“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
-Jeremiah 29:11
As a stay-at-home-mother since 2019, of three beautiful littles aged five and below (like the store name but without the cheap prices), we enter into school aged children era as our oldest shall attend elementary school this fall. Of course, as a former elementary school teacher who taught internationally, public and privately prior to applying my pedagogical knowledge in our home, I posses rather strong opinions on education. My personal teaching philosophy: when encouraged children are capable of independent and intelligent learning at earlier than expected ages; furthermore, mind, heart and body connections allow for long-term learning retention , and the more personalized teaching towards the students’ abilities and interests the better. So with my own personal philosophy and professional experience, I explored 3 options for our children’s education.
1) Public School: our county and school district ranked fairly high (top 20% in the state). A large school subject to state and federal policies and regulations, enrolling in our local public school felt like a gamble: we could win big or completely lose out based on the teacher and administration whims changing annually or even quarterly. So for our family, especially in a rising anti- Christian society, public school fell as a viable last option with full on homeschooling if we rolled poorly and the public school policy contradicted our family values.
2)Hybrid- Homeschool: The best of both worlds with the flexibility of homeschool combined with the guidance and community of traditional classroom education. More affordable than full-time private school, this option possible for a family with a full-time stay-at-home parent. Furthermore, some hybrid-homeschools feature religion and faith centered curriculum which definitely fits with our family culture. With my degree in education and strong desire to stay highly involved in my kid’s education, this model seemed to fit our family like a customized glove. However, the highly established local hybrid-homeschool, catered to Protestant Christian beliefs and the closest Catholic hybrid homeschool felt not quite developed infrastructural enough for our personal presences. Furthermore, for long-term education, this prevents the stay at home parent to re-enter the workforce until all kids graduate high school. Although perfect on paper for our family’s current situstion, hybrid-homeschool model felt less than desirable in practice for our household.
3)Private School: A more certain environment for families to thrive with quality teachers, curriculum and morality, private school, serves as an investment in your children and family. However, this option definitely requires a financial sacrifice on the family. Yet, with financial aid and generous scholarships, the private Catholic school of our choice became an affordable option for next year. As a family of five living on one income, though, the concern about long-term affordability arises. The reality for us, this becomes an annual discussion due to the cost (even reduced) of private school tuition.
BONUS: a fourth option to square out this unstable conundrum of choosing kindergarten for your firstborn:
4)The Charter School: Luckily for us, a Classical Academy Carter school resides locally. A traditional curriculum for grades kindergarten through twelve, the school’s motto “seek the good, the true and the beautiful” aligns perfectly with our Catholic cultural worldview. Since charter schools are public, no tuition fees occur, but no explicit religious education. Furthermore, with an only guarantee entry for already enrolled students’ younger siblings, and children of the school’s staff and/or board members, the rest of applicants depend on lottery luck. Yet, Carter schools offer private school education at a public school price so worth at least dropping your child’s name into the hat.
So after hours of touring campuses, filling out school applications, gathering paperwork, student testing, recommendations given, and parent interviews (a process begun in January and concluded by the end of March) our little family won the lottery, so accepted placement into our local Charter school.
Overall, the process taught me three valuable insights about choosing your child’s education:
EXPLORE: try all options even if they seem not affordable or unlikely to happen
EXAMEN: all pros and cons of each situation, and determine what fits your family; as well as your own conscience to trust in God’s will for your children’s education
EDIT: annual decision to start in one school, and adapt to another option based on your children’s needs.
So fare-thee-well to the era of littles as we enter into the season of medium sized humans, a difficult transition of letting go and letting our children practice flying a little from the nest to strengthen their wings.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
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