school

Many of you know that we have been homeschooling our oldest daughter, Anna Kate. I usually describe myself as an accidental homeschooler. I never dreamed that I would homeschool my children. However, as Anna Kate finished her pre-kindergarten year at a private church-school in town, I started researching and thinking about Kindergarten. I discovered that it is full-day kinder. This was the first domino to fall for us. I couldn't imagine my sweet 5-year-old being at school for six hours a day, five days a week, most of the year. It felt like it was too soon, too long.
Then, we started thinking about our crazy lives on staff, the amount of travel we do as a family, and the way we share in the calling God has for our entire family. We started to realize that Anna Kate would either miss a lot of school days or a lot of Daddy!
So, we decided to homeschool her for kinder, agreeing that we would take it one year at a time, one child at a time. And so here we are. Anna Kate is in second grade this year, and Lucy is in kinder. Samantha could be pre-kinder based on the school entrance dates, but I haven't yet "locked" her in to starting kinder next year. And, of course, Will is not quite two.
The last two years have been an incredible blessing - having all four of my children home with me and home with one another. And we have been able to continue to be the primary influences in Anna Kate's life, continuing to build her in her faith and our family's values. She has received a fine education at home, with individual attention in her subjects and flexibility.
Last spring, I started to feel the pressure and the tension of our life. As we thought and prayed about this year, I briefly researched some schools in our area, but then felt like we would homeschool one more year. And so the year began. And so my inability to do it all became crystal clear.  The pressures and demands of being connected to our local ministry and raising our children well and other things, and my own desires to do it all well are heavy burdens for me. So, Anna Kate is going to a small Christian school in town. After we visited, I knew I wanted her to attend there, but we needed to see God provide! And He did!
Anna Kate is excited. And, actually when I start thinking about it, I can be excited too. I am not excited to have her "away from me" for hours each day. But I am excited when I think about this next step toward independence for Anna Kate.