We Won The Lottery

Ok so not the lottery that you are thinking of...

This year we began thinking about the daunting responsibility we have in shepherding our child's education. It's not something you exactly think about the day they are born. Or in our case something you think about when they are one, two or three. You know the day will come eventually but in the midst of toddler training it can feel so far away. Well the reality of kindergarten hit us in the fall and so began the prayer, seeking counsel, reading books combined with more prayer and more counsel. I'm sad to say that for me this wasn't just a decision about Taylor. I had my own pride and fear of man involved. What would people think if we home school? What will people think if we DON'T home school? Ah yes indwelling sin greatly at work. Well this made me all the more grateful for my husband. He leads me so well and humbly and without the fear of man involved. So after all the above prayer and counsel we believed it to be best for now, to home school Taylor. Then one day a trusted friend mentioned something to me about this charter school. I listened but never took initiative to look into it again. My experience with charter schools wasn’t great and after all, Taylor wasn't even four yet, we had plenty of time. Well we had a few more random encounters with people mentioning this school and again while out to dinner with some old friends the wife begins talking about her children's school and how happy they've been there. She said that what they like best is their newly offered half-day program. That's right this school offers half day K-6. They take out lunch and recess yet, still teach everything taught to full day students! Suddenly some of our main concerns for having Taylor in a school were eliminated. Now this peaked both Chris and I’s interest and we began making some calls. We toured the school, were thoroughly impressed with their test scores, highly educated teachers, small class sizes, differentiated learning and their strong desire for parental involvement. We left with her name on the list however, a little behind. Let's just say the wait list has already began for Rylee's age! People literally drive 20-30 minutes for this school that happens to be two miles from our home and one from church. Well since December we've been waiting and waiting, knowing this would be the month we'd hear. Today the awaited call came and Taylor will begin kindergarten there in the fall! Even though it feels like we won the lottery we know this is not a mere chance situation. We hope this is God's answer to months of prayer. In his Grace God allowed this to be the year that Edu-prize opens up their first new school in Queen Creek. Many families are transferring out of the Gilbert school to their new location leaving room for latecomers like us. We are really excited to see what God will have for her as well as for us this next year. She'll be gone for 2 1/2 hrs in the morning and I'll have the rest of the day to teach and train her in bible and character! We will take one year at a time and re-evaluate the school for Trevor when he gets to be 5. Some of the greatest counsel we were given is that every child is different and what works one year may prove out to not be the best for the next year. We've already prepared Taylor for this!

Here is a sample from their website (www.edu-prize.com) of what she'll be doing:
Speaking of Kindergarten... "This is completed through a comprehensive program that consists of: a phonics based curriculum, thematic/scientific units (better known as Cottages), writing program, Saxon math as well as music, art computer lab and special science class just for kindergarteners.

"Reading through Writing and Writing through Reading!!" Our focus at this time is Fall and Harvest as well as Animals, Animals, Animals. One of the most exciting adventures is at the end of the quarter. We will issue passports to the children and take off on our adventures around the world.

"As we learn about life cycles by hatching eggs, turning caterpillars into butterflies and watching tadpoles turn into frogs. If we can find anything else, we'll try that too! The children will create their own Life Cycles 3-D book. We also plant in our own Edu-Prize garden. The children love to watch, wait and see the changes. They enjoy caring for our "cycle" projects."

Doesn't all those neat things sound like Taylor? I really think she is going to love this next year!