There are a few things I've always said about schooling choices.
* I'm thankful we live in a time and place with so many options for how and where people can educate their kids.
* To say that any particular method of schooling is the best and right choice is naive at best and arrogant at worst.
* Our approach to homeschooling is one kid and one year at a time.
Despite the variety of choices available and due to the things we've factored into our decisions each year, we have always and only homeschooled. It's a choice I'm thankful we have and one that has been good for our family for several years.
However, for a variety of reasons, we've decided to change things up next year. I've been mulling on the possibility of a change for quite a while, talked with Tim about it last night, and threw the idea and the reasons behind it out to a few close friends who I trust to give me reality checks, ask good questions, and call me on it if I'm being ridiculous. The result is that, barring some unexpected turn of events or flashing neon sign in the heavens saying to leave things as they are, I will not be in charge of educating two little Ws next year.
Of course, there's a part of me that feels a little sappy about our season of homeschooling everyone coming to an end, but there's a much bigger part that immediately felt a huge sense of peace about it. This decision has been a long time coming and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
None of the choices we make in life are perfect, so there will obviously be pros and cons about the upcoming changes, but there are pros and cons about the current situation, too. The problem with how things are now is that the cons have started to outweigh the pros for our family at this particular point in time.
As always, we will re-evaluate our schooling choices one kid and one year at a time, so there's always the possibility we'll have everyone home again at some point, but the current plan is to finish out this year and then move on to a new season of schooling.
I'm not quite ready to share the details of who won't be homeschooled or what they'll be doing instead, primarily because we're still weighing a couple options for one kid. Once we have a firm plan in place, though, I'll let you know.
Meanwhile, I feel peace, hope, and confidence moving forward in a new direction.
4 comments:
It sounds like you are taking wise steps slowly to be sure it is the right choice. I will be praying for your decisions and for those children involved.
For the first time ever, I thought of putting one in school in two years because I heard of a special school that would be right up his alley for what he wants to do with his life. I don't know if it will happen, as he is the LAST child that would want to go to a brick and mortar, but I will be praying if it is the right choice.
I completely respect and admire your willingness to re-evaluate your children's schooling needs. When we started homeschooling one of our children after 4 years of public school hell, and the other came home the following year, I thought for sure that we would homeschool thru high school. Unfortunately (or fortunately???), we went thru a difficult season that caused us to re-evaluate what we were doing and what was best for our children. In a nutshell, we ended up placing our kids back in public school, and it ended up being the very best thing we could have done for both of them at that time - even though that meant holding one kid back a grade and having to eat my words that I would "never-ever put my kids in a public middle school." God had a different plan, and He has honored our obedience even though it was a scary decision.
P.S. I don't mean to assume that brick and mortar school is where you are leaning. My point was simply that God can/will bless you for doing what is right as you transition to a new season in your schooling however that may look. And what may look to be a scary decision now can bring huge blessings down the road.
Good for you guys!! You have always been an inspiration to me to do what is best for the family, no matter what others are doing or may think. Enjoy these new changes!
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