The schooling of my children is something that I've thought a lot about recently. The way I see it, there are three options: homeschool, public school, and Catholic school. Now I've always assumed that when the time came, my kids would go to one of the Catholic schools in town (the one I went to probably) and that would be that!
However, I now have a lot of friends with kids in Catholic school and while I would love my kids to be able to go to school with their kids, it's incredibly expensive. Looking at the cost of tuition and looking at our yearly income, I don't see where it will fit. People always say that you just sacrifice in other ways. Well, we're at that point already, sacrificing in other ways, to afford adoption. How can we afford to continue to adopt children AND pay for Catholic school? I don't see a few thousand dollars of extras in our budget...
So I think about the other options. Obviously at this point, we have a few years (5 or so) and our income could change pretty dramatically in that time, and it may not even be an issue. But for now, I'll do my research so that when the time comes, I'm ready for whatever decisions face me (notice my organized/no surprises personality coming out).
So what about homeschooling? Well, let's just say that it's not for our family. I know a lot of people who homeschool and do it well. I applaud them for that. I'm not that person. People will argue with me and try to persuade me that I'm wrong, but the reality is all families are different. No one way of doing something is better or worse than another when it comes to schooling. In the last year, thinking about my children's futures, I've realized that there are a lot of things in life that I've passed judgments on very hastily. The reality is, outside of moral circumstances, different opinions and lifestyles are good. It's important to be surrounded by people who are different than you. How else can you become tolerant and accepting? How else can you learn that God alone can judge? And again, I'm not talking about morally different, I want my family to spend time with people whose morals match ours. That is important to our family because we believe in the Truth of what the Church teaches, not in interpreting morals for ourselves.
Okay, sorry for that digression, just had to get that out there! So what about public school? Our public schools around here are very good schools. We have two school districts and the "competition" to be better than the other makes for outstanding teachers and staff I feel. Like I said, though, I'm leery of my children hanging out with people whose morals and values are different. Then I ready this article at NCR. Much of this is how I feel. I hope my children can be examples of friendship, kindness, love, loyalty, and most of all faith among their peers. Whether that is in public or Catholic schools, I want that for them. The article softened my heart to the possibility of public schooling.
So then it makes me realize that I will also, in fact, homeschool in a way. Anna's moral development should start here, in my home. I have to build her a foundation of rock, not sand, so that her schooling can build on that. What a responsibility that is. It makes me look at my own faith life and realize I have a long way to go, in a very short amount of time. So that when Anna looks at me, her mother, she wants to imitate grace and love, kindness and generosity. Not fear or impatience. Not frustration or worry.
Looks like I'd better start working on that now.
St. Anne... pray for me!
St. Clare... pray for me!
St. Gianna... pray for me!
Mother Mary... pray for me!
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