you have to conduct back to back nanny searches like we did and then run straight into the preschool years. Having this toolkit provided an actionable roadmap to demystifying the hazy thinking process around evaluating schools.”
Marsha and Tony L., 3K applicant
“Reassured – that’s what working with Kim made me feel. It often feels like you’re making momentous irreversible decisions when you’re choosing programs and care for young kids. Kim makes you feel like you have a powerful ally who has looked hard at the issues, tools, and data related to school choice in your corner. This toolkit should be a first step for any parent embarking on the preschool years.”
Jared M., prospective Kindergarten parent
My BBB (that’s buoyant bloomer backed) promise to you:
The Confident Decision Maker’s Toolkit will help you zero in on the right program(s) for your child. Period. Full stop.
Even if you can’t tour every school in your area and even if you don’t get around to reading all the decision making books.
You won’t find another program that delivers all the tools, research, and components it offers, let alone the value and time savings that it provides.
And if you have questions – reach out. I’ll personally answer your queries.
CDMT is results – oriented, no-nonsense, and purposeful. I know how it feels to be paralyzed by the enormity of deciding which programs to enroll your child in, which is why I’ve developed a streamlined decision making process for education choices.
And just who am I?
I’m Kim Liao, a pioneering Brooklyn-based education strategist navigating school choice in the mecca of education options.
As founder of Buoyant Bloomer, I teach parents the art of delivering a world class preschool education that complements the group program their children are enrolled in. My Play, Learn, Teach framework maximizes each child’s golden window of learning opportunity by leveling up their reading, writing, and math skills through a play based approach.
In speaking with my clients, a common theme I heard was how to know whether their current daycares and public schools were “good” or “doing enough”. This recurring question made me realize that there was so much anxiety around the school selection process and that the problem was there was no common language or standards to evaluate education and schools.
From nannies to daycare to nursery schools, PreK, Kindergarten, afterschool programs and summer camps – I’ve made all these decisions in 5 years and distilled the lessons into a streamlined, simple process that turns decision making into child’s play.
This is the gamble parents of 3-6 year olds everywhere face: enroll in private school now and you handicap your financial freedom.
But choose a weak or mediocre early childhood program and you waste your child’s golden window of opportunity for accelerated learning.
The education decisions you make affect you, your family, and your child’s future.
I’ve tried it all so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel:
Learned from the best decision strategists
Hired the most notable NYC school consultants
Evaluated the research behind school quality measurement
What I’ve discovered is that making education decisions is tough and complex, and only YOU can make the final winning decision. This will never be easy, but having a good decision making process raises the odds of making smart choices.
You KNOW that learning to use a good decision making process – one that gets you to the best solution with minimal fuss, energy, and loss of money or composure – is how you maximize your limited time and resources.
Wheels up! I’m ready to be your co-pilot. Are you ready for the Insider’s Guide to making better decisions?
CDMT is the only online course that combines the research on school quality with the science behind a smart decision making process so parents choose the right education programs with confidence and clarity.
The results-oriented self study curriculum allows you to level up your decision making skills at the time(s) that suit your schedule.
The 5 phase program leads you step by step from where you are today (no shame – few of us ever received training in decision making) to making decisions faster and more easily, with less frustration and better results.
Making decisions is a fundamental life skill.
Learn to choose the right schools and learning opportunities so your kids can head down the path that leads straight to joyful, purposeful learning.
FAQ
I’m overwhelmed with everyday life. I don't think I have time for this??
What topics do you cover?
We cover:
- The data you need to consider to properly evaluate education programs
- The questions you should be asking other parents and on school tours
- How to avoid distortion and bias so you make your final decision from the right list of schools
- Why a decision weighted model is your best bet and how to use the customizable one that’s included in the toolkit
- Tools you need to make final decisions and break ties
- The process we all need to set up AFTER a decision is made so we repeat winning decisions and avoid making the same mistakes in the future
Does this mean I’ll be able to become a decision strategist after this?
Was Rome built in a day?
You will definitely have a solid framework that you will use over and over again, and the tools you need to make any future education decision.
Why should I trust you?
I know exactly what it’s like to stay awake agonizing not only over which schools to apply to but also what to do when acceptances come in.
I didn’t want to live in a state of constant limbo and unease. I wanted to know deep down that the acceptances were the least consequential part of the decision process because I had done my job to mitigate failure.
Talking to other parents about what they were thinking and how they were deciding actually stressed me out and made me realize that it was because I did not anchor my decisions in the objectives and the data that mattered to our family.
The Confident Decision Makers Toolkit is my answer to that avoidable and debilitating anxiety that arises whenever parents have to choose any education programs.
Say goodbye to the hot mess version of you that would have sweated an admissions cycle.
Welcome the cool and collected version of you that rocks school choice.
What’s your refund policy?
How long do I have access to CDMT?
I have a different question
Be a chooser, not a picker
In a world of choices that rush by faster than the onset of a toddler’s tantrum, the wealth of options we have to evaluate turns many of us from choosers into pickers.
Choosers actively think about possibilities before making decisions. They reflect on what’s important to them in life, what’s important about the particular decision, and what the short- and long-range consequences of the decision are.
Pickers do none of those things. Pickers grab this or that and hope for the best.
This is fine if what’s being picked is a birthday present for a 5 year old’s party.
But this is a travesty when it comes to education opportunities.
CDMT helps you understand how to make a good decision, including knowing how to avoid distortion and identify our biases.
It also helps you build a system to pull the plug on a bad outcome, and learn from each decision you make.
Curiosity is an engine that can change fate and move the tides…
…Our kids are counting on us to make learning decisions that nurture their full potential.