Lily-girl is off to school! Tuesday marked her very first day of kindergarten. Although I've had my moments, I was really mostly excited for her. That morning before she left, we sat down and prayed together. I did get a little teary-eyed then, but she was watching me very closely to see if I was okay, so I pulled myself together and smiled a lot :).
It's funny, the education of our children was so not on my radar for things-we-need-to-think-about-discuss-and-pray-about. We both went to public school (on the bus, even!) and we are both public school teachers, for goodness sake. But when you begin to think about trusting someone else with your own child for 7-8 hours every day, it makes you think twice. In all our thinking and talking and praying, we came to three conclusions:
1) Private school is not an option.
2) Homeschoolers are not all freaks. Public schoolers and their teachers tend to talk about the terrible woes that homeschoolers are plagued with in the way of lacking social skills and less-than-quality teaching. I guess we've met a few of those, but most people that we know who homeschool do it well and their kids aren't freaks. They're just kids.
3) Public school is not a den of vipers. Church people tend to talk about the horrible woes that public school kids not only endure, but contract in public schools. Yes, we've met a few of those kids (you know, the ones you don't want your kid to hang out with), but we've met a lot of wonderful kids as well. And a lot of regular kids who, along with their parents, need Jesus just as much as we do. Well, for that matter, "those" kids need Jesus too.
So, in the end, we decided that we will do for each of our kids what needs to be done. Today, that means that Lily attends a small, cozy elementary school with a great teacher. It means that we'll get to talk about what so-and-so said and what might have been a better solution to that problem. It means that Lily will get to have her mom be her mom and her teacher be her teacher. It means that God loves Lily more than we do, so much that he sent his very own Son to die for her. And that same God will watch over her every second. And we're thankful for that.
When I was a 3rd grade teacher, a girl in my room whose parents loved Jesus would say the same thing to their kids every morning as they left for the day. I always thought that was so cool. Kind of like a daily blessing. So on Lily's first day of kindergarten, she heard,"Be blessed by His presence; walk in His light." And it comforted my heart, too.
3 comments:
Ahh...what a huge milestone! I get a little teary-eyed myself! Lily is not the only one growing up...you are too! I still remember you sitting on my futon at small group prayer time and saying you had been feeling sick and tired, but no, no, couldn't possibly be a baby. But it was, that same "baby" you are sending off.
You and Shandy are such thoughtful, faithful people. God IS over our families no matter what. I can't wait to hear how Lily's school days go...I'm sure they will be great!
And I really hope we're in the category of non-freak homeschoolers, right? Right?
hugs,
elisa
so many of the same feelings I have toward schooling! (not that I'm surprised...) :) hope you all have a great year!
Thanks for this post sometimes I feel like the evil, horrible, bad parent who isn't homeschool her children!! I want to homeschool in theory but not so much in practice ;)
Katie
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