The School Decision

There are so many decisions to make as a parent.

"Mommy, can I have a snack?" 
"Mommy, can we get a puppy?"
"Mommy, can I watch tv?"

To be perfectly honest, I think I generally answer whatever comes to mind first.  Don't tell my kids, but I don't know if you can have a snack!  I don't know if you can watch tv!  (And, please, yes, let's get a puppy!  Wait, I guess that doesn't fit our life very well right now.  Bummer.)

There are so many decisions to make as a parent and often I just don't know!

Another one of those decisions: school.

Private?  Christian?  Public?  Public charter or public neighborhood?  And don't forget, your decision will affect your child for the rest of their life!  It might even determine whether they grow up Christian or not!!  Okay, I honestly think that last part is an exaggeration, but when we were making this decision for our kids, my practical, logical mind started to get away from me and that kind of craziness is what I started to think!

So, if you have little ones and are going to have to make this school decision yourself...or if you just want to know why I picked what I picked... here it is.

A little background:  Steve attended public neighborhood schools and then went to the state university.  I went to both private Christian and public schools and then went to state university.

Colorado Springs offers a great Christian school, some great public charter schools, and average public neighborhood schools.  And you should also know that almost everyone I know has chosen to put their kids in the Christian school or in the charter school.  From that fact alone, I felt a lot of pressure to keep my kids out of the neighborhood schools.  (Very few people actually pressured me, it was my own temptation to go along with the crowd that made the decision hard.)

In the end, we decided to put our kids in the public neighborhood school until we have a reason to move them out.

*Because I personally had an easier time standing firm in my faith in a secular environment because I wanted to be a Christian role model for the people around me.

*Because we hope our kids will be a light in the public school, an environment that desperately needs that kind of influence.

*Because we want our kids to have the experience of standing firm in their beliefs in the midst of a secular world while we are around to help them process their questions.

So far, the school Owen attends has been great!  His teachers have been loving and attentive, have given personal attention to Owen, and have even dealt with us in a very mature way as we resolve conflict together.

We'll be in prayer about this decision continually as the kids go through their school years, willing to adjust as necessary, and trusting our children to God's nurturing hands wherever he has them.