This post is written by Leah's friend Tara. Tara has been married to her best friend Matt for 15 years now. She lives in Fort Wayne and attend a great church, Wallen Baptist. She is a stay at home mom to two great boys! Truman is 11 and in the 6th grade and Carter is 9 and in 4th grade. They attend a great school called Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Indiana. She loves watching her boys play soccer, scrapbooking, photography (nothing fancy) and Bible studies. She has just completed a study of the book of Ecclesiastes, A life well lived by Tommy Nelson, and would have to say it has changed her outlook on life. Here are her responses to the seven questions:
1. What are the top three reasons you decided to send your kids to Christian school? 1)Because we wanted to have the boys in an environment that came along side us and taught the same biblical principles and values that are taught at home and at church. 2)We wanted them to be firm in their beliefs and be in the word daily (not just with us, but to know that others do it too!) 3) We wanted them to be able to feel that God is an important part of everyday...not just Sundays and Wednesdays.
2. Why didn't you send your kids to public school? We looked into the public school that Truman was to attend and was not happy with the curriculum choices (he was already reading at 4 and when I asked what would they do to challenge him the response was he would simply learn what everyone else did and just help the other kids...like a peer tutor). We also felt that the boys didn't have the firm foundation in their faith and we wanted to help them build that faith. Why didn't you homeschool? I like to keep the role of mother as just that...mother and not have to put on the teacher hat every day with them. I know that as a mother I am also a teacher of many things, but I don't want to put on the "social studies" hat everyday. I also want them to interact with lots of other kids as well as teachers and have the experince to learn from others (not just their parents)
3. What is the best part about Christian school? We like the fact that prayer is part of the boys daily routine at school as well as home. They also do devos/bible study daily at school. The smallness of the school (they both have about 50 kids in their class) was very attractive to us as well...not making them feel like they couldn't get to know people well because there were just too many kids.
4. What is the worst part? Tuition...not letting the financial burden discourage us. Also realizing that just because they are a Christian school, they are not perfect...every school has issues, the nice thing we like is that the decisions that they are making are prayerful decisions.
5. What is the biggest benefit to your child by Christian school? Having a good core of friends who surround you and encourage you in your christian walk.
6. What is the biggest deficit? I sometimes wonder if I am sheltering them from "the outside world". We want them to be grounded in their faith, but we also want them to be interacting with those who are unsaved and making a difference for Christ. Tough to do at school... so we have to make more of an effort to get them involved in sports and activities that are not through the church or school so that they can make an impact on non-believers but I don't want them to live life making no impact on others for Christ.
7. What advice would you give to a family with preschool-age children working through this decision right now? Pray for wisdom and discernment. Check out the schools and ask specific questions...make an informed decision! Ask to sit in during a class time to see how the classroom works. Ask other families what they think of that particular school. Make a list of what is important for your child's education and see if that school is a good fit based on what you are looking for. Keep in mind that education is a partnership between you and them to help your child learn and grow. Make sure that you are comfortable with the school. After all, they will have your kid for 8 hours a day making an impact (good or bad) on them. Did I mention to pray, pray and pray for God's wisdom and discernment?
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