Your Child's Schooling Options
One of the biggest responsibilities a parent has is deciding on how their child will be educated. There are many schooling options for a child, including public schooling, homeschooling, and private schooling--but how can you know which is right for your child?
Your Child’s Schooling Options
Parents today often feel like they fail to measure up in their responsibilities — especially in something as challenging as giving their children a good education in an increasingly complex world. As you evaluate the many schooling options available to your family, reflect on the following questions to help apply Biblical wisdom to your educational choices.
QUESTION ONE: Who Has Ultimate Responsibility?
Children are wired to observe and learn about all kinds of things in life — from friends, family, church, television, and so on. What is your role? What part do you play in what they learn and how they find their place in the world? Is one form of education better than another? Is your child okay in the public school? Is a private school or homeschool better?
The answer will vary from situation to situation. The most important thing to remember is that you have ultimate responsibility for the education of your child(ren). Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tells us: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Parents in all different times and places have found value working with other people (including schools) to partner toward a strong education. Delegation does not remove the responsibility for oversight. It takes diligence to make sure that the people to whom you grant some of the training work are performing well and enhancing rather than undermining your efforts.
QUESTION TWO: What is Best for Each Child?
Your oversight of each element of your child’s education should be coupled with an annual assessment of your child’s education needs. You should evaluate each child at the start of every school year and then commit to the plan that works best. Some parents move from one option to another based upon what they believe will best meet a child’s needs rather than feel “locked in” to any one approach. Remember, the same schooling option may not be the best for every child in the family.
QUESTION THREE: How Do We Keep Faith a Priority?
Everyone wants his or her child to succeed in life. What does success look like? Does getting into a great college and then landing a dream job define success? Is it about being well rounded with skills in a broad range of extracurricular activities? Too often, well-meaning parents seeking to give their children an edge for the future load up schedules with activities that can squeeze out family and faith. It is the investment in family time that deepens the roots of faith, character, relationship, and other non-academic priorities.
QUESTION FOUR: Who Can Give Advice & Guidance?
It is always wise to ask those who have chosen different schooling options (including public, charter, private, and home education) for insights on the good and bad of each. Since all of us tend to advocate the option we have chosen, you may encounter those who seem to have a ‘one size fits all’ perspective. That is okay. Just listen and learn so that you can gain as much insight as possible as you prayerfully evaluate your own child’s situation.
recommended books
The Handbook on Choosing Your Child’s Education
By Maria Hernandez Ferrier, Ed.D. and Focus on the Family
Parents today are faced with a wide, often bewildering variety of choices for educating their children, from traditional public schools to private schools, from Christian schools to home schooling. The Handbook on Choosing Your Child's Education will help parents navigate through the many options and based on their needs, make the best education decision for their children.
Audience: Parents with young children trying to decide what option in their community is best for their child's education. It's particularly helpful for families who have just moved, and also for parents whose children are already in school and are possibly struggling. Useful features include a checklist to determine individual pros and cons for each child, reproducible worksheets, a resource list, and FAQs. Also includes information on special needs as well as gifted children.