School Choices and PCSes

“We pray over each child, each grade, each duty station.”

A seasoned Army wife gave me this wise advice when our boys were about five and three. We were faced with what to do for our oldest’s Kindergarten year. The choices were overwhelming, so we sought out others who had been on this very journey.

I hadn’t considered homeschooling before my son’s pre-K teacher told us that he would do well at a private Montessori school. She said Hunter had already achieved all the standards of learning for kindergarten.

Tim and I discussed that nothing good could come from a bored little boy going to full-day kindergarten. We foresaw that he would get bored, become a disruption, get in trouble and end up hating school.

At age five Hunter loved learning. We wondered how could we invest in his life so that he’d continue to be a little sponge.

Private Montessori school meant paying tuition. Tim was a first lieutenant. Tuition meant I would have to go back to work. Going back to work meant putting Jon, age three, in daycare. That, for us, was a non-starter.

As people of faith, we prayed over our situation and felt clearheaded about our decision to homeschool. This was 2014.

After two years we moved to Missouri for the Captain’s Career Course. We were there less than a year and then headed to Washington state. Our school schedule leant itself well to our PCS schedule that year.

By the time we got to Washington, we had established a groove. We decided to continue with homeschooling. Additionally, we had trouble finding housing in the school district we would have preferred. We quickly sought out homeschool connections and resources in Washington.

When we left Washington we headed to West Point, New York where we would be in a Department of Defense (DOD) school district. Hunter was starting middle school and wanted to try going to “regular school.” He wanted to try something different and wondered what he was missing. Likewise, Jon wanted to try “regular school” but for a different reason. He needed Mom to be Mom, not his teacher.

Again, we prayed and did some research. The same seasoned spouse from so many years before was at West Point and gave a positive report for the West Point DOD schools. I spoke with the guidance counselors and sought the wisdom of the educators in my family.

The boys started sixth and third grades at West Point’s DOD schools.

Then came 2020. With the arrival of COVID the DOD schools became virtual.  Both boys hated virtual learning. One day they asked to start homeschooling again. I said we could look into a cyber-based model my friend used with her children so I wouldn’t have to relearn biology and physics. They hated that idea too.

So, while many people were headed to homeschooling, my children finished our time at West Point’s DOD schools.

Now we are in Kansas and they both attend public school. We have been pleased, but keep our hands and eyes involved in their schools. I volunteer at the middle school weekly and sit on a committee with the principal monthly. I also take all the opportunities to meet my high schooler’s teachers at the beginning of the year.

I have friends with a wide range of thoughts on the matter of how they choose to educate their children each time they PCS. My seasoned spouse friend really did mean “each child, each grade, each duty station.” Her children were four years apart, spanning 12 years top to bottom. One year she had one in public high school, one in a homeschool Classical Conversations middle school curriculum, one at the local DOD elementary school and the youngest at home awaiting kindergarten.

“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!” -Proverbs 16:16

Seeking wisdom is helpful in these big life decisions, especially since we have so many decisions that are made for us in this military life. When PCSing it may help to know how others have handled questions like:
·       Can I trust my children to others?
·       Can I handle homeschooling?
·       What sacrifices do I have to make to put my kids in private school?

Join us next week in part two of “School Choices” to see how seasoned Army wives have made school choice decisions.