Choosing a school for your kids can be hot-button issue. There are more school and educational model choices now than ever before and there can be a lot of emotions tied up in those choices.

In this episode, Wendy Speake, a mom of three, shares her journey with schooling options for her boys and how God has led her and her husband through the process. We talk about choosing schools based on your family values, individual child’s needs and your needs as a mom.

Whether our child is reading at 3 years old or struggling academically, we all want to see our kids succeed. But what defines success?

We’ve been given this command to train up our children in the way they should go. And when they are old, they won’t depart from it. So when they are young, we get to say, alright, they need to learn to read and write. They need to be able to take personal responsibility for their studies by the time they’re x years old and those are all important things. But if they’re going to leave my house with three things, what should those three things be?

Wendy shines a light on the places we can feel guilty or overwhelmed in making choices about educating our children. She encourages us and speaks hope and grace for parents who are facing challenges with their kids. Ultimately, we can lean on God for the wisdom we need to make these hard decisions in love.

‘Lord, give me wisdom as I lead this great people of yours.’ And as I pray that it’s amazing how you transfer the responsibility off of your shoulders onto the shoulders of the one who is able to carry every burden: Christ. And he is so good to speak to us through his Holy Spirit.

Personally, Bruce and I have sought God’s direction as we’ve pursued a few different education options for our boys. Peace comes when we depend on God, the One who understands our children and their future needs better than we ever could.

What we chat about:

  • Looking at all the options for schooling your kid can feel overwhelming
  • There are so many more choices today- public, private, charter, homeschool, online
  • Vicki’s experience with various schooling options
  • Questions to ask yourself when considering school options: What are your family’s values? What are my child’s needs? What are my needs?
  • When your child is older, you need to teach them how to persevere and not change learning models
  • When they are young, there are some many factors that are individual to each child
  • It’s important to think about how you feel too
  • These decisions can be fluid. You aren’t “stuck” with one model.
  • We want to be in the “school of dependency on Christ” when it comes to making decisions about our children’s education
  • A prayer Wendy uses when making big decisions: “Give me wisdom as I lead this great people of yours.”
  • Hope and encouragement for parents who are fearful of their child’s learning challenges
  • Some of the most incredible women and men were the hardest kids to raise
  • Partner with your kids in their challenges and be expectant of all he will do in their lives

Connect with Wendy:

Links Mentioned:

Enjoy God’s Word Conference

A ticket to the 2019 Enjoy God’s Word Bible Conference gives you lifetime access to the following:

  • The six-part keynote teachings by Katie Orr through the Book of Philippians
  • Over 20 practical and theological 30 minute breakout sessions geared toward helping you know and enjoy the Bible better,
  • An invitation to the private Facebook group where you you will be able to discuss what you are learning and ask questions.
  • Realtime interaction with each breakout speaker through their live Q/A sessions.
  • The digital conference notebook with listener’s guides for each session.

Save $10 and get your ticket today! Ticket prices go up on April 2nd. A portion of your ticket purchase helps support the production of this podcast.

Some breakout sessions I’m interested in: How to Make a Spiritual Growth Notebook, How to Help Your Kids Get into God’s Word, Transforming our Thought Lives into Places of Hope, and How to Be Anxious for Nothing.

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