School
Ryden's first day of pre-school.
This past week has been a bit emotional for me. Monday night I still had mixed feelings as Ryden was suppose to start pre-school Tuesday morning. I am thankful for my girl friends who encouraged me and prayed with me. I have been praying and thinking about this decision for days now. As Tuesday morning came Ryden and I decided for him to stay home and do school with me. You see I never really thought of home schooling him until lately. I have been concerned with him being influenced by other children and the thought of public school strikes some fear in me. My husband on the other hand feels very differently. He was home-schooled while I attended public school. We both have different feelings about both. I loved school but also know the stuff I was exposed to at such a young age. He on the other hand feels as though he missed out. He also feels that there is a benefit in being taught by someone who has credentials. (Which is neither of us) As we continued to pray and discuss how we both feel we decided on sending him to a Christian private or charter school in the future. My hope is for him to receive a good education while biblical teaching are still present in his schooling and mind. I know the most important factor in all of this really lands back on us. It is our responsibility as parents to instill the ways of the Lord in him. Proverbs 22:6 says "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."
So Thursday morning came and we decided to give it a try, Ryden started his first day of pre-school. He really enjoyed it and I feel the interaction is good for him. I know he is already getting interaction with children in Sunday school and soccer but two extra days a week doesn't hurt ( at least that's what I am telling myself). This pre-school program is more of playing and interaction and less of actual education. Because of this I will do the K4 homeschool program I have for him on the other days. Best of both worlds for this season of life. Boy I never thought this would be such a tough decision for me. The hardest part was driving away and leaving my first born in someones else's care other than myself or a close family member.
Violet and I are gonna have to get use to only her being in the back seat for the few hours Ryden is at school.
He is growing up so much.
Here is a picture of him scoring a goal at last week's soccer game.
I love you Ryden!
I am trying to embrace all of these special moments as you grow.
I identify with every dotted eye and every crossed t in this post. It describes to a T how I have felt over the last month as I prepared my heart for Kindergarten. There were no tears yesterday or today as I sent him off, but lots of anxiousness about how he would do, what he would hear, who he would meet. Homeschooling isn't an option for me because I have to work and because of the qualification thing you mentioned. Christian schools aren't really an option either as we cannot afford it. But ultimately, as scary as it is, what we decided is that there is value in exposing him to the public school world and the dangers there, and using that experience in our training up of him. I started reading a book that has helped me some, it is called "Going Public" and you might find it a good resource to read as you two pray about your decision this year. It geared towards Christians with kids in public schools, but is a great read for all Christian parents with school age kids. Basically it instructs parents on how to use real life situations to teach the kids more about Jesus and live by example.
ReplyDeleteSorry I just spewed all over your post. I just felt so in tune with it I had to add a few words. Time goes way too fast, doesn't it?