Umm...

So... slight change of plans. The more we've been thinking about Aidan's schooling situation for the fall the more 1. at peace I've been about "sending him to school" which is a good thing, and 2. questioned the choice of school we planned on sending him too... not so good, but not necessarily a bad thing either.

Last year, before I made the decision to homeschool, we applied and had Aidan test at a particular school. This school has THE BEST reputation, GREAT curriculum, GREAT athletics, lots of kids from our church go there, it's connected with the seminary that Darren is attending.... I could go on and on. Well, when Aidan was tested, they said he wasn't ready for kindergarten, that he would struggle keeping up etc... So, like any parent I know, I was a bit miffed. WHAT!?!? Are they kidding, Aidan not ready? Whatever. So, that along with several other reasons propelled me into homeschooling last year, and I'm SO SO SO glad that I did. I taught Aidan to read, I taught him the fundamentals of math, watched him excel and got to experience many "light-bulb" moments when he had some sort of realization and things clicked for him. Those times and memories are precious. But I'm convinced a "traditional" school setting is better suited for Aidan, at least at this point in time when considering our family dynamics.

So when we began exploring our options this year, we kind of just ignored our "original choice" of schools, because I was still a little irritated, especially seeing first hand how Aidan has grown and excelled and is just simply WAY ahead of most any graduating kindergartner I know. Along with being the "best" this "original" choice is also the most expensive. Of course, at nearly $8,000 a year, chump change right? Especially being in the midst of an international adoption. So, we searched around and found a very small, reformed Presbyterian school. Darren went and met with the headmaster and we thought we'd made a final decision. But a few weeks ago I just started feeling uneasy, I don't know why really, and then I started thinking: Why did we make this choice? Did we let finances dictate this situation? As there is a $2000 tuition difference. Can you put a price on your child's education? Am I just too miffed to send Aidan to the school we had picked out last year? Because that's not the right reason to send him somewhere else. Then we drove by the school on Sunday as I'd never seen it in person, and immediately I thought, how on earth can this school meet the needs of all it's children? It is SMALL, how does science work? Do they have lab rooms? What do they do for PE, I see no gymnasium? And when the kids are older there is only 2 options for sports, neither of which I can see Aidan being interested in. We knew they didn't have a registered nurse and I thought I was okay with that, but the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I became, especially thinking about being gone for 3 months... I'd want him somewhere that had a nurse. Then I started thinking about our original choice, they have a full time registered nurse, they have a gymnasium, they have a large campus, all kinds of athletic programs and because they are connected with the college campus and the college campus is an International University, it has strong international ties, and I LOVE that! In fact a portion of the students that attend the Middle/High School are International students as well. THEREFORE they have an ESL program, that we could explore as an option when V comes home. AND because the school is larger they have more resources and there's a chance they could work with mild learning disabilities IF that's something we have to face. Whereas the other school, the one we thought we'd decided on is so small there is NO WAY, they said so themselves, that they could meet such needs.

Our final concern was that the school we THOUGHT we'd settled on, was definitely totally and completely reformed in it's theology and what is taught. Whereas the school we had considered last year and are now leaning towards again, is considered Non-Denominational. Now, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with that, but Darren and I have had some bad experiences with non-demoninational churches being um... hookey. So.. I kind of unexpectedly found out that the lady I just LOVE and admire most at our church sends her children to this school we are now considering. That right there brought me a great sense of peace from the get go, and then we talked with her about it and our concerns regrading the theology. She told us that they never correct the student on what the student believes, but different viewpoints may be presented. For example, the difference between infant baptism and believer's baptism, but she's had her three children in the school, two of which are in the High School now and have never had an issue with the theology. Nothing at all has come up in the elementary level, and there's only been a few things that have brought about discussion with her oldest children, but it seems those "issues" are primarily in discussing the differences in way denominations worship. Nothing that would have us overly concerned by any means... And so, we are now in the process of re-applying to the school, setting up Aidan's testing for entering 1st grade, and applying for financial assistance.

And... I'm trying not to freak out about 1.my little boy going off to school, and 2. money.
Maybe my lesson this year will be to trust, and relax... as it's been the last, well, as long as I can remember..