Skip to main content

In Praise of Private Schooling


It's Catholic Schools week this week.  I never attended Catholic schools as a girl.  In fact, I was a teacher for several years in both public and private schools but never a Catholic school. It never occurred to me that some day I would send my children to Catholic schools.  If I am being honest, I resisted the idea of it. That was before my conversion at age 26.  Before I had children of my own.


We began in a Franciscan preschool/kindergarten.  It was the most well-run, gentle, loving, efficient school I had ever witnessed.  It was run by two older nuns.  Their whole lives were dedicated to teaching very young children to be independent, imaginative, orderly, caring, kind and prayerful.  They laid the foundation for my children in school and we have thanked God for their influence many times since.  Our boys then moved on to parish schools and we have been blessed to have wonderful teachers there as well.


 I love that my children begin their day in prayer, write JMJ and a cross at the tops of their papers, walk past statues of Mary and baby Jesus on their way in and out of school.
I love that they go to Mass every week and sit with their older prayer partners and are fed by a priest who is gifted in his preaching and personality.
I love that they are surrounded by other students of faith, that they witness their teachers and principals with heads bowed in reverence for God.
They are learning to be charitable, faithful, Biblical and they are treated as the most important thing that they are ~ children of the Most High God.


In today's world, it is simply a comfort to send my children into an environment such as this. It is not easy, financially, for us to send them to these schools.  For years we had no cable TV, Internet or cell phones in order to save money.  It is not the best choice for every family but for us, for now, we feel blessed and grateful for the presence of Catholic schools in our family!

Comments

  1. What wonderful experiences your boys have had. And, we get to see their faces! Such adorable pictures! H2U

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome post, Misty! The experiences those boys have each day are priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amen, sister! I miss seeing the boys around SMI! Our budget is so tight these days with one in Kindergarten and the other in second, but I, like you, would not have it any other way. My main goal is to give my children a strong Catholic faith foundation. During this Catholic Schools Week, I feel blessed that God has given us the resources to allow them to attend SMI for another year and I feel blessed that my children have such wonderful teachers who sacrifice a lot to share their faith with my children everyday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I send my kids to catholic school as well. I love the prayer, I love they see statues of Mary and a cross in every room, I love that there are uniforms and LOVE daily religion!! It's instilling them with our faith and hopefully grabbing them at their young age to pursue it on their own.

    I taught in a catholic school and altho the pay was so low it was the best job I ever had!!!! Praying God can bring me back to it one day.

    Love your pictures.

    Sharon
    www.breakformom.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

~Grace and peace to you~

Popular posts from this blog

Locally Grown {stuffed green peppers recipe}

  Last weekend we took the whole family to a nearby produce stand.  We were craving something that tasted fresh from the garden and since I don't have my own garden, we found this place.     The fields were full of fall-colored flowered.  Can't wait for those cooler days to come.         But for now, we are reveling in the height of summer sunshine and produce.       It's easy to go overboard here and buy much more than you can use in the next few days.  I don't even like okra but they look so inviting in those cute blue crates.     These tomatoes inspired a caprese salad for lunch: tomato slices cut into quarters, hunks of fresh mozzarella, snipped basil leaves, salt, pepper and drizzles of olive oil and red wine vinegar.       These strawberries wound up being dunked in Silky Chocolate Fondue .       Every girl dreams of doing her shopping with one of these adorable woven baskets, doesn't she?       Even the boys had fun playing in the sand while I took m

Savoring Summer {Staying in the Season}

The desk full of binders, calendars, sports schedules and dreamy ideas is where I currently find myself, while my mind continues to stray back to the mountains and clouds of our trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have been home for a week and I decided in future, I must come home better mentally prepared for the onslaught of emails and to-do items that pile up when we go away for two whole weeks. The fact that school resumes one week from today only intensifies the pressure to get it all done right away. Usually at this point in August I am eager for cooler, less humid days hinting at the beauty of spicy Autumn flavors. Not this year. I am so invigorated by my return to normal movement following the long recovery from knee surgery that I don't want these summery days to end. At least not until they officially end on September 23, 2014. This year feels like a do-over, the last one so consumed by injury, pain and slow, slow, slow recovery. My mind is bursti

Petals :: 52 Photos Project

Where I live the Bradford Pears have bloomed and blown and the Cherry Blossoms are in full blossom.  Even though that means our allergy season is now officially underway, I cannot help opening our windows every morning in hopes of hearing the birds singing to greet the day.  Springtime has conveniently coincided with my personal recovery process from knee surgery.  As I am slowly re-gaining mobility on crutches it seems an added encouragement that the weather is also improving and the trees are welcoming my return with their flowers. What a treat it would be to be able to put down my crutches in time for Easter Sunday and walk again on my own! (I am doubtful but one can hope.) Sharing with 52 Photos Project :: Petals