Why?
Why?
“Why?” This is a never-ending question in the George household. Parents (and grandparents) of young children will surely understand. My soon-to-be five year old never tires of asking this question–to his parents, his teachers, strangers, and anyone else who is willing to listen. Research by Paul Harris, a well known child psychologist, suggests that a child asks about 40,000 questions between the ages of two and five. “‘Why?” is a seemingly simple question. Many times I think I have given my five year old an excellent answer–only to have my answer followed up with yet another, “but why?”
As Covenant Christian Academy has grown from an idea, to a vision, and now a soon to be concrete reality, I have often asked myself “why?” Others, no doubt, have asked me this question as well. This is the first in a series of posts that seeks to answer the “why?” behind Covenant.
Why now?
When my husband and I got married, the topic of schooling for our children was hardly on our radar. Like most newly married (naive) couples, we assumed we would be on the same page for these types of decisions. As we anticipated the arrival of our first son, we began to discuss our options more frequently. I, for the most part, assumed our kids would follow the same path I did–a traditional, private Christian school. My husband had expectations for our children to attend public school–like he did. We both had a great school experience. My Christian education taught me to think critically and gave me a foundational biblical worldview. I would not be who I am today without the Christian education that I received.
Fast forward to Covid. Covid was a challenging time for many. In hindsight, there is at least one silver lining—slowing down. Our family welcomed the slower pace of life, particularly at the beginning. We were forced to slow down. Not only did we enjoy more time together as a family, but we also began discussing and communicating more frequently and deeply about things that matter. One of our frequent conversations was how to properly structure and order our family life, church life, work, discipleship, and education. We also began to contemplate how our Christian faith plays a role in our increasingly secular culture. I found that many people around me were asking big, important questions about life, faith, suffering, justice, and love, but were looking to all the wrong places for answers. I knew that as a believer in Christ, I had the tools to seek knowledge and wisdom–God’s Word and His Spirit. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge Proverbs 1:7. But I was too busy to read God’s word consistently. How should I expect to have godly wisdom without reading the book written by the God and creator of the universe?
Before Covid, we were way too busy– busy with many “good” things. Our schedule was packed most nights of the week–in addition to a full work week. We realized that by saying yes to even good things, we were ultimately saying “No” to the most important things. Our son was only two at the time. At the same time, I also observed those families around us that were one step ahead of us—whose children were in school. The thought of the long school day Monday-Friday followed by sports, travel sports, extracurriculars, entertainment, and many other “good” things—was anxiety inducing to say the least. Many families seemed to be in survival mode.
We all can relate. What is a typical response when you ask someone “How are you?” “Busy” is probably one of the most frequent replies. After seeing the temptation towards busyness in our own lives, and observing the ridiculously fast paced culture (even Christian culture) around us, we desired to order our lives around our God-given vocations. 1. Christ follower. 2. Wife/Husband. 3. Parents.
Although all of these are related and intertwined, our God-given vocation as a parent is what drove us to consider this option of collaborative (or hybrid) homeschooling for our children. We are called by God to disciple our children. Over and over in Deuteronomy, God through Moses tells his people the importance of teaching their children the word of God and discipling them in the faith. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
As Brett and I considered our options, we began to discuss these options with our friends and family. We started by discussing homeschool. We then thought about hiring a teacher to teach a group of our close friends’ children. (Teaching pods became popular during the pandemic.) Then, a providential Google search led me to this hybrid/collaborative model–a homeschool and private school blend. Several years ago, by God’s providence, a successful Google search led me to the new (to me) concept of hybrid or collaborative model schools. Now, this model has become more well known and is rapidly gaining popularity as “the best of both worlds” so to speak. We spent the next year brainstorming, talking with friends, praying, and seeking wisdom. There has been a core group of about 7-8 families that have partnered with us in this process. They have helped us to refine our vision.
We were able to find several schools in cities near us that had successfully started hybrid schools. Most of these were located in their churches. After getting in touch with these schools, we approached our own pastors to discuss the possibility of renting space to start a collaborative Christian school. We are so grateful that our church leaders took the time to listen and seriously consider our vision for not only our family but also for the community of believers within the CSRA.
Covenant seeks to partner with families to disciple the next generation in a Biblical worldview, instilling in students a deep affection for truth, goodness and beauty for the benefit of man and the glory of God. We desire to blend the best of homeschool and traditional private education for the flourishing of families and our community. Our hybrid approach seeks to strengthen the God-ordained family unit. Our curriculum will be influenced by both the classical model of education and Charlotte Mason philosophies. We desire to support parents by providing structured classroom education, lesson planning, and record keeping so that parents can enjoy quality time at home to disciple their children.
In the upcoming blog posts we will answer the following:
Why Christian?
Why Classical?
Why Collaborative?
Why Charlotte Mason?