Decision Time
This time of year brings many decisions for our families. Decisions such as what to do for the Easter holiday, what kind of summer activities do we want our children to participate in and if, when and where a vacation might fit into our plans. Tucked in between all these decisions is probably the most important one. Spring is enrollment time for most if not all the schools in our area and everyone is vying for your child to become a student at their school. CCA is no different. We are in the process of advertising our school and boosting our enrollment for the coming 2011-12 school year. If I may, I
would like to offer some thoughts about this important decision facing each of the families not only at our school, but in the general population as well.
When choosing a school, several questions have to be asked? The first question is what is available for my child? That question is easily answered. Just a look around at the newspaper, the world wide web or any parent magazine in Fort Collins will present you with an array of dizzying choices: public, secular, private, Christian, secular private, private Christian, home school, co-ops, online schools and so forth. The list seems endless, but the answer to the first questions leads to the next question.
This next question is perhaps the most important question of all. In what kind of environment should I place my child? When considering this question, an excellent place to start is with God’s Word. God is very clear on a number of issues regarding the training of our children. The most important example can be found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 when He instructs the Israelites on how to keep their children from forgetting who the Lord is and what is most important in life. In this passage, God says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Obviously this is what we need to teach our children first and foremost. Then the Lord proceeds to explain how to teach loving God and loving people in such a way our children don’t forget these two commands. He says “……teach them (the command about loving God and loving people) diligently to your sons and talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. …..bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. …..write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Clearly from the text of these verses, we can see what is of value to God and what we are to teach our children to value. Therefore, is the school environment we choose teaching our children to value what God values? Are they in an environment where God is glorified and people are loved through the lifting up of His name and the working through of personality differences and conflicts?
Another verse that goes along with choosing the optimal school for our children is Ephesians 6:4. “Fathers, do not provoke your children, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Our focus for the purpose of this article is the latter part of that verse. Bringing up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord can have a variety of applications, but the question for us as parents is, “Are we placing our children in an environment that fosters this idea?” Or are we placing our children in an environment that actually resists our efforts to raise our children in the instruction of the Lord? When we place our children in a place that contradicts our efforts, the picture is one of a trout swimming upstream against the current. It can be done, but at what cost and what expenditure of energy that could be focused elsewhere?
Once parents understand what surroundings are appropriate for their child, the next question to ask is “What type of school is right for my child and our family? This is a very personal question and can only be answered by you and your spouse. When seeking the answer, knowing your child’s personality, character weaknesses and strengths, academic weaknesses and strengths is a must. Placing a child in a school ill-fitted to deal with him or her as a whole person can be a disaster. Another potential disaster is choosing a school that is not compatible with your family life. As mentioned before, Fort Collins has a plethora of choices for education but as parents we want to find a school that fits our family. We also want to find a school that recognizes our family’s need for time together and one that fosters the family as a unit instead of drawing members away from one another. We want to choose a school that has expectations and demands that our family can uphold. In doing so, we will ensure a partnership that will be beneficial on both sides while providing an appropriate fit for our child.
Christian Core Academy’s goal is to provide the optimal environment to help parents uphold the instructions found in the Bible concerning the training of their children. At CCA, we strive to provide a place where students are shown how to love God and love people. We also strive to come along side parents as they seek to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord while at the same time offering a strong academic base. Finally, we want to be a family-friendly fit for parents who are trying to balance the demands of family and school as they fulfill their responsibilities in educating their children. Making decisions about our children’s lives is not easy sometimes, but Christian Core Academy is here to provide a viable choice in your child’s educational process.