Private School

WOW! ONE year! That's how long it's been since i've updated. there's no excuse. NONE. :) 

There are time when we get asked... "why did you send your child to private school? Isn't that expensive?" 

Let me tell you... Sending Gabe to a private, Christian school this past year has been the BEST DECISION we have EVER made. Hands down. I can't even put into words how happy we are with our decision. So... let me take you back to the beginning. Back when we were making this decision. 

Finances have always been our biggest fight. Biggest struggle. When we had Gabe our credit card bills got higher, the medical bills kept coming and our credit went down the drain. Literally. But hey, it's a work in progress and we're almost completely debt free! WOOOO!!! I always knew that I wanted to send my kids to private school. There are some personal reasons that I won't disclose but some others that I will. I wanted him to be in a Christian environment. I wanted him to get more attention. I wanted him to have smaller class sizes. I wanted him to get a quality education. 

I had no doubt that we wanted to send him to Unity. My niece had already been going there for a few years so sending my kids there was a no brainer. Yes, I was worried about the cost. Let's be honest, when it's all said and done we could buy a few brand new cars for the price of their education. Priorities people... it's all about priorities. 

I knew that the tuition would be a sacrifice for us. I knew that it would take some balancing, some serious planning and sticking to a budget. But I also knew, without a doubt, that my children HAD to go to this school. 

Around this time last year the school had Open House for new families. I told Jesse that I was going to go... to tour the school, meet the teachers and take a look at the curriculum. We had pretty much decided at this point to keep him back a year in K4 instead of going to Kindergarten. But I told him that if I looked at the curriculum and felt like he should go on to Kindergarten then we'd do that... if not, we'd keep him in K4. 

I went to that Open House. I toured his building, met the teachers and took one look at the curriculum. I seriously looked at maybe 2 pages and thought... "Wow, he has to go to K4. There's no way we can throw him into Kindergarten at this school. Their K4 program IS at Kindergarten level." I got the information packet that had the tuition and other fees in it. I took it home. I won't lie to you all... the price was a little intimidating. I had an idea of what I thought it was... but yeah, i was wrong. SO, SO wrong. 

I went home that evening and told Jesse about the school and the curriculum. I explained that he would be learning at a Kindergarten Level in K4. He would leave that program knowing how to count to 100, count by 5's, 10's... he'd know the alphabet (which he already knew), but he'd know the sounds they make and how to recognize each letter individually. He would leave that program being able to read. Then I explained how they talked about kids from their school testing better than others. I was sold. Jesse was sold. Then i told him the price. I expected him to say NO. I expected a "we live 2 blocks from the school and it's free. he's going there." BUT Instead he said... "OK. This is what we have to do." There was no arguing. There was no worrying about the cost. It was simply this is what is best for our child and we will make it work. 

Flash forward to today. We are almost at the end of our FIRST year. And we are SO, So sad to see it end. We love the teachers, the program, the school... EVERYTHING about this place. So when people ask me why we send our children to a private school, why we spend THAT much money on it, I usually just say it's because we felt like this is where our children need to be. It was our own personal decision. I make it short and sweet, because if I gave my actual answer, we'd be talking allllll day long. But let me tell you now. 

Fair warning, you might find some of my reasons a little silly. I get it. But this is MY own personal opinion. Take it as you will. 

I LOVE that my child is going to a Christian school where he learns the Lords Prayer and others. Where he is surrounded by teachers who truly care and pray for him daily. He starts everyday off with Pledges... First to the American Flag, then to the Christian Flag and then to the Bible. Pledges are followed with the Lord's Prayer. He is taught a Bible lesson daily. They have chapel every week where he gets to sing praise and worship songs and here different pastors throughout our community speak. I can't tell you the number of times he has come home singing a new song or telling me a scripture he has learned. My child is learning at a Kindergarten level. Though some may question our decision to hold him back a year... I have no doubt in my mind that this was the BEST decision for him. He is in a smaller classroom where he gets more time with the teacher. I feel safer knowing my child is at this school. And I know that might sound ridiculous to some but they peace and comfort that comes with knowing that your school is prayed over daily is amazing. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if something were to happen my child would be in good hands with teachers that would do anything and everything they could to keep him safe. Don't get me wrong, I know that every teacher would do the same but like I said, knowing that your school is prayed over daily is very, very comforting to a Momma. 

There are some who might think that because it is a private, Christian school we don't deal with bullies and such. That is absolutely not the case. I'll be honest... I was naive at first and thought this too. But what I have learned is that when these problems do arise, they are handled very differently. The teachers talk to the students instead of yelling at them. They look at scripture and they pray about what they have done wrong and they talk about the right way to correct the behavior. Do i still worry that my children might be the victim of bullying in the coming years? Yes. Do I still worry that my child might be a bully himself? Yes. But what I know is that if this ever does happen, it will be dealt with constructively. 

I've had the great pleasure and opportunity to work at the school the past few weeks while one of Gabe's teachers in his building is on maternity leave. It has been the BEST time. I absolutely LOVE getting to see my child every day and watch him learn. It's been an eye opener and only confirms to me that this was the absolute best decision for our children. 

Lincoln will be going to Unity during the next school year. It's going to be hard. It's going to be stupid expensive. But you know, that wasn't even an argument. Because we both see how important it is to send our children here for the coming years. Jesse and I may not see eye to eye on religion all of the time but THIS. This we 100% agree on. 

So when people ask me how much it is? why do you pay so much? The answer is simple. It is worth it. Would I like a brand new car sitting in my driveway? Yes. Do i like driving a car that's half as old as me? No. Do i realize that if we didn't send our kids to a private school we could have a new car sitting in the drive right now? Yes, yes I do. But let's be real for a second. A car. A new house. Material things. They are just that... Material things. They don't matter. If you would have asked me that 10 years ago I would have said heck with the school I'd rather have a flashy new car to drive. But like i said... they're just material things and my child's education... Well, that's something that he will use for the rest of his life. So how do we afford it? Why do we pay it? Because in our eyes... a Great education is one of the best gifts you can give to your children. :)