marko, in my experience the whole public/private school option has been a heated one. so I want to be clear that I am not digging for holes in your ‘armor’. I wonder if you could articulate some of your rationale to send your children to private school. My own position has leaned heavily toward the public side of this discussion but I would sincerely value your input into my thinking if you think it would be safe to discuss this topic. I realize it has the potential to polarize people so whatever…

you bet, mdaele: i think i’ve done a bit of that in the past, but i’m more than happy to do so again.

first, i’m a huge fan of public schooling. i think christians should be IN culture, not removed from it. we’d always intended our kids to stay in public school all the way through.

but that was until last year, when my daughter entered middle school. her social life at school was great (she loved it), but she was dying academically. she struggled to get through 3 or 4 hours of homework every night, and was still getting Cs and Ds. it was a massive strain on our relationships, and my wife and i were afraid it would start to have an impact on liesl’s beautiful heart. we didn’t want her to feel like a failure, or to have her life consumed with homework.

not being very open to considering a christian school (i’m sure there are fantastic christian schools - i’ve seen a few of them; but the one by us would be pretty similar to the public school in terms of academic approach, but is really good at turning out jaded innoculated nominal christians, we searched for alternatives. that’s how we stumbled onto the school we put the kids in: it’s private, but not christian. the kids are from a great socio-economic mix, and a great racial mix. there’s massively high parent involvement, it’s developmentally and learning-style sensitive, and uses lots of arts to teach.

when we visited the school for liesl, we realized it would be great for max also — for different reasons. he’s a sensitive kid with no struggles academically, but lots of social struggles.

all that to say, i have always thought parents need to do what’s best for their kids, while keeping some broader values in mind. jeannie and i have a broader value of not pulling our kids out of culture, but we needed a different approach to teaching (and homework).

Mark, I have followed your blog for a long time but this is the first time Ive ever commented but I just want to say how much I appreciate your heart. Us in youth work tend to shoot off our mouths in arrogance and insensitivity but over and again I find myself humbled as I read your thought processes (eg. reviews of your books).
Its encouraging to read!

The Sabbath day sounds just wonderful - and incredibly smart. Many blessings on you and your team.

thanks
i think the ‘not-pulling out of culture’ is huge.
I’ve also realized that with an increase in the private schooling options comes a different way to engage culture.
I have no illusions that the public school system (at least in this country) is the lowest common denominator in almost every aspect (academic, social, etc.,) So I think there are times when we need to fine tune the education that our children are getting.
i especially applaud your intentional choice of a school that has racial and socio-ec. diversity.
thanks again - sorry for being lazy…