Hubby and I grew up very differently. He grew up in a Christian family with a stay-at-home mom and went to Christian school. I grew up in a Non-Christian family with parents who did shift work and went to public school. Both sets of parents loved us, supported us and gave us what we needed(not always what we wanted).
When we married, we vowed to raise our kids with one of us always around and send them to public school. It is part of our philosophy as Christians to actively engage our community and live out our faith in the midst of that. Plus, we knew that we couldn't afford Christian school and refused to put that kind of strain on our family finances.
Now Pookie is in kindergarten and everything we believe in is being severely challenged. To cloud the issue further was the VERY generous offer by my parents to pay for the girls to go to our local Christian school.
Here's the deal. The school that Pookie currently goes too is big. Her kindergarten teacher shouldn't be teaching kindergarten at all. Pookie's self esteem has taken a nose dive since starting kindergarten due to peer interaction. However, we have made some relationships with other families, one of whom has come to church with us. Now, this could have all happened if she had gone to Christian school for kindergarten. In no way do we think that Christian school is perfect, or issues like bullying and bad teachers couldn't happen. But when a school is focused on building, encouraging and teaching your children to love God and others, it is just a different vibe. And the other thought is that I really couldn't picture Bear functioning at the school Pookie goes too. Bear currently goes to the Christian preschool with 8 other kids. To crossover to a public school into a class of 22...I don't know if she could have done it.
The reality is that we need to decide whether our life philosophy is more important to us than our child's well being. And frankly, even just writing that last sentence makes it abundantly clear what our choice should be.
And as a good friend commented to me today, it is not like we are locked into the Christian school for life. If Pookie or Bear wanted to go back to public school, we would make it happen.
Thoughts? Prayer please!
3 comments:
Very true - you're not locked in at all. I know my daughter (Bunny) hated kindergarten in our local public school, and thrived in the Christian one. Each child is different and each school is different - if you'd been in the N. Grove catchment it would be so much easier...
Now Bunny wants to go to a Christian high school, whereas we would like her to go to the public one. Funny how life turns out...
Well, you KNOW where we stand! lol The longer I have my children in a Christian school and the longer I teach there, the more I see how important Christian education is. How can you study anything in this world without looking at it through the lense of the One who made it? Our children need to know that the earth is the Lord's, every square inch!
Raising our children to know the Lord is such a HUGE job! I want as much help with that as I can! I NEED the adults who spend more time per day with them than I do to tell that news loud and clear. Hopefully, we are also teaching our children in our Christian schools to be influencing culture for Christ.
Go for it and give it a chance!
I think each child is different and you need to do what is best for your girls. With my second graduating on Friday, after spending her whole school life at a Christian school, I do not regret the decision at all. She is well rounded and a discerning thinker and has a healthy commitment to God and a heart for social justice - what more could I ask?
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