Curating an Educational Experience: Why Co-Schooling Is the Best of All Worlds for our Family
When COVID hit, it threw our family into a tailspin, educationally speaking. Our daughter–then in 6th grade–was doing virtual schooling through our local public school. While my husband and I frantically ran around the house finding Zoom passwords and laptop power cords for our other two school-age sons, she was bored out of her skull. Something needed to change.
We were shaken up for the better, and with the pandemic came a clean slate for what schooling could look like for our family. For years I lamented to my husband, “I don’t want to do public school. We can’t afford private Christian school. And I can’t fully commit to homeschooling during this life season. Why can’t I just pick and choose the best of what’s out there and use that?”
While at churches in both Wheaton and Aurora, Illinois, we had heard great things about The Greenhouse Christian Co-School. Knowing that we hadn’t been satisfied with any of the options I mentioned, we decided to try it out for our daughter (now a Logic II student at The Greenhouse).
Curating an education that fits our family
What we’ve loved about it the most has been the opportunity to curate our daughter’s education, creating a rhythm and a rule of life that works best for our family, her personality, and my strengths as a teacher. In many ways, it feels like we receive the best of all worlds: the freedom and joy of homeschooling with the social building blocks, academic rigor, and the emphasis on Christian virtues and learning that we highly value.
The pandemic made us all re-evaluate what is important and what is possible in the world after COVID. So, why can’t we have it all when it comes to our children’s education? Why should we be limited by choices that are uninspiring, unrealistic, and unfair for us and our kids? I’m thankful for the model of co-schooling and can’t wait to uncover more as my daughter and I grow and learn together.
Bonnie McMaken and her husband Trevor are pastors at City of Light Church in Aurora, IL, where they live with their four kids in a big–and very old–blue bungalow that they are slowly renovating as they minister to and love their city.
Greenhouse serves grades 1 through 12 , our core program provides in-person learning one day a week and our elective classes include a variety of enrichment opportunities. Our education model combines the best of what a private Christian education offers, Our unique education model makes a private Christian education affordable to more families while providing structure for families who are nervous about homeschooling. Learn more about co-schooling and sign-up for an upcoming Discovering Greenhouse event. Conveniently located in the western suburbs, Greenhouse Christian Co-School serves families from all over Chicagoland.