Which Education Option Is Best for My Child?

image courtesy of cienpies via sxc.hu

This is a parenting question that I usually try to avoid.  And if you know me, you understand that I rarely shy away from topics.  People say that you should talk about religion and politics with friends; but if we can’t talk about these with friends, with whom can we have meaningful dialogue?

But when it comes to our choices in educating children, we can get a little defensive.  Even if you (like me) are good at agreeing on the outside, in my heart and mind I feel a pull to declare how I am “right.”  It definitely reveals the arrogant nature of my flesh, and possibly it does for you, too.

But a couple of friends asked me (see the comments) to address this topic on this blog.  And they are right that it needs to be.  But I feel inadequate to cover all the options.  We have only home-schooled our children, even though I don’t think we always will.  So here is what I’m going to do:

1. First, I’m going to give a summary of the personal notes (yes, I still have them, from over 5 years ago) that I have from when I picked the brains of other dads I know with kids that are older than ours.  It was before Hannah was in school, and I wanted to gain as much insight as I could as we were making decisions.  Most importantly, I talked with two different families whose children had each experienced a variety of educational choices – homeschool, private, and public.  These parents were able to give overall pros and cons from their own experiences.
2. Second, I will give a summary of interviews from different families who have chosen schooling options.  These are all families that we have known for years in our church, and we see how they have been intentional to make choices such as schooling with the purpose of shepherding their children.
3. Third, and you can do this right now, I want to know what schooling option(s) you have used.  Please take a moment and take the poll to the right.  Select as many options as you have used for your own kids.  It will be great to see the variety among our readers.

 Thanks for joining in the conversation.