Our search for a school...

Well, I am starting to feel very overwhelmed by this whole schooling decision - maybe "starting to" is not accurate.  I've been unsettled about our schooling ventures since Asher turned three and we started having the "do we send him to preschool or not" conversations.  And now the rubber is meeting the road - he is "officially" old enough to start kindergarten in the fall.  We've received all the local "come and visit" and "please send your registration forms" paperwork, and so we've really had to dig dip to figure out where we stand on this whole issue...for this year.  I am a firm believer that there is not one correct way to "educate" or "school" ones children and that parents have the tough job of choosing the path that is right for their family and their individual children.  For the past two years we've played around with different homeschooling options for our oldest.  He is a little wanna-be scholar.  He loves to learn and it was evident early on that he loves to be around learning.  We participated in one year of Classical Conversations, and are currently participating in a supplementary school for homeschooling families called Faith Academy.  Both were excellent programs and we've no complaints about either.  However, it has become very clear to me and my husband that at this stage in our lives, homeschooling is not going to be something that works for us for this year.  So, we've been on the hunt these past few weeks for a school that fits.  We've attended Open Houses and had private tours and here's what we've discovered so far:

School #1: Phoenixville Kindergarten Center
Cost: Free - Public
Distance: 2 miles away from our house
Bus: Available for half day and full day
Class Options: AM and PM 1/2 day and full-day kindergarten (although full day is only for children who are invited into the full-day program because their testing results show they may need some extra help)
Curriculum: Standardized testing based, no art or music for 1/2 day students
Class Sizes: 19-22 children per teacher (with no aid)
Pros for us: free, close, morning program (because of where we live, he would automatically be in the AM program)
Cons for us: class size, curriculum is extremely standardized testing based, no art or music classes

School #2: Windsor Christian Academy
Cost: $3200/year
Distance: 2 minutes from Dyke's office
Bus: Yes, but not for 1/2 day kindergarten
Class Options: 1/2 day and full day (full day includes an Art and Latin)
Curriculum: Classically-based instruction incorporating the arts into daily and weekly lessons
Class Sizes: 12-15 children per teacher (no aid)
Pros for us: school curriculum - we LOVE classical education and have wanted this to be our means of educating our children since we first discovered it, school/director's philosophy of education, school leadership and teachers, classroom sizes, emphasis on the arts
Cons for us: cost, no bus

School #3: Renaissance Academy
Cost: Free - Public Charter School
Distance: about 5 minutes from our house
Bus: Yes
Class Options: Full day
Curriculum: Standardized testing based with an added emphasis on the arts
Class Size: 26-30 children per teacher and aid
Pros for us: free, close
Cons for us: very long schedule (class goes from 7:50am-3:30pm), class size, curriculum wasn't overwhelmingly impressive, bus options weren't ideal

Is it really time for kindergarden?

I thought it would be fun and challenging to create a blog for me to document our family's educational adventure - especially since our adventure with "school" is about to start.  

I first need to explain that I view "education" and "school(ing)" as two separate ideas although I do believe they are closely intertwined.  

To me, education is not something I can choose to do or not to do.  I am educating my children.  I educate them daily by example, by instruction, and by expectations.  Secondarily and like it or not, my kids are being educated by the world in which they live.  Right now their world is very small, but I am very aware that the size of their world, the things they are exposed to, the people the meet, the observations they make in a public setting, expands a little bit every day.  The main reason I have chosen to be a stay-at-home mom is so that I am the primary educator of my children.  I view school(ing) as something that is limited to a specific period of time (whether that be K-12th grade, college, grad school or beyond) and as a place where specific educational ideas are taught (reading, writing, math).

My oldest is about to start the adventures of kindergarten.  Last year for his "pre-school" we were involved in Classical Conversations and he did a fantastic job.  I enjoyed the year tremendously as I was able to tutor his abecedarian (meaning "student of the abc's) class.  This year he is enrolled to attend a supplemental school called Faith Academy.  He will attend this school once a week from 9-3 being taught history, geography, science, art and Bible.  This school exists to support home-schooling parents in schooling their children and was started by two home schooling moms we know.  The school uses Tapestry of Grace - a classically-based curriculum - as their curriculum.  This year we will be in Cycle 1 of Tapestry of Grace's 4-cycles which will cover Creation through the Fall of Rome.  We will work from home the rest of the week covering things he learned in school and working on math and reading.  I don't plan to make "school" the central purpose of our week.  I want my son to enjoy learning and will be looking for ways to feed his mind, his body, and his soul in creative ways.   

My middle child, also a boy, will be attending Faith Academy for pre-school.  He will go every Monday from 9:30-12.  At home I intend to let him enjoy his year as a 3- and 4-year-old (his birthday is in January), but I do plan to work with him on some basic life skills, to continue to instill in him a love reading by reading lots to him, and to let him explore his love of swords, knights, dragons, and castles.

My baby, a nearly two-year-old little girl, will also be learning.  Right now she's learning how to use the potty, how to clean-up her toys, how to hold crayons, how to speak to people, and how to share.

My job as teacher started the day my children were born.  My job just gets harder now that they need to learn specific things to help them excel in whatever God has created them to do as they grow.