What's it like to go from
Homeschool to Columbus Christian?
The moment has come when homeschooling may no longer be an option for your family. Be encouraged! There are many CCS families who have been in your shoes. When they were faced with this choice, they looked for a place where their kids would be individually taught and cared for with the love of Christ. Knowing public school wasn’t the answer, they started looking into a private Christian education.
Is private school something I can afford? Is it the right decision? Will my children be able to transition well?
While each family circumstance is different, here are two current CCS families who share what it was like for them to transition from homeschool to Columbus Christian. As these families trusted and followed God’s lead, their children not only survived – but thrived!
Why did you choose CCS?
FAMILY 1: Christian education has always been a priority for our family. We live outside of Columbus and prior to this year, sent our children to a small Christian K-6 school in our community. We have four kids and as the oldest “graduated” out of that school, we decided to homeschool her thinking that was the only option going forward. We continued to keep our younger 3 children in that private school. For her 7th grade year, our oldest was at home primarily being taught via online courses. Her personality lent itself well to this format - she is independent and responsible. Toward the end of that year however, we realized if we continued down this path, our kids would grow up in front of a computer. We started praying about other options and found out about Columbus Christian through a Google search! We visited and knew CCS was the Lord providing for our family. We decided to move all of our children to CCS - so they could all be in one place and have the consistency of a K-12 school.
FAMILY 2: The way we describe CCS is that it is the closest to a homeschool environment you can get in a “regular school.” We have five children in our family with a span of almost 8 years in between the oldest two and younger three. We sent the older two to CCS from K-2nd grade, then because of other circumstances in our family, decided to homeschool them until the oldest entered high school. At that point, we knew they needed a change. We wanted our kids to be able to get a good education and be able to use their knowledge of Christ in a “real working environment”. We also wanted to be able to stay somewhere long-term, not bump around to different schools. The older two have since graduated from CCS, we have one in middle school and our younger two are in the elementary.
What was the transition like from homeschool to CCS?
FAMILY 1: This is our first year at CCS and it has been wonderful! Our kids really enjoy and look forward to going to school. Our younger three have transitioned well from the private school - in fact, we consider CCS a step-up! They enjoy all the extra curricular offerings available - even at the elementary level. We weren’t used to those options at our former school and had been exploring ways to get involved. The kids have connected well with their classmates and were academically prepared. Overall, the communication from the office and school has been really helpful and professional. Whenever we did have questions and asked, they were good about explaining things. We did have to learn to navigate some of the things that people who have been there a while already know, but caught on quickly!
Our oldest child is in the middle school. Going to private school, then homeschool for a year created a different transitional experience for her. She enjoyed the freedom of homeschool and being “finished” with school during the day. Now, being in classes during the day and having homework at night was definitely an adjustment for her. Because she is responsible and independent, she has been able to keep up with the newer schedule and is getting good grades. There are several teachers who have been key assets in helping her adjust. As far as adjusting socially, we see how God has provided the perfect friendships for all of our kids. One of the benefits of being at a small school is that everyone knows one another. It did take a little longer for our oldest child to genuinely connect with peers who had already been going to school together for years. Getting involved in extracurriculars really helped her. There she was able to make friends outside of the classroom who shared her common interests.
One unique circumstance that also played a role in our transition is that we have a child who has been diagnosed with dyslexia. At our former school, we had to be heavily involved and proactive to make sure they were getting the help they needed to succeed. When we came to CCS, we were prepared to once again go in with the mindset of being an advocate for our child. We were so thrilled and thankful to find that the staff and teachers were ready for and willing to help with the accommodations necessary. Their teacher has been incredibly gracious and helpful. As a parent, this was another way we saw God’s hand working ahead of us by placing us at Columbus Christian.
FAMILY 2: We’ve been back at CCS for several years, however our youngest child just entered Kindergarten this year. We’ve had more of an adjustment ourselves with no kids at home than they’ve had at school! Our older girls adjusted well relationally and academically. It did take several weeks to adjust to the new schedule. Since homeschool kids are used to doing their homework during the day and going “at their own pace”, moving through material as a class was new to them. The small class sizes and teachers were a huge asset during that transition. We found the school structure to be well organized - giving clear boundaries for expectations, but allowing the flexibility and freedom for students to make their high school experience their own. Both of our older children were involved with extracurriculars like sports, drama and music which helped them develop confidence in the gifts the Lord gave them and connect quickly with friends.
When we first came to CCS - one of the great things to witness was the “family” environment in action. The kids in both the elementary and upper grades welcome in new students well, whether they’re from public, private or homeschool backgrounds. The younger kids also love their friends and enjoy school. The small class sizes across the board help the kids drive each other to do well.
What advice would you give others?
FAMILY 1: We loved our homeschool experience, but knew it wasn’t working for our family. We know the Lord led us to Columbus Christian and we can see His hand in the details. We feel CCS is a very well run school with top-notch academics and experiences. As far as advice for others, we think they’ll find the school is set-up to help kids do well. As parents, just being ready to help your kids adjust to the new schedule is key. Having teachable and cooperative spirits goes a long way. We’d highly recommend CCS to anyone!
FAMILY 2: It’s definitely worth considering! Homeschool parents know we face judgments from all sides. Parents who have their kids in traditional schools wonder why we have our kids at home. Homeschool families wonder why we aren’t homeschooling anymore. Being faced with this helped us rely on God’s plans for our kids, not other peoples or our own. God used homeschool to help shape our family and we know He will use Columbus Christian to help shape us as well. The school itself is set-up to transition homeschool students successfully.
If you have questions, ask. If you don’t understand something, ask. If you want to be involved, the school welcomes it! Now that our older two children have graduated and the three younger are in middle school and elementary, we see how God is faithful. Because giving our kids a Christian education is a priority for our family, we trust God to provide and work out the details and He always has.