Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (NIV)
As of yesterday, all of my children are back in school. School supplies, new clothes, uniforms and shoes have been purchased. In many ways I love the beginning of a new school year; in many ways I hate it. I love the smell of new books and the crisp clean new supplies laid out with the anticipation of what is to come in the year. I hate the new year because I miss my children during the long hours they are at school. I am a mom that has not gotten over the long day without them at home. Even with my oldest in her second year of high school, I still miss having my babies at home. So, much that I got a job to fill the hours that they are away!
Now, I am going to step onto a soapbox of mine. I was sitting at a church dinner the other night. A lady asked me about my children. I told her their ages and names and I bragged a little. She went on to ask about their schools but her question was not what school did they attend it was: do they go to a Christian school? I said only Coolgirl3, Coolboy goes to a charter school and Coolgirl1 goes to public school. This woman said "at least Coolgirl3 is fortunate enough to go to a Christian school". My jaw dropped! I was speechless and those who know me know this does not happen often.
I have schooled my children over the years in various ways. They have been homeschooled, charter schooled, Christian schooled and public schooled. I loved homeschooling, our home school years were some of the best we had in our home. The reality that Coolgirl1 would not be homeschooled for her entire school career came early in 4th grade when she looked at me and said, “Mom, you can just tell me what pages to do in math and I will tell you when I need help.” She did the entire book with no assistance from me. There was no way that I could keep her challenged at home. Kudos, to homeschool moms that have that ability to keep this kind of child engaged but I did not; so I sought out a school that did.
Finding a school that worked for Coolgirl1 was the catalyst to ending our homeschool career. God has taken our family on an incredible journey with schooling our children. When we had our first child, I thought we would just enroll our children in the neighborhood school and that would be it. We would get up each morning, drop off children, do the PTA thing, maybe be room mother and then head home for coffee with freinds. If it had only been that easy!
My path to schooling has been a really crooked, crazy one. I have schooled my children in just about every way possible. It drives me crazy when I am judged the way I was Sunday evening. I have chosen to school my children in the school that is the best possible school for each of them. It is not always fun for me, I drive a 30 minute carpool each way every day but this is a season for me. It is their future, it is what I feel is best for them. It was not a decision that I came to lightly or easily. I did not flip a coin to make these choices, I am sure that you did not either. Nor did your friends or neighbors. Let's stop judging each others choices and support each other.
No school is perfect, they all have their positives and negatives. They all have their good teachers and bad teachers. Pray for all of our teachers today they are shaping our future leaders in their classrooms, no matter where they are teaching.
Well said my friend, well said!
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