From Public School to MicroSchool

Have you heard stories about the public schools and thought, “this is not okay? Those are children, not robots and guinea pigs. Children are supposed to go to school to learn, not to just push pencils to bubble in scantrons. Children go to school to be safe, not bullied by other students and adults alike. Children go to school to learn the 3 R’s not to soak in tons of worldly information that doesn’t align with God’s Word!” After 15 years in the public school system, I was at this point in my teaching journey. I was heartbroken that as a teacher, it felt like school wasn’t for students anymore. I felt like the system as a whole wasn't advocating for children anymore. I felt helplessly, hopeless in a system that put more value on state testing than the welfare of students. After 15 years, I turned in my resignation to “retire,” from a job that I had always wanted. I loved the teaching and I loved the students, but I couldn’t stand what was happening politically and socially inside the walls of the public school classroom.

After a short break from the public school. The Lord called me back to education through Christian education. I started teaching in a large MicroSchool and my love for education returned. Inside the walls of our MicroSchool, school was being held like I always thought it would be like. I have now been a part of this MicroSchool for over five years and each year the Lord continues to refine and do a work inside our school that just blows me away.

Our school is considered a large MicroSchool because it has multiple multiage classroom settings. Inside the walls of each classroom, we are able to mix students not just based on age, but level. We work together as a family as we learn. Our students are learning the way I believe the Bible intended it to be. Older students help to lead the younger students, teachers come alongside independent and hands-on learning to encourage and assist students in their thinking process, and parents are a part of our school life because they are invited in to help and participate in all aspects of schooling.

A typical day in one of our multilevel elementary and junior high aged classrooms begins with the study of the Bible. The Bible lesson sets the tone for the day and leads into the history and English lessons the students will be practicing and learning that day. There are no mistakes in the way the curriculum is laid out; it intentionally integrates God’s word, our history as believers in this world, and the English language so that students are learning everything through the lenses of a Biblical worldview. Students learn “big” concepts as a group, but are broken up into smaller learning groups to target each level the student is learning on. Some of these groups are multi-age groups, so we can focus on the learning level of the student, not the age. During one on one and small group time, the teacher is able to teach to the appropriate level, while the rest of the class is working independently on engaging, hand-on assignments that encourage self-learning and discipline to wait their turn.

In our MicroSchool, by the time our students get to the high school level, students have become very independent learners through practice and discipline in their younger years. Students in high school are in a place where they are able to start the week by looking over the lessons that are being taught that week and make a plan for themselves how they will complete assignments. It’s really exciting to see how each student tackles the assignments differently! It is a beautiful representation of how the Lord created us all in His image, but different. At the high school level, students continue to learn with a hands-on approach combined with peer support and using the classroom teacher as guide and mentor as they learn. Students in high school have the privilege of beginning their high school years in the study of ancient history. They take a deep dive into where our history began and how that history was taking place during the times of the Bible. When the students start to connect the dots that the Egyptians they are reading about in books like, Encyclopedia of the World, are the same Egyptians the Bible is talking about in Exodus, a deep understanding of our Christian history inside a secular world starts to form. Students with this understanding are able to apply that knowledge to what is happening in the world today, but it also lays a foundation to study World History and United States history in the sophomore through senior year of high school.

In 2018, when I turned in my keys to public school, I really thought my teaching days were over. After all, I never knew anything but public school. But the Lord, in His omniscience, knew better. The Lord introduced me to schooling His way. The way school was intended to be before the government decided to step in and take over. Being a part of a Microschool has given me hope again. I truly feel like through MicroSchooling and a solid Bible based curriculum, children can be rescued from the over testing, bullying, and political standards of the public school. Through Microschools we can put first what truly matters, and that is salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Through MicroSchools, we can equip future disciples and evangelists to go out into the nations and make the name of Jesus known. Through Microschools we can help educate children who were broken down by the politics of the public school system. Through MicroSchools we can teach children how to love one another through God’s word instead of tearing each other down. Through MicroSchools, teachers can love teaching again and do what the Lord has called them to do! Through MicroSchools we can start pointing our nation back to Christ and lead it into a renewal of faith across this country!